Total Credits: 2 CLE
Join us for our annual “state of the courts” address by each presiding judge at the Superior Court in Pima County. An update from the Court of Appeals will also be included. Learn what is happening at the Court of Appeals and Superior Court, share lunch with your favorite judge and get your questions answered. Lunch is included with your registration.
Topics
Pima County Superior Court
• Court Statistics
• Recent Appointments
• Court Openings
• Rotation
Civil Bench
• Civil filings/ disposition update
• Update on petition to Adopt FASTAR on a permanent basis
• Changes to civil hearing officer coverage
• Digital Evidence portal
Criminal Bench
• Enforcement of Rule 8.2 time requirements regarding trial settings
• Departure of Judge Godoy and appointment of her successor
• Criminal bench rotations
• Appointment of new criminal bench presiding judge
Family Law Bench
• Family law court statistics
• Implementation of new court rules effective 1/1/24
• Pending rule change proposals and legislation
• Family bench rotation update
• Update on spousal maintenance data collection
Juvenile Bench
• Statistics and Trends
• New Calendaring System
• Impact and Status of DCS’ Document Disclosure Errors
• Delinquency Update
Probate Bench
• Probate Statistics
• Jury Trials in Guardianship Cases
• ARS section 14-511 (Duties of Counsel)
• In Person vs. Virtual Hearings
Specialty Courts
• Overview of the specialty courts in Pima County, including three drug courts and mental health court
Arizona Court of Appeals, Division Two
• Case processing statistics
Faculty:
Honorable Christopher Staring, Vice Chief Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two
Honorable Jeffrey Bergin, Presiding Judge, Pima County Superior Court
Honorable Michael Butler, Presiding Judge, Pima County Juvenile Court
Honorable Randi Burnett, Family Law Presiding Judge
Honorable Renee Hampson, Mental Health Court
Honorable Kellie Johnson, Civil Bench Presiding Judge
Honorable Kenneth Lee, Probate Bench Presiding Judge
Honorable James Marner, Criminal Bench Presiding Judge
Chairperson:
Ted Schmidt, Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian
| 2024 Bench and Bar Spring Program Manual (3.1 MB) | 43 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Honorable Christopher Staring attended the University of California at Davis, receiving his B.A. in 1983. He received his J.D. from Tulane University Law School in 1986, graduating cum laude, and Order of the Coif (top 10% of class). Judge Staring was in private civil practice for more than 23 years before being appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Arizona for Pima County in 2010. He was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division Two in 2015.
Judge Staring serves as Chair of the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct. He also serves as Chair of the Arizona Supreme Court’s Ethics Advisory Committee and is a member of the Task Force on Ethics Rules Governing the State Attorney General, County Attorneys, and Other Public Lawyers. Additionally, Judge Staring serves on the Arizona Supreme Court Committee on Juvenile Courts.
Judge Staring previously served on the Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review and the Arizona Supreme Court Committee on Mental Health and the Justice System. He is a frequent speaker on judicial ethics, mental health law, and other mental health related topics.
Judge Staring resides in Tucson.
Honorable Jeffrey Bergin is an Arizona native who earned both his undergraduate degree and his law degree (with distinction) from the University of Arizona. In September 2011, Judge Bergin was appointed to serve as a trial judge on Arizona's Superior Court in Pima County. This followed a twenty-year career in civil litigation. Since that time, he has served on the civil bench (presiding judge), family bench (presiding judge) and the criminal bench. He also served as the Associate Presiding Judge for the Court from 2019 through July 2021. Most recently, Arizona's Supreme Court appointed Judge Bergin as the Presiding Judge for Pima County. Judge Bergin began his term as the Presiding Judge on July 1, 2021.
Honorable Michael J. Butler was appointed to the Pima County Superior Court in May 2013, and he has been assigned to the juvenile, criminal and civil benches. During his time on the criminal bench, Judge Butler spent three years as Pima County’s mental health judge, and he presided over all competency matters and the county’s Mental Health Court. Judge Butler now serves as Presiding Judge of the Pima County Juvenile Court. Before his appointment, Judge Butler practiced as a commercial litigator in Tucson for twenty years. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Arizona, and prior to his legal career he worked as a certified emergency paramedic.
Honorable Randi Burnett has served as a commissioner of the Superior Court in Pima County since April 2021 and is currently assigned to the family law bench. Prior to joining the bench, Randi was a partner at Waterfall, Economidis, Caldwell, Hanshaw & Villamana, P.C. for several years and then spent her last two years of practice at The McCarthy Law Firm. Her family law practice included a broad range of family law matters including divorce, legal separation, same-sex issues, multi-state jurisdictional issues, high conflict custody issues, grandparent visitation, minor child guardianships, child support, spousal maintenance, paternity, and appellate matters. Randi has presented at multiple legal seminars on numerous topics, including complex financial issues, ethical issues, high conflict custody concerns, and the unique concerns involving autistic children in custody matters. Outside of work, Randi enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors with her husband and two children.
Honorable Renee L.K. Hampson was appointed to the bench in 2021 by Honorable Presiding Judge Jeffrey Bergin. Judge Hampson presides over the Specialty Courts for Pima County Superior Court, including STEPs, DTAP and Mental Health Court. Judge Hampson’s previous career includes over 20 years in public defense both in Arizona and Washington State.
Honorable Kellie Johnson is the Civil Presiding Judge at the Pima County Superior Court. Governor Ducey appointed her to bench June of 2017. She graduated cum laude from the University of Arizona School of Law in 1996 and joined the Pima County Attorney's Office as a trial prosecutor in 1997. During her career as a prosecutor, she tried over 150 jury trials, and received awards at both the State and national level for her trial advocacy. In 2015, she was the recipient of the Arizona State Bar's Michael C. Cudahy Criminal Justice Award. She is currently the Dean of the Judicial College of Arizona. Judge Johnson also serves on numerous Arizona Supreme Court committees including the Advisory Committee on the Rules of Evidence, the Capital Case Oversight Committee, and the Commission on Victims in the Courts.
Honorable Kenneth Lee was appointed to the Pima County Superior Court in 1997. He has held assignments on the Civil, Criminal, Family and Probate benches. He has served four terms as Associate Presiding Judge, two terms as Civil Presiding Judge and once as Probate Presiding Judge. In addition to his judicial assignments he has served on the Arizona Supreme Court Committees of the Superior Courts and of the Data Standards and Performance Review. He has been a member of the State Bar Committees for Civil Jury Instructions and Civil Practice and Procedure. Judge Lee has presented at numerous conferences, seminars and educational programs on topics, including new judge orientation, judicial writing, professionalism, and civil case management. He was born in Coolidge, Arizona. He attended the University of Arizona, where he received his degree in Business Administration (Accounting) in 1978 and his Juris Doctorate in 1981. He practiced in Tucson for sixteen years in the area of civil litigation. He was secretary of the Arizona Judges Association for two years.
Honorable James Marner was appointed to the Pima County Superior Court bench in 2012 by Governor Brewer. He is currently the Presiding Judge of Criminal Bench. Judge Marner also served as the Presiding Judge of the Family Bench for 2 years. Before that he served on the Civil Bench where, among other things, he was the Presiding Arbitration Judge and the Elections Judge. Judge Marner taught Pretrial Civil Litigation as an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona law school. Before taking the bench, he was a trial attorney at the King County Prosecutor's Office in Seattle and then spent 15 years as a civil trial attorney in Pima County.
Ted Schmidt is Vice President of the Arizona State Bar, a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the International Society of Barristers as well as an Associate of the American Board of Trial Lawyers.
