Division Two: JUSTICE KATHRYN DOI TODD

JUSTICE Todd is a third generation Californian, born in Los Angeles in January 1942. After being interned with her family during World War II, she returned to Los Angeles where she attended public school, graduating from Los Angeles High School in 1959. She graduated from Stanford University in 1963 with a degree in history, and then attended Loyola Law School on an academic scholarship, graduating with honors in 1970. She served as Executive Editor of the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review and was awarded membership in Order of the Coif. She was honored as Loyola Law School Distinguished Alumna in 2003.

She conducted a general civil practice in Los Angeles, in Little Tokyo, until she was appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court by Governor Jerry Brown in 1978, the first Asian American woman judge in the country. Governor Brown appointed her to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 1981 where she served as Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court from 1988 to 1989. She was appointed to the Court of Appeal by Governor Gray Davis in 2000.

Justice Todd has served on various committees and organizations created to improve the administration of justice, including the California Judicial Council, the policymaking body for our state courts, to which she was appointed by the Chief Justice of California. She has also served as a Trustee of the California Judges Foundation and the Los Angeles County Law Library, and Chair of the Judicial Council Appellate Advisory Committee.

Active in her community, Justice Todd has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center for over twenty years. She has one daughter, who is a singer-songwriter.

<< back