News
Judges and Judiciary
Mar. 1, 2002
Obstacles May Hinder Solo's Chances at Bench
LOS ANGELES - Encino lawyer Thomas H. Warden hopes that being a Superior Court judge is something that runs in the family. His late father-in-law, Alfred Paonessa, was a judge in Los Angeles County for more than 30 years.
Paonessa was the reason Warden went to law school in the first place.
"He was my mentor," Warden said.
Now the sole practitioner, hoping to follow in Paonessa's footsteps, is running in the March 5 primary for the seat being vacated by Judge Reginald A. Dunn.
But Warden, 59, faces several obstacles: Deputy District Attorney Richard F. Walmark, John C. Gutierrez, a Workers' Compensation Appeals Board judge, and a Los Angeles County Bar Association rating of "Not Qualified" for the job.
In its rankings released last month, a bar association committee that does the ratings said it had "questions pertaining to [Warden's] integrity and
The committee added that it did not believe he possessed enough experience for the job.
Warden has said he feels the rating was unfair because, he believes, it was based on a judgment against his former law firm and does not reflect his abilities as a lawyer.
Warden, a 1970 graduate of the University of La Verne College of Law, would prefer that voters focus on his years as a litigator, a judge pro tem and an arbitrator.
"Among the candidates, I have more of a variety of experience," he said.
"I'm really at home in the courtroom and not just with one style of law or one courthouse. I really know how to handle myself in a variety of situations," he added.
Richard Walmark, 45, a deputy district attorney for 16 years, also says he hopes voters will focus on his experience when they cast their ballot.
"I've had a wealth of experience regarding being a trial deputy, trying significant cases, trying a voluminous amount of cases and trying varied cases," Walmark said.
In his years in the district attorney's office, Walmark said he has tried more than 100 felony cases to verdict. He worked in Van Nuys as a trial attorney and calendar deputy for nearly 12 years before recently being transferred downtown to work in the office's justice system integrity division. That division is responsible for prosecuting judges, lawyers and police officers.
The bar association gave Walmark, a 1984 graduate of Loyola Law School, a "Well Qualified" rating, the highest possible.
Also running for the seat is Gutierrez, a Workers' Compensation Appeals Board judge in Van Nuys. He is a graduate of the University of La Verne College of Law and was admitted to the California Bar in 1983. After canceling a scheduled interview, Gutierrez did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment on the race.
The Los Angeles County Bar Association rated Gutierrez "Qualified."
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Erin Carroll
Daily Journal Staff Writer
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