South Bay judge faces challenger
Judge Maren Elizabeth Nelson, a South Bay resident, faces challenger Jim Garo Baklayan for her spot on the Los Angeles County Superior Court bench in Tuesday’s election.
Nelson, 54, who was appointed to her family law judgeship in 2009 after five years as a family law commissioner, said she has spoken to community groups, submitted campaign statements to the League of Women Voters, and sent out campaign mailers. She hired local campaign consultant Fred Huebscher, and expects to spend less than $100,000 on her campaign.
“I think it’s very important that the people of our county learn about their judges’ experience, and their commitment to public service,” she said.
Baklayan, 42, who maintains a civil law practice in Los Angeles and has served as a temporary judge in more than 300 small claims cases, said his campaign has focused largely on email communications and use of smartvoter.org, a League of Women Voters website at which candidates for office are encouraged to make their cases to the public.
Baklayan is rated “not qualified” by the Los Angeles County Bar Association, which rated Nelson “especially well qualified.”
The Los Angeles Times, in a lengthy piece evaluating judicial candidates on the ballot, contended that the “sparsely qualified” Baklayan, “who has a small practice devoted mostly to his family business, fails to demonstrate either that Nelson should be off the bench or that he should be on it.”
Lawyers interviewed by the Los Angeles Daily Journal in 2005 described Nelson as well prepared, thorough, reasoned, and calm, and numerous attorneys sang her praises to the Metropolitan News-Enterprise in March.
Nelson was presented with a Distinguished Jurist Award in 2008 by the Southern California Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
Baklayan has garnered three certificates of appreciation from the Los Angeles County Superior Court for his work as a temporary judge.
On smartvoter.org, Baklayan stated, “After hearing and deciding over 300 small claim cases for the County of Los Angeles, during my volunteer work as a temporary judge, I discovered that it was something that I felt honored and privileged to do. I also felt that I had the honesty and integrity to do the job well.”
Baklayan added, “I feel that I have what it takes to be a fair, patient, and honest judge.”
Baklayan said he decided to challenge Nelson, a family law judge, after he found internet postings critical of her. He said he could not elaborate, because ethical restraints on attorneys, and on judicial candidates, forbid him from “saying anything derogatory about a sitting judge.” ER