Magistrate Judge Santa Snyder is FCWL 16th Annual Pauline Hanson Award Recipient

by Karen Lynch, District 5 Governorc

Fresno County Women Lawyers (FCWL) in conjunction with the Fresno County Bar Association held the 16th Annual Pauline Hanson Dinner, honoring the late California Court of Appeal 5th District Justice on November 10, 2005. Justice Hanson was the first woman to serve on the Fresno County Superior Court and the Fifth District Court of Appeal. The award is given annually to an attorney or judicial officer who exemplifies Justice Hanson's commitment to professional excellence and the advancement of woman to fair and equal justice under the law.

Last year's recipient of the Pauline Hanson Award, Karen L. Lynch, presented Magistrate Judge Sandra Snyder with this year's award. Magistrate Snyder was the program chair for the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference in Spokane, Washington in 2005. Following this, Chief Judge Mary Schroeder selected Magistrate Snyder as conference chair for the upcoming Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference scheduled for July 2006 in Huntington Beach. It is the first time in the history of the circuit conferences that a magistrate judge has been a program chair or conference chair. The Ninth Circuit covers Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, Guam and Marianas.

Early on, many people saw something special in Magistrate Snyder, encouraged her to go to law school and supported her throughout her legal career. One of her supporters and mentors was retired Judge Annette LaRue. At the dinner, Magistrate Snyder recognized her mother as her role model who did everything in life so well and as the "best mother in the world." She ended her acceptance speech with the comments that she was the "luckiest" attorney to have the greatest family and friends, including those within the legal community, and that she was honored to have received the award. She was accompanied by her staff, her family and friends.

The dinner keynote speaker, Emilia Mayorga, an attorney with the San Francisco firm of Kerr & Wagstaffe, LLP, gave an informative presentation. Ms. Mayorga obtained an $11.1 million jury verdict in her first trial involving a defamation action brought by two employees of Compuware Corporation. Ms. Mayorga's message was that it is the story that is the most credible that prevails, even when the prevailing party's attorney is a first time inexperienced attorney, who makes mistakes, and is facing incredible odds against winning.

The annual Pauline Hanson scholarship was also awarded at the dinner event. This year, UC Davis law student Amanda Whitten, a new member of FCWL and California Women Lawyers, was the recipient. Ms. Whitten graduated from California State University, Fresno and plans to return to Fresno after graduating from law school to practice public interest law.