Eleventh hour legal issues have allowed Ivette Peña to practice her poker face

Lawyers for lawyers have their work cut out for them not because they have fools for clients (those are lawyers who represent themselves), but because of the opposite: their clients are smart and sophisticated in the subject of legal representation. A strong second opinion on legal advice rendered is never far away. Consider, then, the job of the Chief Deputy, Legal Services/Court Counsel, the head lawyer for the Los Angeles Superior Court (LASC) – an institution packed with nearly 600 judges and court commissioners. The person with that job is Ivette Peña, who is one of the very few of more than 4,900 court employees who reports directly to CEO David Slayton. She is also among a small group of the most important people at the LASC that you have never heard of. Let us take a look at Ivette’s world.

There really is not a concise or satisfying answer to the 15-second elevator ride question from an interested member of the public, “so, what do you do for the court?” It would go something like this: About one-third of the job is to provide legal advice to the judicial officers concerning their rights and obligations as public officials, and about two-thirds is to provide such advice to the LASC itself. This division reflects the two job functions embedded in Ivette’s unitary title: (1) Chief Deputy, Legal Services and (2) Court Counsel. There is a universe of issues, conundrums, problems and challenges captured by the otherwise-vanilla “rights and obligations” description. One needs only to read the newspapers over the course of any given week to see all the matters in which the LASC and its judicial officers are involved that trigger meaty issues about “rights and obligations.”

Ivette’s job has attributes familiar to many lawyer-readers of this column. She is chief in-house counsel to a very high dollar, highly regulated, “in-the-public-eye” enterprise with 5,500+ workers operating out of some 40 worksites (not all courthouses), distributed around Los Angeles County. Wearing her hat as Chief Deputy, Legal Services, she supervises a unit comprising 245 professionals and manages a $50 million budget! (Amazing that you’ve never heard of her, right?) In her other hat, as Court Counsel, Ivette is the senior partner, so to speak, of a small, dynamic five-person “law firm” providing specialized legal services to specialized clients. As is true with all successful lawyers at the top, she works very long hours on difficult problems (the easy ones don’t reach her desk) and is available 24/7 for the latest breaking problem that did not wait for a more convenient time to emerge. “We need to hear from Ivette!” are the words often uttered in the CEO’s office and the PJ’s suite. And usually, they don’t mean in two days; they mean, like, tonight or tomorrow at the latest.

There is a long list of Ivette’s job duties – here are some. She provides legal advice to executives and managers on employment law and tort liability; directs research and writes or reviews opinions concerning the duties, power and obligations of the LASC; oversees court compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements; drafts and reviews contracts; coordinates judicial officer legal representation through the Judicial Council of California and oversees litigation involving the court, from the pleading to appellate phases; oversees and/or represents the LASC in litigation settlement negotiations; works with judicial officers and staff in the LASC’s analysis and resolution of complaints made by the public directed to judicial officers and court personnel – including proposed corrective actions; monitors, reviews and prepares comments on proposed state legislation and regulations; and analyzes, researches and drafts legal documents in response to judicial officer disqualification matters. As if this were not enough, Ivette also is the senior manager of the LASC’s 178 research attorneys and law clerks, a high-production, high-functioning group of legal professionals in great demand, as well as the 39 professionals in the Probate Legal Unit.

A very big job. Let’s meet Ivette.

Ivette, you are known for your calm demeanor even in sweaty-palm situations. Good poker face or the real thing?

(Laughs.) There comes a time when the poker face and the real thing become a single thing on account of years of practice and habit. My job sometimes intersects with Canon 3 of the Code of Judicial Ethics, which provides that a judge “shall be patient, dignified and courteous” – and every judge knows that is the obligation no matter how stressed or provoked. I tell judges, “Get off the bench if you feel you’re on thin ice with respect to Canon 3” and I follow that same advice. I may not seem so calm behind my closed office door some days. But to answer the spirit of the question, yes, my job can be quite stressful, but I know I’m most effective if I am patient, dignified and courteous. So, I’m happy to hear that I seem calm. That’s the goal.

You attended Brown University undergrad and then Harvard Law School. Competitive environments for sure. If you don’t mind, tell us a little about your upbringing and how it prepared you, one way or the other, for the Ivy League.

Well, after my parents divorced, my mom moved us from Puerto Rico to New York City. In that move, I lost everything and everyone I knew and found myself in a (very) foreign land whose language I did not speak. I focused on learning English and then on excelling academically. I saw the latter as the only way to secure my future.

Well, it sure seems to have worked. What did you do before you got your current job at the LASC?

In 1990, I went to work in BigLaw, for Heller, Ehrman in San Francisco. I was working in complex civil litigation with a focus on accountants’ liability. My practice there also involved pro bono work in the area of hate crimes, death penalty defense, consumer rights and immigration. From 1992 to 1994, I was the Director of Litigation and Associate Executive Director of the Public Law Center in Santa Ana. Much of my work there involved housing rights and developing a legal services delivery model for medically indigent and HIV-positive persons. From 1994 through 2000, I again worked in private practice in the practice areas of housing and employment discrimination, and later represented California public school districts with all their specialized regulatory and litigation issues.

What happened in 2000 and why?

I joined the LASC as part of the Court Counsel function. Why? Because this job places me at the intersection of a core institution of our democracy and a highly specialized set of law practice and management challenges. I have found this environment, for each of the last 23 years, to be fascinating, vital and challenging. The truth is that it’s a very hard job sometimes, but I think it’s a privilege to have it.

What do you think is the most misunderstood element of your job?

Most people in the court understand the nature of and the need for the LASC to have legal services and court counsel functions. Probably most don’t understand the breadth of what we do, day in and day out. But outside the court, I’m often given a look of puzzlement conveying the question, “Why would the court need a lawyer?” And among people knowledgeable about public sector employment, most are surprised to learn that I and my colleagues are not part of the Office of County Counsel. But we definitely are not. We work for the LASC, not the County of Los Angeles.

I referred to you as the senior partner of a six-person law firm. Fair characterization?

Well, I’ve never been a senior partner in a law firm so I’m not sure. (Laughs again.) But it is correct that our Court Counsel Office currently employs three full-time lawyers and one part-time lawyer who report to me. They are Leah Gershon, Phu Nguyen, David Lee, and Fred Bennett (who works part time). We hired an additional attorney who is scheduled to start at the end of the month, and are in the process of hiring another attorney. Principal job elements for these top-notch professionals involve advice to judicial officers on issues of judicial disqualification, judicial ethics, and interactions with the Court of Appeal on writ matters. Judicial disqualification, whether under Code of Civil Procedure or the Canons, can be complicated both legally and ethically, and much of their time is spent consulting with judicial officers one-on-one. Also, sometimes the court is a litigant – for example, if we need to obtain a workplace violence restraining order – and these lawyers will represent the court in court in those cases. If I am a senior partner, my goal for “the firm” is to provide a supportive and professional working environment where these lawyers can learn and hone their skills and perhaps like me, have a long-term, satisfying career.

What advice would you offer a junior member of the bar who wanted to come to work in the court as a member of the Office of Court Counsel?

I would explain that lawyers need to be subject matter experts in two separate realms: the legal realm (the stuff of lawyering) and the client’s realm. By this I mean, a lawyer must understand the client’s business and its culture, and for the LASC, its mission. Thus, my advice: take every email and telephone call as an opportunity to learn as much as possible about the different divisions of the Court. Take the time to understand the challenges facing, say, the felony trial court judge and how it is the same and how it is different from, say, a judge in the mental health court. Same for the staff in those divisions and those different courtrooms. Listen carefully and don’t be afraid to ask questions. A great one is: “Tell me about your job.” Give practical advice. The client isn’t looking for a law review article; the client needs a clear and feasible answer. And last, incorporate the highest standards of ethics and civility in all encounters – be a role model for all to see.

Anything else you want us to know?

I think most lawyers, in reflective moments, realize that being a lawyer is a privilege and a responsibility. I feel both of those things deeply while doing the work here at the LASC. I’m so proud of our teams and what we do every day. This is more than a great job; it is a calling.