Sylvia White-Irby quietly ensures that the LA County court's judicial and executive officers are ready to perform

What if you believe the best way to execute your mission-critical duties is quietly and out of sight? What if the framed poster on your office wall reads, "work hard and be nice to people" - and you do, and you are, and your colleagues at work love you for it? What if your inspiration is Maya Angelou who taught you, "do the best you can until you know better; then when you know better, do better." If all those things were true and you are among the handful of the nearly 5,000 employees of the Los Angeles Superior Court (LASC) reporting directly to the CEO, then you can be only one person: Sylvia White-Irby. Sylvia is the Judicial & Executive Support Director and the next in our series of the most important persons at the LASC you have never heard of.

Sylvia's work falls into the discipline of public administration. (Sylvia obtained her master's degree in that specialty from USC in 1990 - with a certificate in judicial administration.) Public administration broadly means planning, preparation and execution of policy meant to build and strengthen civil society. That is what Sylvia does, supervising a team of 47 professionals, but let's put some meat on the bones.

Yesterday, there was a 25-year lawyer in the community. This afternoon, she will take her oath of office, will instantly cease being a lawyer and will be transformed into a brand-new Superior Court Judge. Two totally different jobs in two totally different workplaces. Before that instant of creation, Sylvia's LASC's Judicial Support Team expended hours of "on-boarding" (HR interfacing, training, keys, parking, how to get a robe, education opportunities). This happens dozens of times per year at the LASC. Huge effort.

The LASC taps a rich vein of judicial talent through its Temporary Judge Program (TJP). We are not talking about a few retired lawyers forgoing a morning of pickleball. No, hundreds of lawyers presiding over thousands of hearings annually. Our Presiding Judge Samantha Jessner recently informed that volunteer community that we could not run the LASC (!) without the TJP given the number of judicial vacancies on our court. The TJP is operated by Sylvia and her team. TJP demeanor and substantive training, record keeping, scheduling ("We need a TJ for a traffic department this afternoon in Downey!") If it's all running smoothly, the community and the rest of the LASC never hear a thing. Remember, that's how Sylvia wants it. But: huge effort.

The LASC's Community Outreach Committee - among the most important of the LASC - brings judges, volunteering countless hours, to Southland community groups. The committee puts judges and young people face-to-face in informal settings to discuss law, civics and tolerance, thereby promoting careers in law and community leadership. The committee aims at middle and high school students with well-known programs: Power Lunch, Mock Trial, Teen Court and Judges in the Classroom. Adult audience-directed programs include Judges in the Community, Court/Clergy Conferences, Teachers' Courthouse Seminar, and foreign delegation programs. Sylvia's teams transform abstract outreach aspirations into discrete, well-planned, seamless events. One mock trial competition requires recruiting hundreds of judges, finding hundreds of courtrooms and coordinating with dozens of high school programs. When a delegation of senior Korean family law judges visits the U.S.'s largest family law court to share experiences, Sylvia's team planned an agenda, brought the right people to the right place, and made it all memorable for the judges involved. (I know; I was one of them.) Once again, huge effort.

Sylvia manages the CEO's business process reengineering. (No, don't skip ahead - this is important stuff.) Example: getting court-appointed minors' counsel paid in the Juvenile Justice and Family Courts. Those kids need their own lawyers in very difficult cases (e.g., potential termination of parental or custodial rights) and the lawyers need to be paid for their hard work. Payment occurs via the LASC's PACE (Professional Appointee Court Expenditure) program. Since almost the beginning of time, PACE carbonless multipart reimbursement forms ("Canary to Accounting! Goldenrod to the Supervising Judge! Pink to the County!") traversed the 4,753 square miles of LA County in hundreds of envelopes acquiring necessary blue-ink signatures and signoffs, and eventually, if all went well, many months later got to their destination for payment disbursement. Meanwhile, lawyers who deserved prompt payment waited (and waited and waited.) In comes the CEO's process reengineering, and: ePACE! Now, it's done with a mouse click or two. Simple, right? Wrong. (Huge effort.) Thank you, Sylvia, for your leadership on that.

Let's meet Sylvia.

Sylvia, how many marathons have you run?

(Laughs.) I have run every LA Marathon since 2005 and have completed a total of 21 marathons. Oh..., you do mean 26.2-mile marathons, not the marathons my colleagues in J&ES [Judicial and Executive Support] sometimes run at work?

That is what I mean. But seriously, is your job with J&ES a marathon-level effort?

Sometimes. Our work is always demanding and our days are long. But it is all about planning and forethought. And while we might be running a 10K most days - so to speak - we want the execution to look like an easy jog to the participants and beneficiaries of our work.

Which goes back to this idea that you like working silently and out of sight. That is not a typical characteristic of extremely successful business executives, many of whom don't mind a little limelight. Care to comment?

Earlier in my career, I was given some responsibilities that, frankly, exceeded my sense of my own capabilities. It turns out that my bosses saw something in me that I didn't see at that time. But I met the challenges. And it gave me then, and gives me now, a great sense of satisfaction to meet high expectations others have for me. I am my own harshest critic and I think I achieve personal validation in my performance if our J&ES execution and delivery seem seamless, frictionless and invisible to others. That is more important to me than a shout-out or a Lucite plaque.

How long have you been with the LASC?

A long time, and I started in 1989 as entry-level as it gets. I was a "student professional worker" and was "promoted" to an intern. (Laughs again.) By mid-1991 I was promoted again, this time to a Court Manager position in the Central Civil Division. I had just gotten my master's degree. I then worked as a Court Manager in the West District, was promoted again to a Senior Court Manager in 1997. These management positions were in the Municipal Court. Court unification [of the Municipal and Superior Courts] occurred in 2000. In October 2000, I got my first job in the LASC's Executive Office downtown, as an "Administrator II" in the Management Research Office, a job I worked for 16 years. Then, in 2016, the CEO promoted me into my current Director position at J&ES.

What about the 15 second elevator speech where you explain to the interested member of the public what you do for the court?

That's a tough one for J&ES because we touch so many judicial and executive functions. I would say, "The work of this court is delivering justice, and access to justice, to the people of LA County. Hundreds of judges and thousands of employees share this vision. People become judges and executives on this court because they are dedicated successful professionals. I supervise a group of likewise dedicated professionals who are privileged to help make the judges and the executives even more successful in all that they do."

Do you consider yourself an educator?

I consider J&ES a major educational institution. First, since 2005 we have run the Judicial Educational Seminars for our 580+ judicial officers. The seminars run at least weekly on an unbelievably wide range of substantive legal topics, each normally has about 125 judicial officers attending, and are taught by certified judicial instructors. Second, we run TechEd, which supports our Judicial Automation Committee. We provide crucial "train-the-trainer" educational sessions for judicial officers who then train their colleagues, in language they speak and understand, on the modern marvels of our electronic case management technologies. Part of this education institution is planning court leadership events hosted by the CEO to encourage continuous learning and effective goal setting. You talk about "mission-critical": here it is.

What makes you happy?

My husband of 29 years and my family. The Christmas holiday season - decorating the house brings me joy. My family here at J&ES, although the dominant emotions I feel for them are humility and gratitude. And little things that happen along the way. A while ago, a court employee working in a different area approached me to say, "I see what you folks do and I want to do it with you. Can I join your team?" An interaction like that makes me really happy.

And?

She's on the team, doing great work.

Any words of advice for entry level employees at the LASC looking to make a career here?

Oh yeah - I have some advice. Be your authentic self and focus on the things that set you apart. If you think it's too late for whatever (education, promotion, new assignment), think again because it's not. Hone your writing skills - they still count for a lot no matter how many emojis are on our phones. Follow through - deliver, and be known for that. Be a good listener. And take some time to recharge your batteries. After all, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon! (Laughs.)