Academy students across all grades got the chance to hear from, and ask questions of, this year’s guest of the Ramo Lecture Series — Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, U.S. District Court for Northern California. She also joined juniors and seniors in an AP Government and Politics class in the afternoon.
Judge Gonzalez Rogers shared details about her family and early education in Texas, which led her to Princeton, the University of Texas at Austin, and UC Berkeley, where she completed her law degree. She began her career as a lawyer in a large firm in the Bay Area, where she found it hard to believe that she was the first Latina hire.
She decided to become a judge because it allowed for a better work-life balance, “and you can still do good and important things.” When she was appointed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008 to fill a vacancy as a Superior Court Judge for the State of California in Alameda County, she was only the second Latina to hold this role.
And then in 2011, Judge Gonzalez Rogers said, she received a call from the White House. “President Obama wants to change the face of the judiciary. Would you consider putting your name in as a federal judge?” While it may not have been the ideal time, it was an opportunity she could not pass up, especially because, as she acknowledged, she has a competitive streak.
She chairs the Northern District’s Committee charged with administering the Criminal Justice Act as it relates to indigent defense and has sat on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The job sees her presiding over all types of cases, from civil rights and gang cases to employment law, including a case that resonated with Academy students — the Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit that returned Fortnight to Apple product users. Because the law touches on so many things, she advised students interested in a legal career to study what they love.
Another important aspect of her job, said Judge Gonzalez Rogers, is getting jurors excited about serving because “they decide the answer” to a court case, and jurors need to represent all backgrounds. But she will dismiss teachers, she added, because “they’re doing community service” every day… unless it’s summer time.
This lecture series, established by Albuquerque lawyer Roberta Cooper Ramo, the first female president of the American Bar Association and the American Law Institute, is funded by a gift in honor of Cooper Ramo from the ECMC Group, a family of companies that provides financial tools and services, nonprofit career education, and job placement services to help students succeed and achieve their academic and professional goals.