Hermosa Beach About Town
Judicial candidates David Berger (left) and Sydne Michel (right) with local attorney David Paquin. Photo
Judge candidates, off the bench
David Berger was holding court near a bowl of chips and salsa, explaining the tangled history behind California’s judicial elections. Meanwhile, Sydne Michel was describing a morning spent with the Mexican American Bar Association Political Action Committee. Berger, a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney, and Michel, a senior deputy prosecutor for Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach, are candidates for superior court judge on the upcoming June 5 ballot. They met with potential voters in a Saturday afternoon gathering at the home of Manhattan Beach criminal defense attorney David Paquin.
Michel spent a decade working as an actress, then joined the firm Kirkland & Ellis immediately after graduating from law school. While there, she worked on “everything from negotiating satellite television contracts one week to 100-page briefs on causation in toxic tort cases the next,” Michel said. She also did white collar criminal defense. After making partner, Michel began a program in which the firm helped city attorney offices supervise trials, and she realized that she loved to be in front of a jury.
She was hired at the Redondo city attorney’s office in 2006 and became senior deputy prosecutor in 2009. Since then she has prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases in Redondo and Hermosa, which contracts with Redondo’s office for city prosecutor services. Michel described being a judge as “the ultimate public service,” and said that her experience on both sides of the courtroom would help her approach the position as a “minister of justice,” treating both sides fairly.
Berger works out of the Airport courthouse just east of El Segundo. He’s been with the DA’s office for 22 years, but initially thought he wanted to work in family law helping immigrants like himself. (Berger came here from England with his mom’s family and retains a distinguished London accent.) He decided to join the district attorney’s office after being on the losing side of a family law case and learning the opposing lawyer had mastered the rules of evidence through his time as a deputy district attorney.
Although he’s spent more than two decades as a prosecutor, Berger is confident he can see the defendant’s side of things. He serves as the Alternative Sentencing Court Designee at the Airport Courthouse, where he works to find people who are convicted of crimes but could benefit from rehab or counseling instead of prison.
“Our job isn’t to win at all costs. It’s to seek justice,” Berger said.