Shawna Schwarz

From Palo Alto Wiki

Shawna M. Schwarz is a Superior Court judge in Santa Clara County.

[edit] Education

Schwarz received her bachelors and masters degrees from Stanford University and then went on to Santa Clara University for law school, earning a J.D. in 1993. She was admitted to the California State Bar in 1993.

[edit] Career in law

Schwarz spent seven years from 1995 to 2001 as the Directing Attorney at Legal Advocates for Children & Youth (LACY) where she represented children in guardianship, emancipation, education and other legal matters. She was appointed Commissioner of the Juvenile Dependency Court in December of 2001. She presided over the cases of over 800 abused and neglected children in Santa Clara County. She was the chair of the Cross Training Committee of the Greenbook Project, a federally funded initiative that is concerned with the overlap of child maltreatment and domestic violence.^[1]

In May 2006, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Judge Schwarz as a Superior Court Judge for Santa Clara County. Judge Schwarz briefly presided over a misdemeanor calendar before being transferred to her current assignment, Family Court. In Family Court, Judge Schwarz presided in Department 101 over a specialized restraining order calendar until December of 2008. At that court she heard domestic violence, elder abuse, civil harassment, and workplace violence restraining orders. Schwarz ran for re-election in 2008 and was re-elected. She next faces election in 2014.^[2]

In addition to her case load, Judge Schwarz provides trainings on dependency and domestic violence issues. She has trained over 1,000 social workers, community based organization staff and community members on the overlap of domestic violence and child maltreatment. In addition, she trains court appointed special advocates and various service providers on the juvenile dependency process.

Shwarz now hears adult probation cases, Department 70.^[3] On May 5, 2009, she held a special court session for SJSU students involved in a Record Clearance Project.^[4]