October 22, 2007
Cafe D'etoile, West Hollywood
On October 22, 2007, VCAABA founder and immediate past president Dien Le met with Alameda County Superior Court Judge Delbert Gee, who was down in Southern California attending a judicial conference in the City of Industry. Dien and Judge Gee had a nice dinner at Cafe D'etoile in West Hollywood, exactly half way between the City of Industry and Westlake Village. Unfortunately, VCAABA president Mark Fang and treasurer Leah Gasendo were unable to attend. Judge Gee has a special connection with Ventura County because he was a former Ventura County Deputy District Attorney from 1980-1982. He vividly remembers many of his former colleagues from the District Attorney's Office and Public Defender's Office, who are now judges on the Ventura County bench (Judges Campbell, Curtis, Daily, Dobroth, Hintz, O'Neill, Riley, White). During the dinner, Judge Gee imparted a lot of keen insight and advice about the judicial appointment process, and shared his own personal experience and background, which is very impressive by the way. Although Judge Gee did not have the benefit of a judicial mentor when he went through the application process, he urged that VCAABA find a local judge who can help mentor prospective judicial candidates and promote VCAABA's mission of having the first Asian American judge appointed in Ventura County. It is too bad that Judge Gee is in Northern California, otherwise he would be more than willing to be VCAABA's judicial mentor. Judge Gee has mentored many attorneys, who have now been successfully appointed to the bench. Judge Gee also emphasized the importance of being actively involved (in leadership roles) with various bar associations and the local community so that people know who you are before applying to be a judge. Judge Gee looks forward to meeting Mark Fang at the upcoming 19th Annual NAPABA Convention in Las Vegas in November.
Dien Le and Judge Delbert Gee