Mary T. House

Judge Mary Thornton House is one of eight judges in Los Angeles County that preside over trusts, wills, estates, guardianships and conservatorship matters. Appointed in January, 1996, by then Governor Pete Wilson, she has been a judge for 21 years. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she was an assistant city attorney for the city of Los Angeles for 17 years and started out as a prosecutor in the criminal division. During her last decade with that office, defended the city and its police and fire departments in civil law suits in both state and federal courts.

In March 2004, Los Angeles County honored her as one of its ‘Women of the Year’ for her efforts on behalf of women’s issues. In October 2004, she was recognized by the Pasadena Bar Association as their ‘Judge of the Year.’ In 2008, the California Judges Association awarded her the Bernard F. Jefferson’s Award for Excellence in Judicial Education. In February 2011, the San Fernando Valley Bar Association awarded her the ‘Excellence in Judicial Administration’ award. In March 2013, the San Fernando Valley Bar Association named her their ‘2013 Judge of the Year.’ Judge House was the 2011 and 2012 Dean of California B.E. Witkin Judicial College which provides for education of all judicial officers in California. Judge House is a past and present member of many California statewide committees. She has presided over criminal felony trials, general jurisdiction civil cases, and probate during her career. She chaired the workgroup that was instrumental in passing the new expedited jury trials legislation in 2011 and coordinated the recent efforts that successfully resulted in this new legislation supported by both defense and plaintiff bar groups.
 

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

San Francisco Chronicle
April 14, 2021
Re: Jean Lantz Reisz

Jean Reisz was interviewed about the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco's rejection of an earlier U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals decision that denied asylum to Salvadoran sisters who were harassed by a gang. “Their journey to asylum has been difficult and longer than it should have been,” she said. The judge and the board “ignored the evidence and denied lifesaving relief to the twins based on unlawful conclusions” that the court has now overturned. The article also appeared in Microsoft News.

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

Michael Simkovic
February, 2021

"Income Taxes and Work Hours," University of Virginia Law and Economics Workshop, University of Virginia Law School, Charlottesville, VA.

Dorothy S. Lund
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“The Corporate Governance Machine” (with Elizabeth Pollman), 122 Columbia Law Review (forthcoming 2022)

Michael Simkovic
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“Income Taxes & Work Hours,” Florida Tax Review.