The Beverly Hills Bar Association (BHBA) will honor two legal titans at the Fourth Annual “BHBA Litigation Awards Dinner” on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 5:30 pm at Montage, Beverly Hills.
The Hon. Michael Nash, Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Division of the Superior Court, receives the “Ronald M. George Award for Judicial Excellence,” named for the former California Supreme Court Chief Justice who retired in 2011.
Browne Greene, a highly respected trial lawyer and founding partner of the Santa Monica-based firm Greene, Broillet & Wheeler, receives the “Excellence in Advocacy Award,” which honors a trial lawyer whose case successes have resulted from expert legal skills, unique trial strategy and courtroom teamwork, and who also gives back to the legal profession and the community. The Hon. Willie Brown is Honorary Dinner Chair.
“The Beverly Hills Bar Association is proud to honor Judge Nash and Browne Greene for their invaluable work serving the community and the legal profession at the highest level,” says BHBA President Diane L. Karpman.
Adds Jonathan Stein, chair of the BHBA Litigation Section and the Litigation Awards Dinner, “They are distinguished leaders noted for advancing the legal profession during their illustrious professional careers and heralded for their dedicated community service.”
Judge Michael Nash was elevated to the Superior Court in 1989 by Governor George Deukmejian and has served in the Juvenile Court since 1990.
Under his tenure as Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court, the Juvenile Court has implemented numerous innovations positively impacting children and families, including the creation of drug courts, protocols on the use of psychotropic medication on children, protocols enhancing communication between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and creation of the Adoption Saturday program in 1998, now a national program with over 200 courts in all fifty states participating annually in National Adoption Day.
Judge Nash is the Immediate Past President of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judge and a member of California’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care. Among numerous awards, he was named Judge of the Year by the Juvenile Court Judges of California and the National CASA Association.
He received his undergraduate degree from UCLA and his law degree from Loyola Law School.
Prior to being appointed as a Municipal Court Judge in 1985, Judge Nash served as Deputy Attorney General in the criminal division of the California Attorney General’s Office.
Browne Greene, founding partner of Greene, Broillet & Wheeler, has achieved outstanding success in his long, distinguished career as a litigator, with a trial record that includes numerous seven- and eight-figure verdicts.
His winning cases in product liability, vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, police misconduct, municipal liability and other matters, have introduced ground breaking evidentiary protocols and resulted in innovative consumer safety protections.
Greene has lectured and written extensively for trial lawyer groups.
He has received the highest rankings from Woodward & White, California State Bar and Super Lawyers.
Browne, who is a volunteer for Big Brothers of Los Angeles, serves on the Boards of Directors of Edgemar Center for the Arts, Little Dolphins Pre-School and 7 Arrows Elementary School; is a strong supporter of the Swedish School of Los Angeles; and serves as a judge in the Shakespeare Festival.
He earned undergraduate and law degrees from George Washington University and began his legal career in the Judge Advocates General’s Corp. (JAG) of the U.S. Air Force, ultimately attaining the rank of captain.
The Beverly Hills Bar Association, serving the Los Angeles region since 1931, is the fifth largest bar association in California with nearly 6,000 members. Its mission is to serve its members, to lead the legal profession and to advocate for justice in the community. Previous Beverly Hills Bar Association Litigation Dinner honorees include Chief Justice Ronald M. George (Ret.); Presiding Justice Norman Epstein; The Hon. Christina A. Snyder, Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California; Roman Silberfeld; Tom Girardi and Marshall B. Grossman.
Tickets for the Fourth Annual “Beverly Hills Bar Association Litigation Awards Dinner” are $225 per person ($255 after February 10). Montage Beverly Hills is located at 225 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. For tickets and information call 310.601.2422 or visit www.bhba.org.
