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Dan Maguire, Candidate for Yolo County Superior Court Judge 2012
Presentation and talk before the PBE on March 21, 2012
Judge Dan Maguire was the first speaker. He talked about the duties of a Yolo Superior Court Judge. Judge Maguire is a civil law judge. They cover environmental cases, civil litigation cases, restraining orders, and other non-criminal, non-juvenile cases. There is one civil law judge, 2 juvenile courts judges and the rest are criminal court judges. The civil court is located in the Weissman Building near the corner of East and Main Street, next to the railroad tracks. The other nearest land mark is Jack in the Box. There is a election this year, because the seat for judge is being contested. The election is on June 5, 2012.
Judge Maguire believes that the most important quality that a judge must possess is wisdom. His courtroom philosophy is to treat everyone in the courtroom fairly and with respect, approach each case with complete impartiality, and apply the law in every instance without hesitation.
Judge Maguire was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He attended Stanford University, and graduated in 1989 with honors. After Stanford, he attended Harvard Law School, graduating with honors in 1992. He then worked for Federal Judge Andrew Kleinfeld of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, preparing draft decisions on a wide variety of criminal and civil cases.
Judge Maguire began practicing law in his hometown of Denver, handling civil cases for the law firm of Holme Roberts & Owen LLP. He was part of a team that won and collected a $125 million judgment in a business fraud case, one of the largest in the state’s history. Also, through his work at Holme Roberts & Owen, Judge Maguire worked as an attorney for the City of Lafayette, prosecuting more than 30 criminal cases to judgment.
Judge Maguire married a Californian in Denver and through his wife's urging, returned to California and began working in the Sacramento office of the international law firm of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. He moved to Davis, CA in 1999. In 2001, he opened his own law practice in Yolo County, focusing on intellectual property law (especially patents) and civil litigation. He served as President of the Yolo County Bar Association. Judge Maquire during this time, started teaching a course on intellectual property law at UC Davis School of Law, King Hall, and has been doing this for a number of years. He has received awards from the University for outstanding service.
In 2005, Judge Maguire gave up his private law practice to work for the Governor of the State of California as a Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary, a position he held until his appointment to the bench in 2010. Judge Maguire advised the Governor and his staff on critical legal issues, including legal challenges to budget reductions, education reform, and the proposal for a convention to re-write California’s Constitution.
Because of his experience at clerking for a Federal Judge, Judge Maguire decided to apply for the opening Judge seat in Yolo County, when working for the Governor. This is a grueling process that takes several years. He had to list all of his cases and all of the attorneys that he litigated against and worked with on cases. There were hundreds of lawyers on his list. Since a judge has no person above him and has no "boss," character is the most important quality or characteristic they look at in choosing a judge.
Judge Maguire has been on the job now for a year and a half. He says that the most telling evidence for the job that he is doing are the opinions of people that have been in his courtroom. He closed by stating that he loves the job of judge and he is glad to have the opportunity to meet people during this election cycle.
Dan Maguire's web site can be found at: www.judgemaguire.com
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