Gregory Ward, of counsel at McManis Faulkner and retired Superior Court Judge, has been appointed to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE), the State Bar agency that evaluates all candidates who are under consideration for a judicial appointment by the governor. Ward will serve a two-year term on the commission, beginning Feb. 1, 2013.
“I am honored to have been chosen to serve on the JNE Commission,” said Ward. “I am grateful for the years I was able to spend as a member of the judiciary, and look forward to contributing to the selection of California’s future judges and justices. I will offer a unique perspective to the commission, having spent extensive periods of time on both sides of the bench.”
Ward, who retired from the Santa Clara County Superior Court after 20 years as a judge, is an experienced civil and criminal trial attorney. Before his bench appointment, he practiced civil litigation, focusing on business and intellectual property disputes. He previously prosecuted major criminal cases as a member of the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the U.S. Department of Justice and served as the attorney-in-charge of the San Jose branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Ward has successfully briefed and argued appeals in the Court of Appeals, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School (1972) and his B.A. from the University of California at Santa Cruz (1969).
The mission of the JNE is to assist the governor in the judicial selection process and thereby promote a California judiciary of quality and integrity by providing independent, comprehensive, accurate and fair evaluations of candidates for judicial appointment and nomination.