The Contra Costa County Legal Community has changed dramatically over the last 50 years. Our County Bar has grown from a handful of pioneering attorneys in the 1950s to a major legal center of the Bay Area, with nearly 3,000 attorneys, 1,600+ of whom are members of the Contra Costa County Bar Association (CCCBA).

While we never want to dwell on the past, a taste of our history can perhaps give us a sense of perspective on the present and future, as well as provide a few smiles. This summary is based upon the thoughts and memories of some of our past presidents going back more than 50 years. We have neither confirmed nor edited most of these memories. If they are not completely accurate, we apologize and invite anyone to contact the Bar Association to set the record straight.

1930s and 1940s: In the early years, there were two bar associations in Contra Costa County, one called the Richmond or West Contra Costa Bar Association, and one called the Contra Costa County Bar Association. J. E. Rogers was the first documented President of the Contra Costa County Bar Association in 1934. He was followed in 1936 by A. B. Tinning, who formed Tinning & DeLap, one of the early firms in the County. During World War II, Richmond became the city with the largest number of lawyers, since the city population doubled due to the naval shipyards.

Wakefield Taylor was the President in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Leading lawyers at the time were Tom Carlson, Tsar Calfee and Tony DeLap. Wake Taylor was appointed Judge in 1951, soon after his term as President.

Irving Sugarman was President of the Richmond Bar Association in 1949, followed by Norman Gregg in 1950. Mr. Sugarman recalls that the two Superior Court Judges then were A. F. Bray and Judge Jacoby. He recalls there was a Judge Christiansen who presided in the Justice Court until he was removed when it was found out he was not a U.S. citizen.

1950s: In the early 1950s, Walnut Creek had about 3,000 people. Forrest Bailey was the only attorney in town. The Ring brothers followed soon after that. By 1952, it was estimated there were 10 to 20 attorneys in Walnut Creek. John Garaventa was one of the few attorneys in Concord. He was later appointed as a Municipal Court Judge. In those days, 60% to 70% of court filings were done by out-of-county attorneys.

In the mid-1950s, John Nejedly was the Walnut Creek City Attorney (later to become well known in state politics). Notable attorneys in Walnut Creek were Terry Ring, Hal Turner, Betsy Rahn (later a judge), Doug Cowan and John Forde. Notable attorneys in Concord were Bill Betts, Wray Renaghan, Dave Bortin, Tom Coll and Tinning & DeLap. Dick Calhoun was one of the first to open shop in Danville. Oliver Fenstermacher was one of the early attorneys in East County.

In 1955, the small group of Walnut Creek attorneys used to get together for lunch. At one of the lunches, they decided to form a legal aid clinic. This undertaking was spearheaded by Betsy Rahn and Doug Cowan. They also started the first Attorneys' Referral Service in the County. For reasons unknown, the County Bar refused to assume sponsorship of the legal aid and referral service, and the Walnut Creek attorneys thus formed the "Central Contra Costa Bar Association" in 1956. Carl Noeker and Lou McKanney were the first Presidents. Unhappy at having to trek over to the Richmond Municipal Court, the Central County group filed a celebrated lawsuit that successfully established a Municipal Court in Concord. Later, a similar suit was filed to establish the Walnut Creek Municipal Court, and Betsy Rahn was sworn in as the Municipal Court Judge in 1961.

In 1959, David Levy was elected President. One of the burning issues during Mr. Levy's reign was the publication of a "Schedule of Professional Fees." These were booklets that contained numerous attorney tasks with associated suggested minimum fees. Some examples from the 1960 Schedule:

Office work or consultation:	$20.00 per hour (down from $25.00 in the 1957 Schedule)
Drafting Real Property Purchase Agreement:	$50.00
Drafting miscellaneous contract:	$25.00
Drafting a General Partnership Agreement:	$100.00
Ordinary Will:	$15.00
Trust Will:	$50.00
Trial Per Diem:	$175.00
Depositions in defense cases:	$50.00
Adoption:	$150.00
Default Divorce:	$250.00 (Property Settlement Agreement $50.00 extra)
Handling Quiet Title action:	$200.00
Drafting Lease:	$50.00 or 5% of the first-year's rent (I'll take the 5%-ed.)
Handling a civil or a criminal appeal, from filing through oral argument:	$250.00

Dave Levy tells us he has been informed that some misguided court has since determined that minimum fee schedules were in restraint of trade and unenforceable. Dave's officers and committee included such notable names as Wayne Westover, George Gordon, Max Wilcox, Robert Cooney, Oliver Fenstermacher, Robert Pedder, Terry Ring and Bill Betts. In 1979, Dave later became (in our memory) the first (and only, until this year) State Bar President from Contra Costa County.

1960s: Wayne Westover followed Dave Levy as President in 1960. Bar meetings were held either at the Don Hotel or Paul's Restaurant in Martinez. State Bar dues were $25.00. A young Martin Rothenberg joined Judges Fraga, Patterson, Donovan, Gregg and Taylor on the Superior Court Bench. S. C. Masterson resigned his State Assembly seat to take a judgeship soon thereafter. District attorney Nejedly took the controversial step of prohibiting his D.A.s from having private practices on the side. As a sign of the different times, when Wayne Westover finished his term as President, he got a matched pair of Colt Derringer pistols and an inscribed metal urinal saying "A token of our esteem."

In the mid-1960s, the active and prestigious Central Contra Costa Bar Association faded and became essentially a one-man operation. Meetings took place once or twice a year. In 1968, the name of the Association was changed to the Mt. Diablo Bar Association. Bill O'Malley won a very hotly contested election for President. To avoid that kind of awkward animosity, the Bar changed the rules to allow the Vice-President to automatically become the President elect.

In the late 1960s, the Reference Service was overhauled and the Bar became more organized with regular monthly membership lunch meetings and regular board meetings. Delegates were sent each year to the State Bar Convention. (Rumor has it that the delegates spent more time drinking and partying than sitting on the convention floor - ed.)

1970s: In the 1970s, tremendous antagonism developed between the officers of the Mt. Diablo Bar and the Contra Costa County Bar. The County Bar was the senior organization, but the Mt. Diablo Bar was more powerful because of the Lawyers' Referral Panel. Bar meetings at the time were held at restaurants and were devoted to generous portions of food and drink. There was much slamming of the rival Bar Association and a little bit of business was taken care of "where sobriety permitted." Under the reign of President Dick Breitwieser in 1978, negotiating teams from each Bar sat down together (over drinks, no doubt) and hammered out an agreement to consolidate the Bar Associations. According to Dick, the deal was struck between him and Dick Groff, that the West County Bar would be guaranteed two board positions for the first year, one board position for the second year, and then all directors would be at large following that. (That two-year "deal" has been misinterpreted for the last 20 years. It is still the subject of board debate. - ed.)

The deal further provided that the Contra Costa County Bar would be the surviving Association, since people outside the area had no idea where Mt. Diablo was.

1980s: Mike Oliver, Jay Sanders, Timothy Lane, and Bill Gagen were the early Presidents of the newly consolidated Bar Association. The big issue of the time was the huge backlog in the civil trial calendar. At the time, the average time from at-issue memo to trial was three years. The Bar's major accomplishment during that era was the formation of the Bench-Bar Settlement Program. Bar members spent countless volunteer hours with the court, settling cases to try to break the logjam. The Bar even used its own funds to increase court staffing.

The Bar Association was getting larger, but it was still a social and convivial group. Monthly membership lunch meetings had large turnouts, and everyone knew almost everyone else. Large numbers turned out for the Annual Bar Party given at Judge Calhoun's home, with country hoedown and barbeque themes.

Lillian Galvin resigned as "Executive Secretary" of the Bar after many years of service and Susan McKean took over as "Executive Director." Susan had great business skills and the Bar became more formal and organized. Meetings moved from bars and restaurants to the new Bar office in Martinez. In 1985, Suzanne Chapot became the first woman President of the consolidated Bar (Elizabeth Gilbert Anderson and Bessie Dreibelbis had been Presidents of the Richmond Bar). Suzanne had the distinction of serving two terms because her successor, Gus Ginochio, was forced to resign under difficult circumstances and personal problems.

By the late 1980s, Walnut Creek had become the business and legal center of the County. Many large firms from San Francisco either moved or established satellite offices in Contra Costa. The various Bar Sections flourished and caused a decentralization of the Bar Association. Attendance at monthly Bar luncheons dwindled. Some blamed this on the Sections and some blamed it on the demise of the "three-martini lunch," which became politically incorrect.

Spearheaded by Marc Hallert, a group of Section leaders decided to revamp the Conference of Delegates to the State Bar. For years, the officers and directors had been the "delegates," who went to the convention to have a wild time. (We've heard that mission was accomplished - ed.) Under Marc's tutelage, the Contra Costa delegates started to actually review and vote upon resolutions. Contra Costa became a powerful political force in the State Bar. This increase in stature eventually led to Palmer Madden being encouraged to run and winning a seat on the State Bar Board of Governors. This culminated in Palmer becoming the President of the State Bar in 2000. (To the best of everyone's memory, Palmer is only the second State Bar President from Contra Costa - ed.)

1990s: In 1992, Susanne Fenstermacher became President, following in her father's footsteps of some 40 years earlier. Stan Casper followed in 1993, recalling that the highlights of his reign were the Mothers Against Drunk Driving plaque controversy, the creation of the Rules of Professional Courtesy, and the development of the alphabet soup acronymic ADR Programs developed by Judge (now Justice) Jim Marchiano. The statewide status of the Contra Costa Bar Association grew under the presidency of Marc Hallert in 1994 and Palmer Madden in 1996. In 1994, Susan McKean went back home to Ohio and everyone worried that the Bar would fall apart without her. However, the Bar managed to entice Lisa Graves (now Reep) away from the American Arbitration Association, and Lisa has been a fantastic leader of our Bar ever since.

In 1998, Peter Mankin's time as President was dominated by the near collapse of the State Bar, due to Governor Pete Wilson's veto of the Bar Dues Bill. While the State Bar executives (including Palmer Madden) tore their hair out trying to save the State Bar, our County Bar stepped up and was ready to provide more services if the State Bar continued to founder. A new Client Relations Committee and Service was formed to resolve minor problems between clients and attorneys.

Mike Brown finished off the millennium as President. One of Mike's visions was to refocus the Bar in its obligation for pro bono work. A Pro Bono Section and Committee were formed and a very successful Pro Bono Award Gala was held at a local country club. The Bar's pro bono conscience was reawakened from the days of the first legal aid programs of the mid-1950s.

2000's: President Mike Markowitz led the Bar Association into the new century with the mantra "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". His year ran smoothly and he escaped negative dealings with the press, budget surprises, and all other issues presidents fear when taking office. That theme was embraced by his successor and 2001 President, Tom McLaughlin. However, during his tenure, the Bar underwent an intensive operational survey conducted by the American Bar Association in preparation for a facilitated three-year strategic planning session. President-elect, Dick Frankel, was inspired.

In 2002, President Frankel worked tirelessly with Committees, the Board and the staff to implement the Board's strategic goals. These included increasing membership; addressing geographic and cultural diversity within our membership; improving the image of attorneys in the eyes of the public; improving technology, including upgrading our website and internal database; institutionalizing civil bench/bar interaction; addressing corporate governance issues; streamlining our committees and taskforces; and developing an education outreach program for middle and high schools. His year culminated with a return to our roots when our headquarters moved back to downtown Martinez.

Tammy-lyn Gallerani will be president in 2003, and will be the first woman to serve in this capacity for over 10 years. Her theme will be balancing work and family.