wjc information

Western Justice Center • 55 South Grand Ave • Pasadena CA 91105 • 626.584.7494 westernjustice.org

Fast Facts about Western Justice Center (WJC)

Our Mission

Western Justice Center (WJC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to building a

more civil, peaceful society where

differences are valued.

We design and implement creative

programs that change the way people think

about and respond to differences and

conflict. Our programs raise awareness,

build skills and increase the possibility of

just communities and schools.

Our History

In 1987, the Honorable Dorothy W. Nelson, supported by a band of judges,

lawyers and civic leaders, saw in a compound of graffiti-scarred GSA surplus buildings

what today is a thriving non-profit complex anchored by the majestic Maxwell House

mansion that Western Justice Center (WJC) calls home. Judge Nelson envisioned

creating programs that, like Johnny’s apple seeds, would blossom far from where they

first emerged. Students, teachers and community members the world over would learn to

collaboratively resolve conflicts.

In 2014, WJC merged with

Encompass, a non-profit youth

development organization devoted to

reducing prejudice and bias-related

conflicts. Together, as WJC, we work

with students, teachers and community

members to help create safe and

welcoming schools and communities.

Our Programs

WJC programs have taken root and, indeed, will soon have the reach our founder

envisioned – two web-based programs strengthen our local offerings while providing

Image: WJC

Western Justice Center Fast Facts • April 2015 •

opportunities to work far afield. WJC’s anti-bias, anti-bullying and conflict resolution

programs will reach approximately 3,500 students, educators and community members

each year. They will help create schools and communities where kids feel safe and

welcome.

WJC programs, which comprise our Institute for Safe and Inclusive Schools,

include:

ABCs of Conflict

Educators learn to resolve conflict in the classroom in a positive way. They also

learn how to teach students to address and solve conflict through collaborative

negotiation and as peer mediators. Training includes how to set up in-school peer

mediation programs. WJC trains

groups of teachers from individual

schools, as well as the entire staff of

schools.

The annual Peer Mediation

Invitational celebrates Los Angeles

County elementary, middle and

high school peer mediators and

helps build skills. The Invitational

takes place at WJC headquarters

and in the U.S. 9th

Circuit Court of

Appeals. Students develop

mediation skills. They and their educator coaches also have a chance to meet and learn

from others involved with conflict resolution.

Compassion Plays is a program that mixes theater with

facilitated conversation to tackle bias, prejudice and issues of

identity and begin to create positive change in individuals and

their communities. The three 35-40 minute, single actor, 9-12

character live plays address, respectively, immigration, hate

crimes and racial identification. They were designed for high

school students, but are so good that we have started using them

for MCLE/bias credits.

Creating Bias-

Free Classrooms uses

improvisational theater,

guided self-reflection and

facilitated discussions to train Orange County K-12

teachers and administrators to address and prevent

racial-bias, sexual orientation-bias and gender-bias.

Image: Seanette Garcia

Western Justice Center Fast Facts • April 2015 •

WJC Encompass Service Learning Class: Los Angeles County High School for

the Arts (LACHSA) actors and artists learn improvisational acting and use those skills to

show how homophobia, racial bias and bullying affect the classroom. The LACHSA

students educate through improvisational depictions of “good” and “bad” mediators at the

Peer Mediation Invitational; act out classroom scenes for educators in Creating Bias-

Free Classrooms; and create content for Haven.

School Connectedness at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts

(LACHSA) is a year-long project designed to build a safe and welcoming school

environment and enhance teaching and student

learning. The project incorporates conflict

resolution education and anti-bias training in

the form of elements from WJC programs that

include Encompass Service Learning Class,

Creating Bias-Free Classrooms, Haven social

network and the ABCs of Conflict.

Haven is a social network and

resource website – havensocialnetwork.org –

that provides a virtual place where high school

students and their advisers can learn to create safe and inclusive schools by developing

skills in bullying prevention, peer mediation and prejudice reduction.

The soon-to-debut Haven School Tools came into being in answer to focus

groups held during the beta testing of Haven social network. Educators asked for an

online resource with anti-bias and anti-bullying information and lesson plans about

conflict resolution in a school setting. We’re creating an online site with lesson plans,

videos and information about best practices for anyone interested in creating safe and

welcoming schools.

Visit westernjustice.org to learn more.

Image credits (except where noted): Brian Joseph

Image: WJC

Western Justice Center • 55 South Grand Ave • Pasadena CA 91105 • 626.584.7494 westernjustice.org

UPCOMING EVENTS

SAVE THE DATE! Saturday, October 3, 2015

The California Club, Los Angeles

2015 WJC Justice Awards dinner HONORING:

LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl Champion of Justice

Girardi | Keese Defender of Justice

To Be Announced

Advocate of Justice *Compassion Plays

• Monday, April 27 – Horizon Line for educators in Orange County “Beginning Teachers Support & Assessment” (BTSA) program, Costa Mesa at 3:30 pm

• Friday, May 1 – Horizon Line at CA Judges Association Conference, Palm Desert from 3:15-4:30 pm

*ABCs of Conflict

• Monday, June 22 through Friday, June 26 from 9:00 am-4:30pm at Western Justice Center

• Monday, August 3 through Friday, August 7 from 9:00 am-4:30pm at Western Justice Center

*Creating Bias-Free Classrooms

• Tuesday through Thursday, April 21, 22 & 23: sessions on Gender for Orange County educators in the BTSA program

* If you’d like to drop in on any of these programs, please contact Executive Director Judge Judith Chirlin (LASC-Ret.) or Director of Development Andrea Carroll at 626.584.7494 or [email protected] or [email protected]

Hon. Dorothy W. Nelson (left) & Hon. Judith C. Chirlin (Ret.-LASC) speak

with student peer mediators at the annual WJC Peer Mediation Invitational.

Hon. Dorothy W. Nelson, WJC Founder

The story of Western Justice Center (WJC) is intertwined with that of its founder, Judge

Nelson. She began implementing her vision for a more just and peaceful world, one achieved

with the help of law, first as a young lawyer and professor and, later, in 1969, as the first woman

dean of a major American law school, the University of Southern California Law School.

There, to the surprise (and later admiration) of many students and colleagues, she

advocated the use of mediation as an alternative to litigation. When then-President Jimmy Carter

appointed Judge Nelson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1979, she

continued her trail blazing approach and helped initiate one of the first mediation programs for a

federal appellate court. She also looked at a group of abandoned buildings next door to the court

and envisioned a place where a non-profit organization would develop programs for youth and

adults to learn to solve conflicts peacefully. Judge Nelson and an intrepid group of like-minded

lawyers and judges embarked on a campaign to create that place. In 1987, Western Justice

Center came into being.

Judge Nelson’s idea, that people in the legal community could collaboratively resolve

conflicts instead of taking them to trial, caught on. The model quickly spread across the nation

and even around the world. Today, alternative dispute resolution, or “appropriate” dispute

resolution as Judge Nelson prefers, is a staple of the U.S. justice system and is growing in

acceptance globally. That same idea, that conflicts can and should be resolved collaboratively, is

taking hold in schools and communities on a widespread basis.

Western Justice Center - Judge Nelson’s legacy - is proud to be part of this unfolding

story. WJC is working within schools and communities to make real Judge Nelson’s vision that

conflicts can be solved collaboratively and, with proper attention, the groundwork can be set for

resolving or even avoiding future conflict.

Judge Judith C. Chirlin (LASC-Ret.), Executive Director

Western Justice Center is familiar territory to current Executive Director Judge Judith C.

Chirlin. In addition to serving on the Board of WJC for several years before her appointment,

Judge Chirlin studied law under then USC Dean Nelson, and as Judge Nelson recalls, was her

first choice to lead WJC at its founding. At that time, however, Judge Chirlin was already a

seated Los Angeles Superior Court judge, and not available to take the position.

Jump ahead to 2009: after nearly 25 years on the bench, Judge Chirlin officially retired,

only to become a sought after mediator in addition to continuing her life-long work to improve

the legal system and the administration of justice in California, throughout the nation and around

the world. In November 2011, Judge Chirlin at last took the reins of Western Justice Center as

Executive Director.

Judge Chirlin is well suited to implement her former teacher’s vision for WJC.

Throughout her career, WJC has made a special effort to promote increased diversity in judicial

appointments throughout California and at the national level. Judge Chirlin has traveled

extensively, consulting on court reform and teaching programs for foreign judges, lawyers,

police officers and other legal professionals. Among the countries she has traveled to in that

capacity are Peru, Chile, El Salvador, Honduras, Russia, Slovakia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Czech

Republic, Serbia, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Turkey, Georgia, Oman, Ecuador, Moldova, Qatar and

Libya.

In 2011, working with the US State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, she

helped develop and then facilitated a 2 week program in Washington, D.C. for Iraqi women

activists. The purpose of the program was to assist them in developing programs to combat

gender based violence in Iraq and to educate American policy makers on the conditions for

women in Iraq.

Judge Chirlin is a graduate of The George Washington University (BA in Political

Science), Rutgers University (MA in Politics from the Eagleton Institute of Politics) and the

USC Law School (JD).

WJC Board of Directors

CHAIR

Hon. Richard A. Paez

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

VICE CHAIR

Hon. Dorothy L. Shubin

Los Angeles County Superior Court

PRESIDENT

Charles C. Lifland, Esq.

O'Melveny & Myers, LLP

VICE-PRESIDENT

Glenn D. Pomerantz, Esq.

Munger, Tolles, & Olson, LLP

TREASURER

Marvin E. Garrett, Esq.

Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble, Mallory & Natsis, LLP

SECRETARY

Raymond R. Kepner, Esq.

Seyfarth Shaw, LLP

Tanya M. Acker, Esq

Goldberg, Lowenstein & Weatherwax LLP

James R. Asperger, Esq.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP

Donald P. Baker, Esq.

Past President

John H. Brinsley, Esq.

Erwin Chemerinsky, Esq.

University of California Irvine School of Law

Walter Cochran-Bond, Esq.

Past President

WJC Board of Directors April 2015 Page 2

Craig J. de Recat, Esq.

Manatt, Phelps, & Phillips, LLP

Hon. Raymond C. Fisher


Immediate Past Chair

Jose A. Gomez, Ph.D.

California State University, Los Angeles

Hon. Scott M. Gordon

Los Angeles County Superior Court

Hon. Andrew J. Guilford

U.S. District Court, Central District of California

Hon. Terry J. Hatter, Jr.


Hon. Jeffrey W. Johnson

California Court of Appeal

Christopher Kim, Esq.

Lim, Ruger and Kim LLP

Dean J. Kitchens, Esq.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Immediate Past President

Ellyn McCoy

Diane L. Mc Gimsey, Esq.

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Emily L. Murray, Esq.

Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble, Mallory & Natsis, LLP

Hon. Dorothy W. Nelson


Founder and Chair Emerita

Hon. Jacqueline H. Nguyen


Hon. Fernando M. Olguin



Diane Paul, Esq.

Past President

Chris Poole

JAMS Inc.

Terrence Roberts, Ph.D.

Terrence Roberts Consulting

Hon. Barry Russell

U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California

Robert A. Sacks, Esq.

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Past President

Thomas A. Saenz, Esq.

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

David J. Schindler, Esq.

Latham & Watkins LLP

Hon. Milan D. Smith, Jr.


Amy Fisch Solomon, Esq.

Girardi Keese

Kalpana Srinivasan, Esq.

Susman Godfrey LLP

Mary-Christine Sungaila, Esq.

Snell & Wilmer LLP

Lois D. Thompson, Esq.

Proskauer Rose

William E. Thomson, Esq.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Michael J. Wallace

TM Financial Forensics, LLC

Angela Weimer

NALEO Educational Fund


Clarissa C. Weirick, Esq.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Cathy Winter

CourtCall, LLC

Kerry Garvis Wright, Esq.

Glaser Weil Fink Jacobs Howard Avchen & Shapiro LLP

General Counsel

R. Scott Jenkins, Esq.

Hahn & Hahn LLP

Advisory Board

Brad D. Brian, Esq.

Bert H. Deixler, Esq.

Supervisor Edmund D. Edelman (Ret.)

Hon. Alfred T. Goodwin

Dawn Haghighi, Esq.

Hon. Procter Hug, Jr.

Joseph D. Mandel, Esq.

R. Chandler Myers, Esq.

Sarah Smith Orr

Roger Patterson, Esq.

Marjorie Randolph, Esq.

Lois J. Scali, Esq.

Diane Scott

Michael L. Shannon, Esq.

Hon. Veronica Simmons McBeth (Ret.)

Lucinda Starrett, Esq.


Thomas Walper, Esq.

Robert S. Warren, Esq.

Marjorie K. Wyatt

STAFF

Judith Chirlin, Executive Director

Lori Nelson, Associate Executive Director

Bethany Leal, Director of Finance and Operations

Andrea Carroll, Director of Development

Emily Linnemeier, Program Director

Teresa Wang, Digital Strategy Director

Joe Evans, Property Manager

Sylvia Gonzalez, Executive Assistant/Facilities Coordinator

Clifton Martin, Facilities Assistant

wjc information

Documents