This article was originally published in the Sep/Oct 2021 issue of San Diego Lawyer Magazine.
By George W. Brewster Jr.
For many years, the San Diego County Bar Association had a conference room named for one of its past presidents, Dan Broderick, who (along with his new wife, Linda) was murdered by his ex–wife. When the bar moved offices to its current location, none of its conference rooms were named after Broderick, or any other individual. (The Madge Bradley Library was also located at the old place.) Instead, the conference rooms are named Cityview and Bayview.
There are a handful of San Diego area conference rooms still named for local lawyers and judges, however. This is a look at just a few of them.
William B. Enright Conference Room
The federal complex downtown is filled with honorable mentions. The Edward J. Schwartz U.S. Courthouse was one of the rare federal buildings named for someone who was still alive at the time of the naming ceremony (the ceremony was in 1975; Schwartz was 63 at the time and passed away in 2000). Most of the other judges predeceased the naming honor — James Carter (1904–1979), Judith Keep (1944–2004), Jacob Weinberger (1882–1974), and John Rhoades (1925–2007).
In the newest federal courthouse (Carter–Keep), the 16th floor conference room is named for the late William Enright (1925–2020, in office as an active District Court Judge 1972–1990, and in senior status 1990–2020). On April 10, 2017, the District Court held a naming ceremony for the conference room, with Judge Enright in attendance. He holds the distinction (as of this date) as having been the longest serving judge in the history of the Southern District. Even late in life he would still attend the court’s Monday meetings. And the view from that room rivals any in San Diego. (See the SDCBA website https://www.sdcba.org/?pg=legendsofthebar for an interview with Judge Enright.)
Graydon Conference Room
Also within the federal complex is a conference room newly named in January 2021 for Betty Marshall Graydon (1891–1974), the first woman to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in San Diego (1944–1952). In 1930, at the age of 39, Graydon started her legal career in Los Angeles, working first in private practice and then joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. At that time, the Southern District included all of LA and San Diego, with AUSAs traveling to San Diego to cover matters in what is now known as the Weinberger Courthouse. The San Diego post became a permanent one in 1943, and Graydon was selected to serve as the sole AUSA in San Diego in 1944.
An Aug. 23, 1945 photograph that ran in the San Diego Journal shows a photo of eight women under the headline “First Meeting of S.D. Portias,” which included, among others, Graydon, Josephine Irving (first female attorney at Gray, Cary), Marie Herney (first female deputy district attorney), and Madge Bradley. The photo caption read, “Legal problems were tossed aside momentarily yesterday for eight charming barristers who met for a luncheon at the first gathering of San Diego women attorneys.”
Graydon was appointed as a U.S. Commissioner in 1952, and in 1955 she was named “Woman of the Year.” Bradley, by then Judge Bradley — the first woman judge in San Diego (and for whom a family law building was named in 1995, when she turned 90) and who herself was the 1953 Woman of the Year, spoke at the ceremony. Said Bradley: “It takes courage to undertake the challenge of being outstanding. Each woman must face criticism or praise for everything she does. She must have the courage to be content in her own heart and mind as to the validity of that criticism or praise and live up to what she believes.”
Graydon was forced to retire due to her age (72) in 1964, whereupon the San Diego Union announced, “The brilliant, dramatic 34–year-long career of U.S. Commissioner Betty Marshall Graydon, grand dame of San Diego’s courts, has ended.”
Ian Fan Conference Room/Erica Gardner Conference Room
Not all conference spaces are named for men or women with legal longevity. Some are named after those who were well liked, well respected, and taken too early. Such is the case within the Office of County Counsel, County of San Diego. In the downtown office, the main conference room is named for Ian Fan, who died in 1998 from cancer at the age of 49. Fan was admitted to practice in 1974, and he started his practice working with the Legal Aid Society of San Diego. Thereafter, he worked as an AUSA in LA (like Graydon) for 10 years before joining County Counsel in 1991. One of the most significant cases involved the ownership of land under the Mt. Helix Cross; his memorial service was held in the outdoor arena atop Mr. Helix.
At the Juvenile Dependency Division for the Office of County Counsel, a conference room is named for Erica Gardner (1975–2019), who was admitted to practice in 2002 and began her legal career with stints at the City Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Public Defender. She was a Senior Deputy with County Counsel from 2005 until her death from cancer at the age of 44, leaving behind her husband Mark and three children. She was a graduate of Cal Western School of Law and a member of their Alumni Association Board of Directors. In her honor, Cal Western awards each year the Erica Brown Gardner ’02 Outstanding Alumni award, and there is also a scholarship supported by private donations called the Erica Brown Gardner Advanced Mediation Award given to students excelling in listening and communication skills. She was a strong advocate, great listener, and lit up any room she walked into.
Dwight Stanford Reading Room
And sometimes, as noted at the beginning of this column, history is fleeting. In 1927, the first law school in San Diego opened, known at first as Balboa Law College (and then Balboa School of Law, and then Balboa University). At the time it was the only law school south of Los Angeles.
The founding and its history is a little convoluted — the school started as the San Diego Chiropractic College in 1924, but thanks to the efforts of Leland Stanford and others, it was chartered as a private law school in 1927. A series of transformations eventually led to the establishment of Cal Western School of Law (CWSL) in 1975, the same year CWSL alum Erica Gardner was born. The law school broke away from the successor to Balboa University, eventually known as Alliant International University. In Cal West’s downtown building on Cedar Street, on the first floor, there was once the Dwight Stanford Reading Room. Recently, it was remodeled into a student center, unnamed. A review of the school’s website (under “history”) reveals only a founding date of 1924, and then a quick skip to the 1960s and beyond. It does not mention Dwight Stanford (1914–2010), who got his degree from Balboa School of Law in 1936, served as President of Balboa University from 1939–1951, and post–war built it from a small school of law into a progressive, multiple degree university of 600–700 registrants. He worked to establish the school on a campus in Point Loma, on land now occupied by Point Loma Nazarene University. The reading room nod to Stanford is gone, and this would no doubt disappoint his brother, Leland, who went on to become the County Law Librarian and noted San Diego legal historian in the ‘50s and ‘60s. (For more on Leland Stanford, see San Diego Lawyer March/April 2009, page 58.) The Stanfords, by the way, were distantly related to California Governor Amasa Leland Stanford, founder of Stanford University, San Diego Leland’s alma mater.
There are other spaces of honor around town, some now gone (Cassius Carter Theatre, wherefore art thou?), others newly named. If you know of others, let the San Diego Lawyer know. And I’ll leave you with this quote from Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933), which is found on the plaque dedicated to Ian Fan: “Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars.” Maybe if you play your cards right, and live as Van Dyke suggests, you too will have a conference room named in your honor.
George W. Brewster Jr. (sandbrews@aol.com) is a retired attorney after 35 years of practice, including JAG, private practice, and the last 30 with the County of San Diego, Office of County Counsel.