2000-12-20

PRESS RELEASE
December 12, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TRINA THOMPSON STANLEY, APPOINTED COURT COMMISSIONER
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,
COUNTY OF ALAMEDA

The Judges of the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, have appointed Trina Thompson Stanley, as a Superior Court Commissioner. She will take the Oath of Office on January 8, 2001, and will assume her new duties immediately thereafter.

Commissioner Stanley’s assignment for 2001 has not yet been determined. Court Commissioners may be assigned to any court location and to any area including but not limited to Civil, Small Claims, Traffic, Criminal, Probate, Family Law, Child Support, Juvenile, or Mental Health.

Commissioner Stanley stated that “The Judges of Alameda County have extended the privilege of allowing me to continue to fulfill my commitment as a public servant. The Court is the guardian of due process and I embrace this tenet. As a member of my community, a wife and a mother, I will seek to represent the bench with grace, patience, dignity and humanity. It is with great honor that I join the members of the bench of Alameda County.”

Prior to her selection as a Superior Court Commissioner, Trina Thompson Stanley has been practicing as a sole attorney in criminal defense law for the past 14 years. Commissioner Stanley’s law practice included the following areas of law:

• Capital Murder Trials;
• Felony Trials;
• Misdemeanors;
• Juvenile Defense;
• Traffic;
• Assault and Battery cases;
• Expulsion Hearings; and
• Juvenile Dependency.

Commissioner Stanley is very proud of the program started in her Law Office. It is a summer internship program for students in their senior year of undergraduate work who are applying to law school.
The internship program is a 10 week program beginning the latter part of May and ending in July. Each student is expected to dedicate 8-10 hours per week of service for the internship.

Commissioner Stanley, was born in Oakland, California, attended public schools in Oakland and Vallejo, California. She attended U.C. Berkeley majoring in Legal Studies. She received her J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, in 1986. Thereafter, Commissioner Stanley was a member of the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office as a Staff Trial Attorney. She began private practice in 1991, specializing in criminal defense.

Commissioner Stanley has been very active in the community participating on several professional boards, lecturing on issues related to the legal profession, serving as a mentor for many young lawyers, aspiring law students, college, high school and grade school

Commissioner Stanley is a lecturer and a former member of CACJ, Women Defenders [Co-Chair 1998], CPDA, ABA, Charles Houston Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and the Alameda County Bar Association. In addition, Commissioner Stanley is also a member of Alpha kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and her office sponsors a PAL girl’s softball team named the Thompson Stanley Steelers.

The contact for this information release is Barbara J. Fox, Chief Assistant Executive Officer at (510) 272-6504.