Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Stevens Names Bankruptcy Judge Sheri Bluebond Assistant Vice President of LACBA
By a MetNews Staff Writer
County Bar President Margaret Stevens yesterday nominated Chief Bankruptcy Judge Sheri Bluebond of the Central District of California as one of the organization’s assistant vice president.
If confirmed by the Board of Trustees at its retreat/orientation meeting Saturday, Bluebond would succeed Sarah Luppen Fowler. Stevens informed trustees by email yesterday that Fowler, who just started the position this month, is planning to take maternity leave in January and concluded that she would not have sufficient time available for the job.
Fowler will, however, take on a new role, as chair of the Newer Lawyers Task Force, Stevens said.
Bluebond, who was earlier appointed by Stevens to the Finance Committee, is a past chair of the Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section, and has been active in the Council of Sections since its formation last year. She was endorsed earlier this year by the council for a seat on the Board of Trustees but withdrew on the basis of ethical advice that, as a member of the Judiciary, she could not run in a contested election.
The council was integrally involved in the formation of the “reform slate” that won most of the contested positions in the board elections last month. Bluebond told the MetNews yesterday that her name had been floated by the council as a possible appointee to an executive position.
She said she met with Stevens both before Fowler was appointed and after she informed Stevens she would resign, and that she told the president that she was prepared to work with the leadership in whatever capacity the president thought best.
Bluebond said she “shared the frustration” of active members who feel that “LACBA Central” has been less than open in its dealings with the sections, “even when things were going on that we would approve.”
While her appointment may have an element of bridge-building to it, she said, she believes it is “not just appeasement” but a sincere recognition of what she can do to help the group. She noted she had been a member of the commercial law section for more than 30 years, and said her work as a lawyer and judge involving financially troubled businesses gave her a strong perspective with respect to LACBA finances.
She hopes, she said, that disagreeing board members will “speak calmly and rationally to one another,” and that LACBA would be “a vibrant association that serves the needs of its members.”
Bluebond has been a bankruptcy judge since February 2001. She was appointed to a second 14-year term early last year, around the same time she became chief judge.
Prior to her appointment, She was a partner at Irell & Manella LLP, which she joined in 1995 after 12 years at other local firms.
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