About the William P. Gray Legion Lex Inn of Court 2018 Platinum

The William P. Gray Legion Lex American Inn of Court was formed in 1989 initially as the Legion Lex Inn, affiliated with USC Law School.  The Gray Inn is one of four thriving Inns of Court in Orange County, California.  Like all of the American Inns of Court, one of its core principles is to assist the "administration of justice" by promoting "legal excellence, civility, professionalism and ethics at a national level."

With about 20 judicial officers from both state and federal courts the Gray Inn presents a great opportunity, particularly for younger lawyers, to build a collegial relationship with experienced practitioners and judges, who are all on a first name basis.

This coming year will continue to present new challenges for our Inn and our community due to the unprecedented circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, including, but not limited to, our legal community. But now, more than ever, we need to remain steadfast in pursuit of our mission to inspire the legal community to advance the rule of law by achieving the highest level of professionalism through example, education, and mentoring.

In the past, we have conducted our meetings at the Avenue of the Arts Wyndham Hotel in Costa Mesa, conveniently located behind the Orange County Performing Arts Center.  Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have deferred our meetings at the Hotel and will conduct the meetings via remote access.  We hope that beginning in 2021, we can once again meet in person.  Our membership renewal dues for this 2020-2021 reflect the changes in the way we will be conducting our meetings for this upcoming year.

 Some of our scheduled speakers for this year are:

  • Our own Judge Karen Robinson will lead an impressive panel of speakers in a discussion on racial inequality, particularly as if relates to Black Americans, and the current protest movement—Leaders Who Have Taken a Public Stand on Racism:  Why Now?
  • We will have an update on the evolving state and federal data privacy laws.
  • We will hear from a panel of judges and others on the inner workings of our own nationally recognized OC collaborative courts, including but not limited to, our drug courts.
  • Our own Judge Rick Aguirre (Ret.) will present Law in Frontier California:  An Examination of Changes of Customary Law to Common Law That Affected Owners of Spanish and Mexican Ranchos.
  • We will have our infamous annual Mock Trial presentation which we anticipate presenting via remote video.
  • A joint meeting with the Young Lawyers Division on a Teams Trivia night.

The Gray Inn has over 100 active members.  Meetings are usually at the Wyndham Gardens Hotel in Costa Mesa, monthly except during the summer.  Any attorney or judge interested in joining the Gray Inn may contact the membership chairperson Judy Segerstrom Barrett at (949) 222-9988, or by email at judybarrett@waiconnor.com.

History of the William P. Gray Legion Lex Inn

The William P. Gray Legion Lex American Inn of Court was formed in 1989 initially as the Legion Lex Inn, affiliated with USC Law School.  Gray's son, Judge James P. Gray, Ret., served as president for its first seven years and was honored when the Inn's board of directors decided to name its chapter after his father, a prominent federal judge in Los Angeles.  Other instrumental members of the legal community involved in the formation of the Gray Inn included Judge Robert Todd and attorneys Nathan Lamoure, Marjorie Fuller, Michael Schroeder, John J. Zitny and Bernard A. Leckie who enjoyed having several cases before the elder Judge Gray and remembers him fondly as "one of the most well respected, intelligent jurists of his time.  Everybody respected him."

Mr. Leckie noted that over the years, there have been meetings that included all of the justices of California's 4th District Court of Appeal.  And with about 20 judicial officers from both state and federal courts the Gray Inn presents "a great opportunity to build a collegial relationship with the judiciary," he says.  This is a sentiment echoed by Jim Gray, "All of the Inns give a unique opportunity for particularly younger lawyers to rub elbows with experienced practitioners and judges, who are all on a first name basis.  And there is no such thing as a dumb question."

Any attorney or judge interested in joining the Gray Inn may contact the membership chairperson Judy Segerstrom Barrett at (949) 222-9988, or by email at judybarrett@waiconnor.com.

 Upcoming Meetings:

October 14, 2020 (Wednesday) Meeting. Our Inn’s next program will be conducted through Zoom on Wednesday, October 14, 2020 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Our program is entitled Leaders who have taken a public stand on Racism. Why now? The presentation will be moderated by our own Inn member, Karen L. Robinson, Judge of the Orange Superior Court, and will include the following esteemed panelists: Song Richardson Dean UCI School of Law Framroz Virjee President, CSU-Fullerton

Hon. Nancy Zeltzer    President, ABOTA, Orange County Chapter

Robert McDonald      President, Orange County Black Chamber of Commerce

Please contact the Honorable Tom Delaney (tdelaney@occourts.org) to join us for this insightful and timely discussion by a truly impressive panel.