Before joining CALG, Pat Benke served as a Justice on the California Court of Appeal for 35 years.
She spent most of that time as an Associate Justice in Division One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, based in San Diego. She also served as a Temporary Justice in Divisions One, Two, and Three of the Second District, in Los Angeles. Additionally, during her tenure, Pat was appointed temporary Chief Justice of a specially constituted California Supreme Court when the entire Supreme Court disqualified itself in a case involving the sale of the Supreme Court building.
She was the youngest appellate justice in California when appointed, and the first-ever woman in her Division.
Pat heard thousands of appeals and issued hundreds of published opinions during her career as an appellate justice, many of which addressed significant civil and criminal issues affecting millions of Californians. The Chief Justice appointed her to the Judicial Council, the statewide body charged with improving the administration of justice in California. She was also appointed a Special Master to the Commission on Judicial Performance, in which she investigated high-profile claims of judicial misconduct. Pat was twice shortlisted for the California Supreme Court.
In 2019, the San Diego County Bar Association named Pat a “Legend of the Bar.”
In addition, San Diego’s Earl Gilliam Bar Association, representing Black lawyers, awarded her its first Napoleon A. Jones award for Judicial Excellence and Commitment to Diversity and Community Service in 2011. The San Diego Appellate Inn of Court has also named her a “Special Master,” based on “superior character, ability and competence.”
Prior to her appointment to the appellate bench, she served as a California trial judge.
Before becoming a trial judge, Pat was a California Deputy Attorney General, practicing in the Appellate section. In that role, she drafted hundreds of briefs and argued scores of appeals throughout the state. She also helped prepare two cases heard in the United States Supreme Court.
Pat is also an award-winning novelist.
She is the author of the popular Judith Thornton series of legal thrillers, and her short story Qudeen the Magnificent was awarded First Place in the Short Story category by the San Diego Book Awards, while her collection of the same name was deemed a Finalist by the national Eric Hoffer Awards.
In her spare time, she teaches legal writing, dispute resolution, and other courses at National University in San Diego.
The school focuses on adult learners, a group she passionately supports.
Pat received her JD from the University of San Diego School of Law, where she was Managing Editor of the Law Review.
The school has since awarded her its Distinguished Alumni Award. She earned her BA from San Diego State University.
Law School
University of San Diego School of Law
Awards
Legend of the Bar San Diego County Bar Association
Napoleon A. Jones Award Earl Gilliam Bar Association
Distinguished Alumni Award University of San Diego
Special Master San Diego Appellate Inn of Court
Bar Admissions
California