Curriculum Vitae of Judge Brenda F. Harbin-Forte (Rev. April 2020) Page 1 of 4
THE HONORABLE BRENDA F. HARBIN-FORTE (Ret.)
Judge of the Alameda County (California) Superior Court (7/98 - 11/19) Judge of the Oakland-Piedmont-Emeryville (California) Municipal Court (1/92 - 7/98) Admitted to California Bar in November 1979
PRE-JUDICIAL EMPLOYMENT:
Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges, Oakland, CA & San Francisco, CA (Partner, 1990-1992; Associate, 1984-1989): General and complex civil litigation in state and federal courts.
Harris, Alexander & Burris [& Culver], Oakland, CA (Associate, 1982-1984): General civil litigation and criminal defense in state and federal courts.
Moore & Bell, Oakland, CA (Law Clerk, 1978-1979) General civil litigation and criminal defense in state and federal courts
Legal Aid Society of Alameda County, Oakland, CA (Law Clerk, 1977-1978)
CLERKSHIP:
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, San Francisco, CA (Court Law Clerk, 1979-1982; Assistant Calendar Attorney, 1980-1982; Special Assignment to the Chambers of Judge Dorothy W. Nelson Summer 1981 and Summer 1982)
EDUCATION:
Berkeley Law School/Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, CA (J.D., 5/79):
Class (’'79) President (elected office); Co-Director, Appellate Advocacy; Moot Court Board; Vice-Chair, ASUC Judicial Committee
University of California, Berkeley, CA (B.A. in Rhetoric, 6/76): Member, Honor Students Society; Graduation Speaker at Departmental Graduation Ceremonies
APPOINTMENTS:
City of Oakland Administrator, Screening Panel for 2020 Redistricting Commission (2020 - Present) State Bar of California, Council on Access & Fairness, Chair (2007-2008; 2019-Present); Chair of Judicial Committee (2007-2011; 2017-2018)); Member (2007- 2011; 2016-Present) Judicial Council of California’s Science and the Law Steering Committee, (2005-2008) State Bar of California’s [Diversity] Pipeline Task Force, Chair, Courts Working Group (2005 -2007) Judicial Council of California (1996-1999; Chair, Rules & Projects Committee, 1998-1999) Planning Committee, CJER Continuing Judicial Studies Programs (1995-1998) U.S. District Court - Northern District Civil Justice Reform Act Committee (1991-1992) Alameda County Superior Court Settlement Commissioner (1990-1992) State Bar Litigation Section, Executive Committee (1990-1991) Alameda County Trial Court Delay Reduction Act, Local Rules and Oversight Committees (1987 -1990) U.S. District Court Merit Selection Panel (for retention of a magistrate judge) (1986) Oakland Residential Rent Arbitration Board (1986-1989) Alameda County Fish & Game Advisory Commission (1986-1987) State Bar Committee on Administration of Justice (1984-1987)
PUBLICATIONS AND CONSULTATIONS:
Consultant, Judicial Council Committee on Providing Access and Fairness “Judicial Diversity Tool Kit” (2011 and 2019)
Consultant, California Judges Benchguide: “Adoptions” (CJER, 2005 - 2009) Consultant, California Judges Benchguide: “Preliminary Hearings” (CJER, 1999 - 2009) Consultant, California Judges Benchguide: “Landlord-Tenant Litigation” (CJER, 1998 - 2009) Consultant, California Judges Benchbook: Civil Proceedings - Before Trial (CJER, 1995 – 2016) Curriculum Vitae of Judge Brenda F. Harbin-Forte (Rev. April 2020) Page 2 of 4
Consultant, California Judges Benchbook: Civil Proceedings - Trial (CJER, 1997 - 2016) Consultant, California Judges Benchbook: Civil Proceedings - After Trial (CJER, 1998 - 2016) Consultant, California Judges Benchbook: Discovery (CJER, 1998 - 2015) Consultant, California Judges Benchbook: Juvenile Court Administrative Deskbook (CJER, 2003) Consultant, California Trial Objections, 2d Edition (CEB, 1995) Consultant, Jefferson’s Evidence Benchbook, 3d Edition (CEB, 1997, 2011-Present), Chapter 35 – “Evidence of Character, Habit and Custom”
Author, “African-American Women on the California Bench: A History” (Daily Journal, March 26, 2019) Op-Ed, “Advice to Trial Judges and Judge Wannabes” (Daily Journal, January 7, 2012 ed.) Op-Ed, “Pioneer Spirit” (Daily Journal, March 5, 2007 ed.) Co-Author, “A Court-Appointed Special Advocate: Changing A Foster Child’s Life” (The [Alameda County Bar Association] Bulletin, October 2001)
Author, "350 Days to Trial: Strategies For Survival Under Trial Court Delay R eduction Programs" (CEB Special Supplement, Spring, 1988)
Author, "Unfair Media Coverage of Judicial Misconduct Investigations (Or Taking Landmark Communications Too Far),” (The San Francisco Attorney, Aug/Sep, 1987 ed.) Author, “Black Women Pioneers in the Law,” (The Historical Reporter [a publication of the Historical Society of the U.S. Dist. Ct, Northern Dist. Of CA], Spring 1987 ed.)
JUDICIAL AND LEGAL EDUCATION FACULTY EXPERIENCE AND INVOLVEMENT:
Judicial Council/California Center for Judicial Education and Research (“CJER”) Dean, B.E. Witkin Judicial College (2000 - 2002; Associate Dean, 1998-2000) Chair, New Judge Education Planning Committee (2000 - 2002; Vice Chair, 1998-2000) Faculty: Basic Civil Law Courses (Landlord/Tenant; Minor’s Compromise, etc.) (1994); Civil Law Update (Municipal Courts Institute, 1994-1995); Civil Settlement Techniques (B.E. Witkin Judicial College, 1996-2001); Common Evidence Problems (Civil Procedure Institute, 1992); Consumer Law (Civil Procedure Institute, 1997; Judicial College & CJSP, 1994-1997); Criminal Law Overview (CJSP, 2006-2008); Defaults and Dismissals (Judicial College, 1996-1998); Genetics and the Courts (Judicial College, 2001); Genetics, Ethics, and Social Responsibility (Genetics in the Courtroom Conference, 1999); How to Make Your Court User Friendly (CJSP 1993); Juvenile Dependency (Judicial College, 2002, 2003); Marsden & Faretta (Judicial College, 2005); Negligence/Proposition 51 (CJSP, 1995; Civil Procedure Institute 1994); Overlaps: But I Thought I Was a Civil Judge! (CJSP 2005); Pathways to the Bench (Various Programs, 2019) Preliminary Hearings (Judicial College, 2007, CJSP 2008; Poverty Simulation Workshop (Various programs,2019); Online Course 2010); Techniques in Judicial Education (CJSP 1997); Urban Judges Roundtable (1993);
Chair, Planning Committee, Municipal and Justice Courts Institute (1994) Planning Committee Member, Municipal Courts Institute (1995) Planning Committee Member, Continuing Judicial Studies Program (1995-1998) Planning Committee Member & Faculty, “Genetics in the Courtroom” Conference (1999) Planning Committee Member, Civil Law Institute (1996) Seminar Leader, Judicial College (1995)
Fairness in the California Courts (Trained as Instructor) Judicial Council Liaison to CJER Governing Committee (1997 - 1998) Attendee, Mini-Leadership Conference (1996)
Alameda County Bar Association
Strategies for Eliminating Bias in the Legal Profession (2011, 2012) Winning Strategies in Settlement (2017)
California Judges Association- Faculty
Poverty Simulation Workshop (2018 Annual Meeting)
If I Had Known Then . . . “ (2017 Mid-Year Meeting)
Justice in the Balance: The 2020 Report (1994 Annual Meeting)
Continuing Education of the Bar (“CEB”) – Faculty
Analyzing Key Evidence Issues: The Jefferson Approach (1998) Curriculum Vitae of Judge Brenda F. Harbin-Forte (Rev. April 2020) Page 3 of 4
Hastings College of Law, San Francisco, CA - Faculty
Adjunct Professor/Legal Writing and Research Instructor (1983-1984; 1981-1982)
National Bar Association
Education Committee Co-Chair and Faculty, 2016 Mid-Year and Annual Meetings Bail Reform (2018)
Innocence Projects and Wrongful Convictions: Lessons for Judges (2019)
National Institute of Trial Advocacy Faculty
Faculty, Western Regional Program (1990)
National Judicial College, Reno, NV Faculty
Drug Courts: The Judicial Response (1997 [Team Leader]; 1996)
Practising Law Institute Faculty
Strategies for Eliminating Bias in the Legal Profession (2011, 2016) ; Diversity Pipeline: State Bar Diversity Pipeline Project (2006)
The Rutter Group Faculty
Enforcing Debts and Judgments (1997)
The State Bar of California Faculty
Numerous courses on Diversity in the Legal Profession/Judicial Diversity (2006-present) Chair, Planning Committee, Judicial Diversity Summits presented in 2006 and 2011, and Member, Planning Committee for Judicial Diversity Summit presented in 2016
University of the South Pacific School of Law, Suva, Fiji Removing Gender and Racial Bias in the Legal Profession - California’s Experience (2012)
DISTINCTIONS, HONORS, AND AWARDS:
Crystal Gavel Award, Judicial Council of the California Association of Black Lawyers, 2020 Special Lifetime Achievement Award, Charles Houston Bar Association, 2019 Multicultural Bar Alliance of Los Angeles Award, 2018 Alba Witkin Humanitarian Award, California Judges Association/California Judges Foundation, 2016 Spirit of Excellence Award, American Bar Association, 2014 Diversity Award, State Bar of California, 2013; Commendation for Diversity Work, 2016 Hall of Fame Award, Charles Houston Bar Association, 2012 Woman Jurist of Distinction Award, Women Lawyers of Alameda County, 2012 Distinguished Service Award (Judge of the Year), Alameda County Bar Association, 2012 Judicial Excellence Award, Charles Houston Bar Association, 2008 Champion of Unity Award, Minority Bar Coalition, 2007 Bernard S. Jefferson Judge of the Year Award, California Association of Black Lawyers, 2007, 1994 Rose Bird Memorial Award, California Women Lawyers, 2007 Benjamin Travis Community Service Award, Charles Houston Bar Association, 2006, 1991 President’s Award, California Women Lawyers, 2005
Unsung Heroines Award, Oakland Bay Area Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., 2005 Wilmont Sweeney Juvenile Court Judge of the Year Award, Juvenile Court Judges o f California, 2003 Outstanding Jurist Award, National Bar Association, Women Lawyers Division, 2002 Ella Hill Hutch Award, Statewide, Black Women Organized For Political Action/PAC, 2002 Outstanding Achievement Award, Black Women Lawyers of Northern California, 2000 First African-American woman selected as Dean and Associate Dean of California’s Judicial College President’s Award, Charles Houston Bar Association, 1994 Curriculum Vitae of Judge Brenda F. Harbin-Forte (Rev. April 2020) Page 4 of 4
"Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte Day" declared in City of Oakland on November 19, 1992 Woman of the Year Award, Oakland Business & Professional Women, 1992 Nat’l Black Law Students Association's Tribute to Black Women in the Legal Profession, 1988 An Outstanding Young Woman of America, 1983
Argued two cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, both resulting in published opinions First African-American woman President of the Alameda County Bar Association First African-American woman to clerk for the Central Staff of the Ninth Circuit First African-American woman elected Berkeley Law School (formerly Boalt Hall) Class President Delivered a commencement address at high school, college, and law school graduations
CURRENT MEMBERSHIPS/AFFILIATIONS:
Alameda County Bar Association (President, January 1-24, 1992 (term ended on appointment to the bench on January 24, 199); President-Elect, 1991; Board member, 1990; Chair and Vice-Chair, Law Day Committee, 1995 & 1994; Member, Drug Task Force, 1995; Co-Chair, Legislature Liaison Committee, 1988-1989)
American Bar Association
Bernard E. & Alba Witkin Charitable Foundation (Vice President, 2016-Present; Board Member, 2015- Present)
Black Women Lawyers Association of Northern California (President, 1986) California Association of Black Lawyers (Vice President, North, 1987-1989; Judicial Advisor-North, 2006- 2014; 2017-Present); President's Special Assistant [Judicial], 1992-1997) California Judges Association 1992 - present (Chair, Annual Meeting Planning Committee, 2015-2016; Co-Chair, Judicial Education Committee, 2006-2008)
California Women Lawyers (Judicial Liaison and Board Member, 1998 – 2005 [Presented numerous “So, You Want to be a Judge?” programs]; District 3A Governor, 1989-1990) Center for Youth Development through Law (Board Member, 2010 - Present) Charles Houston Bar Association (Executive Board Member and Newsletter Editor, 1988) Judicial Council of the California Association of Black Lawyers (1992-Present; Chair, 2018-2019; Co- Chair-North, 2017-2018; Co-Producer, Membership Directory, 2005-present; Treasurer, 1993 -1997) National Association of Women Judges
National Bar Association (Judicial Council, 1992-Present; Co-Chair, Judicial Council Education Committee, 2015-2016; Board of Governors, 1987-1988; Assistant Regional Director, Region IX, 1987- 1988)
PAST MEMBERSHIPS/AFFILIATIONS:
Alta Bates Medical Center (Community Member, 1993; Associate Trustee, 1994-1996) American Bar Foundation, (ABF Fellow, 1993-1996)
Boalt Hall Alumni Association Board of Trustees (1998 -2000) Business & Professional Women, Oakland
East Oakland Youth Development Center (Board Member, 1985-1986) Edward J. McFetridge American Inn of Court (Master, 1993-1995; Membership Chair, 1994-95) Juvenile Court Judges of California (a section of the CJA) Executive Committee, 2000 - 2004 The Judge Patricia Ann McKinley Memorial Foundation, (Founding Board Member), 1986 -1987 McClymonds High School Law & Government Academy, (Advisory Board; Donald P. McCullum Youth Court Board, Honorary Chair)
National Association of Negro Business & Professional Women Oakland Certified Development Corp. (Board Member, 1988)
PERSONAL:
Born in Meridian, Mississippi; One child; four grandchildren; one great-grandchild