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Metropolitan News-Enterprise Names Six ‘Persons of Year’
Those to Be Honored Are Gilbert, Mitchell, Frisco, Macellaro, Greene, Cady
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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Six persons—three jurists and three lawyers—have been named by the Metropolitan News-Enterprise as 2024 “persons of the year” in the legal community,
They are Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Arthur Gilbert of this district’s Div. Six, Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Daviann Mitchell and Christopher Frisco, and attorneys Theresa J. “Terri” Macellaro, Robert Greene, and Kathleen Cady.
The six will be feted at a black-tie dinner on Jan. 31 and will be profiled in a special MetNews supplement to be published prior to the event.
It will be the 35th dinner—the first having been held in 1989 when then-Los Angeles Superior Court Executive Officer Frank Zolin (now deceased) was saluted. The award, itself, predates the dinners, however, with Court of Appeal Justice Mildred L. Lillie, later a presiding justice (also deceased), having been honored in 1983, with others being designated annually with tributes appearing in print.
The black-tie dinner will take place at a private club in downtown Los Angeles (the rules of which preclude identification of it other than in invitations). Those who make reservations will be apprised of the name of the club, located on Figueroa Street just south of the Los Angeles City Library.
MetNews Co-Publisher Jo-Ann W. Grace had words of praise for the honorees.
‘Most Gifted Writer’
She said that Gilbert is being honored “despite a certain nefarious activity on his part,” referring, playfully, to his long-time authorship of a column in a rival Los Angeles newspaper, but adding:
“He is clearly the most gifted writer among the appellate justices in California, consistently displaying wit, common sense, perceptiveness, and, indeed, brilliance. There is no lack of clarity in his opinions, no verbosity, no twisting of facts or law to achieve a personally preferred result.”
Sept. 1 of next year, Grace recited, will mark 50 years since Gilbert’s judicial career began, with him taking office as a Los Angeles Municipal Court judge. He went on to serve as a Los Angeles Superior Court judge and as an associate justice of the Court of Appeal before attaining his current post.
She hailed him as the “consummate jurist” and, in light of his various talents, including as a pianist, a “Renaissance Man.”
Mitchell’s Qualities Lauded
Grace remarked that Mitchell—whose background includes serving as a police officer, then a deputy district attorney, now a judge, and also a dog breeder—“is respected by colleagues and by lawyers for her fairness, industriousness, vast knowledge of criminal law, and the highest level of integrity.” The co-publisher noted that Mitchell is seldom reversed.
Though a former prosecutor, she said, Mitchell is careful to observe the rights of criminal defendants “and cares deeply about the cause of justice.”
The judge is the wife of attorney Brent Braun, previously honored as a “person of the year,” with whom Mitchell joins—through a support group known as “The Chancellors”—in promoting donations to the City of Hope, one of the nation’s premier cancer treatment, training, and research centers.
Lack of Plenteousness
Frisco is—like Grace—a former president of the Italian American Lawyers Association (“IALA”). Grace commented that Frisco was “an able bar leader and, notably, once he became a judge, was still the same approachable, personable ‘Chris’ we all treasured, and continue to, as a ‘paisan.’ ”
There are inoculations that ward off various diseases, she said, but there is none to prevent contraction of what is described as “judgeitis.” Frisco’s immunity, Grace assessed, “is based on his make-up—he’s down-to-earth, with an ego not inflated by virtue of his title.”
She said he was a “credit to the legal profession, as a principled and able deputy district attorney, and is a credit to the judiciary, as a conscientious and deft judge, carrying on the family tradition as the son of the late and fondly remembered Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles Frisco.” Grace termed the honoree “a thinker—and more significantly, a straight-thinker.”
Macellaro Praised
Macellaro is also a former IALA president and is currently co-president of the Multicultural Bar Association and founder and CEO of “Animals Anonymous,” a non-profit organization promoting animal welfare.
Grace credited Macellaro with having attained an “enormous feat” in attracting “massive attendance” at IALA events during early stages of the pandemic when in-person contact was precluded, staging Zoom meetings that featured major speakers, including the surgeon general of the United States, and drawing numerous other bar associations into participating.”
The co-publisher hailed Macellaro as “the consummate bar-group chief, unmatched as an organizer and as a unifier,” adding that “her proficiency in all that she undertakes is amazing.”
Lawyer and Journalist
Greene, a lawyer/journalist, practiced with Lawler Felix & Hall which, though no longer in existence, was at the time not only a major law firm but the oldest in Los Angeles. He is a former associate editor of the MetNews.
Since 2006, Greene has been an editorial writer for the Los Angeles Times and his writings for that newspaper on criminal justice reforms earned him, in 2021, a Pulitzer Prize. Grace said:
“We know, first-hand, of his collegiality, lofty principles, and essential goodness. The MetNews was privileged to have had him on our staff.
“Through his attainment of the Pulitzer Prize, the world is now aware of what was clear to us years ago: his extraordinary skill as a writer.
“Sometimes we disagree with editorials he pens, and occasionally verbalize that disagreement in print, but always we respect the excellence of his work, his sincerity, and the careful analysis he provides.”
Victims’ Rights Advocate
Cady, Grace remarked, has “selflessly devoted untold hours to her attempts, on a pro bono basis, to vindicate victims’ rights.” A Los Angeles County deputy district attorney for 31 years, she is now in private practice with the Dordulian Law Group in Glendale.
Grace pointed to four bills that were enacted based on Cady’s proposals, setting forth their effects:
•SB 1091 permits a prosecuting witness in human trafficking and child pornography cases to have a “support person” accompany the person while on the witness stand.
•AB 411 permits a child witness in a court proceeding involving a serious felony, as well as a prosecuting witness in human trafficking and child pornography cases, to be accompanied while testifying by a trained and certified “facility dog” or “therapy dog. (The constitutionality of the statute was upheld on Wednesday by the Court of Appeal for this district; see story, Page One.)
•SB 288 prohibits adverse employment actions against crime victims who take time off to attend criminal or juvenile delinquency proceedings relating to the offenses against them.
•SB 307 provides for protective orders for the benefit of victims and witnesses of crimes.
Grace said Cady’s “contributions to the criminal justice system have been gigantic.”
Emceeing the dinner will be former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley. Six former persons of the year will each present a tribute to one of the current honorees, each of whom will respond.
Copyright 2024, Metropolitan News Company