Beverly Hills Bar Assoc. Hosts Litigation Awards Dinner

The Beverly Hills Bar Association
(BHBA), heralded for championing access to justice, an independent judiciary
and the Rule of Law, honors two legal titans at the Fourth Annual “BHBA
Litigation Awards Dinner” on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 at
5:30 pm at Montage, Beverly Hills. 
The
Hon. Michael Nash, Presiding Judge
of the Juvenile Division of the Superior Court, receives the “Ronald M. George Award for Judicial Excellence,” named for
the former California Supreme Court Chief Justice who retired in 2011.  Browne
Greene,
a highly respected trial lawyer and founding partner of the
Santa Monica-based firm Greene, Broillet & Wheeler, receives the
“Excellence in Advocacy Award,” which honors a trial lawyer whose case
successes have resulted from expert legal skills, unique trial strategy and
courtroom teamwork, and who also gives back to the legal profession and the
community.  The Hon. Willie Brown is
Honorary Dinner Chair.

“The Beverly Hills Bar Association is
proud to honor Judge Nash and Browne Greene for their invaluable work serving
the community and the legal profession at the highest level,” says BHBA
President Diane L. Karpman.

Adds Jonathan Stein, chair of the BHBA
Litigation Section and the Litigation Awards Dinner, “They are distinguished
leaders noted for advancing the legal profession during their illustrious
professional careers and heralded for their dedicated community service.”

Judge Michael Nash was
elevated to the Superior Court in 1989 by Governor George Deukmejian and has
served in the Juvenile Court since 1990. 
Under his tenure as Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court, the Juvenile
Court has implemented numerous innovations positively impacting children and
families, including the creation of drug courts, protocols on the use of
psychotropic medication on children, protocols enhancing communication between
the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and creation of the Adoption
Saturday program in 1998, now a national program with
over 200 courts in all fifty states participating annually in National Adoption
Day.  Judge Nash is the Immediate Past
President of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judge and a
member of California's Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care.  Among numerous awards, he was named Judge of
the Year by the Juvenile Court Judges of California and the National CASA
Association.  He received
his undergraduate degree from UCLA and his law degree from Loyola Law
School.  Prior to being appointed as a
Municipal Court Judge in 1985, Judge Nash served as Deputy Attorney General in
the criminal division of the California Attorney General’s Office.

Browne Greene, founding
partner of Greene, Broillet & Wheeler, has achieved outstanding success in
his long, distinguished career as a litigator, with a trial record that
includes numerous seven- and eight-figure verdicts.  His winning cases in
product liability, vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, police misconduct,
municipal liability and other matters, have introduced ground breaking
evidentiary protocols and resulted in innovative consumer safety
protections.  Greene has lectured and
written extensively for trial lawyer groups. 
He has received the highest rankings from Woodward & White, California
State Bar and Super Lawyers.  Browne,
who is a volunteer for Big Brothers of Los Angeles, serves on the Boards of
Directors of Edgemar Center for the Arts, Little Dolphins Pre-School and 7
Arrows Elementary School; is a strong supporter of the Swedish School of Los
Angeles; and serves as a judge in the Shakespeare Festival.  He earned undergraduate and law degrees from
George Washington University and began his legal career in the Judge Advocates
General's Corp. (JAG) of the U.S. Air Force, ultimately attaining the rank of
captain.

The Beverly Hills Bar Association,
serving the Los Angeles region since 1931, is the fifth largest bar association
in California with nearly 6,000 members. 
Its mission is to serve its members, to lead the legal profession and to
advocate for justice in the community. Previous Beverly Hills Bar Association Litigation
Dinner honorees include Chief Justice Ronald M. George (Ret.); Presiding Justice Norman
Epstein; The Hon. Christina A. Snyder,
Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California; Roman
Silberfeld; Tom Girardi and Marshall B.
Grossman.

Tickets for the
Fourth Annual “Beverly Hills Bar Association Litigation Awards Dinner” are $225
per person ($255 after February 10). Montage Beverly Hills is located at 225 North
Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. 
For tickets and information call (310) 601-2422 or visit www.bhba.org.