Presentation seeks to provide: Insight into How Judges Think; Give Guidance in Meeting the Needs and
Wants of Judges and Provide Guidance for Enhancing Attorney & Fiduciary Communications
C6 – What Probate Judges Need, Want & Love
Speakers

Philip Barbaro
Barbaro, Chinen, Pitzer & Duke, LLP and Alternative Resolution Centers (ARC)
Philip Barbaro, Jr. has been practicing law in Southern California for over 30 years. He is a partner of Barbaro, Chinen, Pitzer & Duke, LLP and is the firm’s primary litigator, focusing primarily in the areas of trusts, wills, conservatorships, elder abuse, undue influence and other probate related matters. He is a certified as a specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. His practice also includes administration in the areas of probate, trust, and conservatorship estates, the preparation of wills, trusts, and related estate planning documents, and real estate transactions and litigation.
Mr. Barbaro represents trustees, beneficiaries, administrators, executors, conservators, private professional fiduciaries, and creditors. In addition, he is a Mediator with Alternative Resolution Centers, (ARC) and mediates cases involving wills, trusts conservatorships, elder abuse and real estate.

Hon. Judge Mary Thornton-House (Ret.)
Alternative Resolution Centers (ARC)
Judge Mary Thornton House retired from the Los Angeles Superior Court in September 2018 after serving for 22 years. She has started her third career as a private neutral for Alternative Resolution Centers (ARC). Starting out in the Pasadena Municipal Court handling criminal cases, Judge House quickly transitioned to civil and spent 8 years in probate assignments in Pasadena and the Stanley Mosk Courthouse.
Judge House is also the author of Thomson Reuter’s California Civil Jury Instruction Companion Handbook, updated yearly. Judge House has been honored throughout her career by many organizations. In 2004, Los Angeles County honored her as one of its ‘Women of the Year’ and named Judge of the Year by the Pasadena Bar Association. In 2008, the California Judges Association awarded her the Bernard F. Jefferson’s Award for Excellence in Judicial Education. In 2011, the San Fernando Valley Bar Association awarded her the Excellence in Judicial Administration award for her leadership in getting California’s Expedited Jury Trials legislation passed, the development of the current universal judgment form, and simplification of small claims pleadings. In 2013, the San Fernando Valley Bar Association named her their Judge of the Year.
Judge House was Dean of the California B.E. Witkin Judicial College which provides for education of all judicial officers in California. The college is a nationally recognized institution and exemplar for judicial education where she has been an instructor and seminar leader since 1997. In 2007, Yale Law School selected her to teach at their China Law Center in Beijing, China, courses on small claims and limited civil procedures to selected judges from throughout China.
Judge House was an Assistant City Attorney and civil litigator for the City of Los Angeles. She graduated from UCLA and received her Juris Doctorate from the University of San Diego.