Her Honor

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Her Honor". Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell shared a variety of encounters from her time on the bench. In her time on the bench, she saw the impact of the injustices in the law & worked to find better solutions when the law allowed. She was also instrumental in making significant changes to critical injustices in the law. While I'm not an expert on the judicial processes in this country, I know this country could benefit more from legal scholars like Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell. We need more legal scholars to challenge the injustices in our judicial system & work to remove these injustices.

Our judicial system is definitely better because of the impact of Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell's time on the bench in California!

Her Honor is a plain spoken objective overview of the law written by a black female judicial officer with a wide juridical assignment experience. Written in lay language rather than legalese, the author provides brief overviews of many kinds of cases punctuated by lessons learned by presiding over specific cases. It is a fascinating look at the legal profession and those who are subjected to its sometimes irrational rules. She reveals her occasional boredom with routine, the difficulties inhering from the application of laws that imperfectly guide decisions, and the lack of preparedness of those newly ascending to the bench. It is a perspective not often shared with the general public in such an accessible form.

Her Honor is an enlightening look into some aspects of what it means to be a judge. Examples of the good and bad of our judicial system along with what's broken are shown. It is easy to read and doesn't bog you down with terms you won't understand. Once I started it I just kept reading. For me, it gave another perspective of what a judge deals with on a daily basis.

Behind the scenes look at the judicial system at work from the eyes of a judge. Well written with compelling stories of. actual cases that Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell presided over. I was particularly interested in her well thought out suggestions for overhaul of the legal system.

LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, who earned her law degree from Stanford and had her own office in Santa Clara county didn't know what she was signing on for when she agreed to step in as a temporary judge in a municipal court in the early 1980's. It turned out to be a case that involved only 2 other people besides herself -- two women in their late 20's, both African American. They were locked in a dispute over payment involving payment for work on hair. Black women's hair. This early part reminded me of Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Evidently it was believed that a woman of color would be better suited to try such a case. LaDoris then went on to become the first African American jurist in Northern California, serving in municipal and superior courts and putting into effect programs that have changed the methods in which justice is dispensed. For the lay person, there is a lot to learn about the inner workings behind the bench, and with her wit and warmth and obvious care for people, she can add to her many accomplishments, writer.

I’m generally particular when it comes to reading memoirs and biographies. So when Her Honor arrived (to my surprise) in my mailbox from Celadon books, I was skeptical as to whether I would enjoy the book. Was I ever wrong!

From the start, beginning with the introduction, I was hooked. Cordell certainly has a knack for writing in a way that is easy to understand. It’s as if you were conversing with a friend. Cordell deftly explains legal concepts, and goes further to describe her thought processes for her judicial decisions.

Topics covered in the book run the gamut. Some of the topics are marriage, divorce, criminal cases, probate, and my personal favorite, name changes. With topics such as the above, Cordell introduces actual case files, describes the circumstances, offers her opinions, and finally how she ruled on each case. Thoroughly intriguing.

In addition to actual case file decisions, Cordell also details the shortcomings of the judicial system and offers ten possible solutions for creating a better system that is equitable for every American.

Her Honor is a superb memoir and a definite must read for those readers interested in the court system, the legal doctrines behind the decisions, and how certain laws can have a detrimental effect in the outcomes. Five stellar stars.

I received a physical ARC from Celadon Books, and a digital ARC through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

“Her Honor” by Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell (Retired) is an excellent work of non-fiction, very instructive, and highly enjoyable.

Judge Hazzard spent almost 20 years adjudicating cases in the California Municipal and Superior Courts. “Her Honor” tells the story of that experience in very human terms. It describes many of the cases Judge Hazzard heard, and explains what she thought, and thinks, about areas of the law that most often affect people in their daily lives (e.g., criminal and juvenile law, marital and domestic law, estate and probate law, mental health law, and even how judges make it onto the bench). By extension, “Her Honor” illustrates for readers how and what other judges might feel and think and some of the factors that can affect the decisions they make.

She is particularly adept at identifying problems within our judicial system and suggesting solutions for them. Readers may not agree with every solution, but I thought all the solutions offered both thoughtful and thought-provoking. For instance, she repeatedly suggests that we provide our judges with better training in the disciplines affecting the areas they’re assigned to (e.g., judges adjudicating juvenile and mental health matters ought to have a solid grounding in psychology so that they can fully understand the testimony of experts, the consequences of expert recommendations, and even when an expert is selling them a bill of goods.)

Judge Hazzard is a talented writer. Her prose is clear, direct, easy to understand, and devoid of baffling “legalese.” And she manages to leaven her story, and the stories of some of the cases she handled, with a wonderfully dry and self-deprecating humor.

In conclusion, a great book for all readers and especially for those interested in obtaining a better understanding of our laws and legal system and the judges who administer them.

My thanks to NetGalley and the author and publisher for making this ARC available. The foregoing review is my honest and independent opinion.

Judge Cordell was the first black woman to preside as a judge in the Superior Court of Nothern CA. In her memoir, she provides behind-the-scenes accounts of her daily life as a Judge. I’ve always been interested in the legal system and how it works. So, if you are too and want an insider's perspective, you will learn so much by reading this book.

Judge Cordell writes with full transparency. She shares the good and the bad cases that came across her courtroom along with the flaws that need to be fixed in our justice system. Her stories are very personal and honest and it was a truly eye-opening experience for me.