CWL is thrilled to award Judge Erica Yew the 2023 Rose Bird Memorial Award.

The Rose Bird Memorial Award recognizes a Northern California judge whose judicial excellence and longstanding and/or groundbreaking public service inspires women lawyers throughout California. Judge Erica Yew’s 30 years of service to the Bay Area makes her the perfect awardee.

Judge Yew made history in 2001 when she was appointed to the Santa Clara County Superior Court as the court’s first female Asian American Pacific Islander judge. Over the years, Judge Yew has made significant contributions through her leadership positions on various committees and organizations including the California Supreme Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions, the California Access to Justice Commission, the National Center for State Courts, the Task Force on Self-Represented Litigants, and the Judicial Recruitment and Retention Working Group.

She was recently named as the President of the California Judges Association (“CJA”). She co-chaired and co-founded the CJA Mindfulness and Wellness Committee and helped to create a website that is open for bench officers to connect them with information to support professional wellness. Judge Yew has taught on judicial ethics, the elimination of bias in the court system, language access in the legal system, and the function and work of collaborative courts.

She has received a number of awards for her community service and work as a judge, including John W. Gardner Leadership Award, the Asian Law Alliance Distinguished Recognition Award, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Trailblazer Award, the Woman of the Year Award for District 24 (named by California Assembly member Rebecca Cohen), the Juliette Gordon Low Award from the Girl Scouts of Santa Clara County, Outstanding Jurist of the Year from the Santa Clara County Bar Association, and the Distinguished Service Award from the Judicial Council.

Rose Bird Memorial Award Recipient: Judge Erica R. Yew | Santa Clara County Superior Court

Moderator: Judge Holly Fujie | Los Angeles Superior Court

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