William W. Bedsworth, Associate Justice
Associate Justice, California Fourth District Court of Appeal
William W. Bedsworth was born in Long Beach, California, on November 21, 1947, and grew up in Gardena. He received a Bachelor's Degree (cum laude) from Loyola University of Los Angeles in 1968 and his Juris Doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall) in 1971.
After graduation from law school he joined the Orange County District Attorney's Office where he served as a line deputy, felony trial deputy, appellate attorney, and finally as managing attorney in charge of the appellate division of that office. He handled cases in both the California and United States Supreme Courts, and his argument before the California Supreme Court in In re James D. (1987) 43 Cal.3d 903, was videotaped by the National School Safety Center for educational use. During his career as a prosecutor, he was twice chosen President of the Association of Orange County Deputy District Attorneys and twice elected to the Board of Directors of the Orange County Bar Association.
In 1986, he was elected to an open seat on the Orange County Superior Court. He was re-elected in 1992, and in February 1997, he was appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 3 by Governor Pete Wilson. He was then elected to that position in 1998 (term expires 2010).
Justice Bedsworth has taught at Western State University College of Law and Chapman University School of Law, as well as the California Judicial College in Berkeley, and served on the Board of Advisors of Whittier Law School. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the National Conference of Christians and Jews and Fair Share 502 (a charity whose 10 members raised almost a million dollars for homeless children). He was the Hispanic Bar Association's Judge of the Year in 1997.
In addition to law review articles, he has published a great deal in the lay press, most recently in Sierra and Coast magazines. His award-winning monthly humor column "A Criminal Waste of Space" is nationally syndicated and self-described as the most aptly named feature of the dozen legal publications in which it appears. He has published two books of legal humor (American Lawyer Media Publications, New York), and is a sought-after public speaker. A partial list of recent speaking engagements includes groups as diverse as the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Nebraska State Bar, The Alabama State Bar, the King County (Seattle) Bar Association, and the American Bar Association International Law Section (London).
Justice Bedsworth lives in Laguna Beach with his wife Kelly and three cats. His primary recreational interests are his three children, three grandchildren, golf, country music, and ice hockey. He worked as a National Hockey League goal judge for 15 years and was the subject of a story in ESPN the Magazine entitled Justice of the Crease.
