JUDGE

MARY ANN 5. GRILLI

SUPERI OR COURT O F CALI FORN IA
COUNTY OF SAN TA CLARA
f.B0 FiOiii
l Liiili E

all the help she received from court

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..
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staff. She hopes to adapt some proce

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dures in probate court when she returns

to family court, such as having a court

staff person who takes "notes" on each

Elected judge of Santa

case so, in ongoing proceedings, the

Clara

judge knows the history of what has

County Superior Court, 1996; Superior

Court commissioner,

happened before.

1993-96; sole

"It's a very varied calendar," Grilli

practitioner, 1987-93; attorney in part

said

nership with John Miller and Jerry

of her

current

assignment.

It

includes not just traditional probate

Berg,1973-87

work and conservatorships but also

Age 62

adoptions and guardianships.

"There are a lot more lawyers than

By Craig Anderson

in family court," she said.

Daily Journal Staff Writer

A native of Ithaca, N.Y., Grilli

SAN JOSE - Santa Clara County

grew up in Baton Rouge, La., the

Superior Court Judge Mary Ann Grilli,

a veteran of family court both as

daughter of a Louisiana State University

an

professor of animal breeding and genet

attorney and a judge, will be heading

ics. She was taking pre-med classes at

back there in January after spending

the University of California, Berkeley,

two-and-a-half years handling probate

when she decided it was not for her and

matters.
Probate lawyers say they are going
to miss her.
"She is everything a judge should
be," said Michael Desmarais, a veteran

that the law interested her a lot more.

Grilli

success to her experience in the rough

majored

in

criminology,

and-tumble atmosphere of family court,

graduating in 1968, the same year she

where parents wage emotional battles

married John Grilli, whom she met

Los Gatos attorney. "She has empathy,

over money and their children, often

when they were working as switchboard

patience

without lawyers.

operators at their dormitory.

and

intelligence.

She

has

shown me enormous patience and has

In conservatorship cases, parents

She attended night classes at Santa

actually tried to lead me into realizing

often disagree about how to deal with

Clara University School of Law and had

that I don't know it all in my area of spe

their young adult children with disabili

two children. The night program lasted

cialty. And she has done so very tactful

ties - a situation not dissimilar from

four years, and Grilli graduated in 1973.

arguments that rage in family court

She worked part-time for three years

ly."
Desmarais said probate attorneys

between divorcing spouses. In other

until starting full-time in 1976, working

tried, without success, to persuade the

cases, it is the parent who needs care,

with John Miller and Jerry Berg at a

court to keep her on the probate calen

with children and new spouses at odds.

family and criminal law firm where she

dar, which speaks to how well she has

"The judge's experience in family

managed to overcome her own limited

law gives her substantial sensitivity in

experience in that area of the law.

the conservatorship field," Stem said.

became a partner in the early 1980s.

Her two children are adults now,
and Grilli has six grandchildren.

"When we have a judge who has

After a career in family court, as a

Grilli specialized in family law,

not done probate before, there is always

lawyer and then a commissioner and

and started her own practice in Palo

concern about how that person will

finally a judge, Grilli said she is happy

Alto in 1987. Six years later, the judges

work out," said Palo Alto attorney Peter

to have made the switch to probate

of Santa Clara County Superior Court

Stern. "I think things have worked out

court. But, she adds, "I'm happy to be

appointed her a commissioner. She han

very well."

going back."

dled family law, child support and

domestic violence.

Stern and other lawyers say Grilli,

The judge said she had to learn

62, has the legal chops to understand the

about conservatorships - not just the law

In 1996, Grilli ran for an open seat

ins and outs of wills, trusts, and conser

but also the practical reality - by visiting

on the Superior Court bench, defeating

vatorship dispt1tes that come up on her

elder facilities.

defense attorney Thomas Spielbauer.

calendar, but also the temperament and

experience to deal with the emotional
issues that arise: in contested cases.
Several attorneys attributed G1illi's

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"I learned a lot about politics," she

"I went to places to see what it is

like," she said.

said.

Grilli has enjoyed her time in pro

Grilli, who took office the next

bate court, saying she has appreciated

year, found herself dealing with protests

2010-1

JUDGE MARY ANN S. GRILLI, SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA

and acrimony over the way Santa Clara

bate

County family court judges handled

divorce and custody cases.
She was not the primary target of
protesters' vitiiol, and attorneys who
were among the court's critics back then

Attorneys:
Ellen McKissock,
Hopkins & Carley, San Jose; John
Posthauer, Santa Clara county counsel's
office; and Sheri Sudweeks, Los Gatos

say they are happy about her return.

"She's

known

quantity

and

knows the law backwards and for

wards," said Los Gatos family law attor
ney Robin Yeamans.
While some attorneys say it is bet
ter for judges to get switched away from
family court to avoid burnout, Grilli
bristles at the suggestion. She points out
that many judges who handle criminal
calendars have spent virtually their
entire careers as prosecutors or criminal
defense attorneys before joining the
bench.
"That question doesn't get asked
[of them]," she said.
Desmarais said Grilli's courtroom
can get very crowded, with as many as
a dozen attorneys representing various
factions of an extended family in dis
putes over living trusts.
"Lawyers are getting angry and
clients are getting angry," Desmarais
said. "A lot of judges would let some of
that anger seep through. She doesn't."
Jack Coward, a Los Gatos sole
practitioner, said Grilli is always pre
. pared and efficient in moving through
her calendar.
"She's fair and will let the lawyers
present and argue their case," Coward
said. "When there's a repetition of the
argument, she will rein them in."
Grilli said she is proud of her role
in promoting a program to encourage
low- and no-cost representation for
guardians of children, known as the
Guardianship Access Program, and
hopes to create a similar program in
family court.

- In re Conservatorship. of Frank
Reed, l-07-PR-161658 - conservator
ship
Attorneys: Mark Gonzalez, Santa
Clara county counsel's office; Vincent
Kilduff, San Jose; and Sung Lee, Santa
Clara County public defender's office
- In re Conservatorship of Diana P.,
l -07-PR-162463 conservatorship
Attorneys: Rebecca Weisman,
Fleishman & Weisman, San Jose, and
Howard Frank, Frank Law Firm, San
Jose

This profile originally appeared in

the Los Angeles Daily Journal and the
San Francisco Daily Journal December
29, 2009.

Here are some of Judge Grilli's

recent cases and the lawyers involved:

- Dantzig Trust, l -05-PR-156777 living trust

Attorneys: Jack Coward, Los
Gatos; Peter Stern, Palo Alto, and
Terrance Heath, Heath Law Group, San
Francisco
- Raffanti Living Trnst, l-08-PR163480 - living trust
Attorneys: Paul Breen, Hoge,
Fenton, Jones & Appel, San Jose, and
Michael Desmarais, Los Gatos
- In re Co:nservatorship of Gary B.,
l-97-PR-141989 - conservatorship/pro2010-1

------ -

Daily Journal Corporation

.JUDGE MARY_ANN S. GRILLI, SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA

BIOGRAPHY
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT

1990-present: Academy of Family

Mediators

Court: Superior Court of California

County of Santa Clara

1983-1993: Santa Clara County Bar

Association (Family Law

Title: Judge

Executive Committee)
1973-present: Admitted to California
Bar
Pafo Alto Area Bar Association
(President)

Dates: 1997 to Present

Status: Elevated
Appointed by: Election
Date: March 1, 1996
PREV IOUS JUDICIAL

PERSONAL HISTORY

APPOINTMENTS

Status: Appointed
Appointed by: Court
Date: November 1, 1992
EDUCATION

Law School: Santa Clara University

School of Law
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Date: 1973
Degree: J.D.
Honors: Magna cum laude
College: UC Berkeley
Location: Berkeley, CA
Date: 1968
Degree: B.A. Criminology
PRACTICE HIS TORY

Birthplace: Ithaca, NY
Sex: F
Spouse: John Grilli
Religion: Jewish
Political Affiliation: Democrat
Recreation: Hiking, cooking
MILITARY

OTHER

Continuing Education Taught: Child

Support LegiSlation, 1992
Continuing Education Taught:
Trying a Family Law Case, San
Jose 1980, 1982
Moderator, CEB program, "Dividing
Property on Dissolution of
Marriage," 1994

Sole Practitioner
Location: Palo Alto, CA
From: 1988 to 1992
Specialty: Family Law
In partnership with Attorney John
Miller
Location: Palo Alto, CA
From: 1978 to 1988
Specialty: Family and Criminal Law
Matters
Assoicate of Attorney Jerry Berg
Location: Palo Alto, CA
From: 1973 to 1978
Specialty: Family and Criminal Law
Matters
BARS AND RELATED
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

1996-present: Judicial Council

Family and Juvenile Advisory
Committee
1994-present: Domestic Violence
Council, Santa Clara County
(Chair)

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