November, 1998

You name it, Lawrence Stevens has litigated it. As a private practitioner in the 1970s and 80s, he did both civil litigation and criminal defense. He also has worked as a deputy district attorney in San Mateo and Sacramento.

Having been appointed just last summer, Stevens hasn't had an opportunity to develop a track record as an appellate judge.

A San Mateo County judge for the previous 12 years, Stevens is only the second from that region currently on the First District. The other, his Division Five colleague Zerne Haning III, is said to be nearing retirement. "I think he's a great judge," Haning said recently. "If you talk to the lawyers down there in the county, he gets real high marks."

Indeed, the State Bar's Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation rated Stevens "well-qualfified."