FBANC Congratulates Trial Judge of the Year Judge Benjamin T. Reyes II

On March 24, 2022, the Alameda-Contra Costa Trial Lawyers' Association (ACCTLA) recognized Judge Benjamin T. Reyes II as this year’s Trial Judge of the Year. ACCTLA’s Judges Night Gala also featured keynote speaker California Attorney General Rob Bonta and celebrated the start of FBANC Lifetime Member Cat Cabalo’s term as the first Filipina President of the ACCTLA.

The FBANC community came out in full force to applaud the well deserved and monumental achievement of Judge Reyes. FBANC was proud to sponsor the evening along with FBANC 2012-2013 President David Mesa, Partner, FisherBroyles LLP, and FBANC 2006-2007 President Richard D. Pio Roda, Principal, Meyers Nave.

FBANC was honored to be joined by Judge Jerry Bustos Vinluan III, Commissioner Pelayo A. Llamas, Jr., Administrative Law Judge Marlo Nisperos, Administrative Law Judge Michael Cabotaje, FBANC 2005-2006 President Billy Chan, FBANC 2011-2012 President Mark Punzalan, FBANC 2015-2016 President Vanessa Candelaria, FBANC 2020-2021 President Mari Bandoma Callado, FBANC 2021-2022 President Jennifer Sta.Ana, FBANC 2021-2022 President-Elect Raymond Rollan, FBANC 2021-2022 Vice President Nelson Lam, FBANC 2021-2022 Director Joey Badua, FBANC member Rowena Libang, FBANC member and AACTLA Board member Ian Rivamonte, FBANC member Eanna Roxas Mejia, Philippine American Bar Association 2022 President Adrian Roxas, Susan Reyes, Isabelle Reyes, and Adam Reyes.

FBANC would like to share Judge Reyes’ moving speech for the 2022 ACCTLA Judges’ Night Gala:

Good evening Your Honors, distinguished guests and Trial lawyers:  I am Benjamin Reyes.  My pronouns are he, him and his.  I would be remiss in my manners if I did not start by recognizing my spouse of 26 years, Susan San Juan Reyes, and our adult children, Adam and Isabel Reyes.  I may be a judge, but Susan is the Chief Justice of our family!

I also extend my greetings to Hon. Rebecca Hardie, Contra Costa County’s Presiding Judge, Hon. Ed Weil, Contra Costa County’s APJ, and Hon. Charles Smiley III, Alameda County’s Presiding Judge.  It’s a pleasure to see many of my colleagues and friends on the bench from both counties this evening.  It’s also special to me that many of my former colleagues from the bar are also here tonight.  A special shout out to my friends from FBANC!!  Thank all of you for your support!

I also have the distinct privilege to share the stage with my very good friend, fellow Alameda neighbor, and dedicated public servant, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has left for another function. 

It is also equally humbling to share the stage with Alameda’s Trial Judge of the Year, Judge Evelio Grillo.   

Before I was appointed to the bench, I practiced law in both Alameda and Contra Costa counties as a City Attorney and Public agency general Counsel.  I also chaired my former firm’s statewide government construction practice.  Ten years ago, in 2012, I had the honor of representing the City of San Leandro in a project to build a $100 million transit oriented development at the San Leandro BART station.  The City had solicited bids to build a portion of that project pursuant to the competitive bidding laws.

When the City sought to award a major contract to the lowest bidder, it sustained a bid protest from the 2nd low bidder claiming that the low bid had fatal irregularities.  Based on my advice, San Leandro confirmed the award of contract to the low bidder and waived all irregularities.

Not to be deterred, the 2nd lowest contractor filed a writ of mandate in Alameda County to set aside that award of contract, even though the project was already being built.  That contractor challenged my city’s legal authority to waive minor defects in the bid.  My team and I defended the City’s decision.  At the hearing, the trial court judge in Alameda County rightfully denied the contractor’s writ of mandate. 

The contractor appealed to the 1st district.  A hearing was set after the project had already been completed.  My team and I again worked hard to defend the trial court’s decision on appeal and we prevailed.  The 2nd low bidder then filed a petition for review to the Supreme Court, which was denied.  This case is now published in Bay Cities Paving & Grading v. The City of San Leandro 223 Cal.App.4th 1181 and has been cited 27 times since publication.

You may ask:  What is the importance of this 10 year old case on this highly specialized and nuanced (some may say obscure) area of the law?  Well, the trial court judge who correctly issued the original denial of the writ of mandate a decade ago is none other than Judge Evelio Grillo, for whom I’ve had great respect over the years.  It is also special for me to share this stage with Judge Grillo because I am a student of Judge Grillo’s sister, the late Professor Trina Grillo, from the Univ. of San Francisco School of Law.  Thank you, your Honor, for helping me to publish this important case law and for allowing me to share this award with you this year. 

I am very humbled and honored that the ACCTLA Board of Directors has selected me for this award.  I told Scott Lantry and Andrew Ross when they notified me that I thought this must have been a mistake.  I said, “Given the company that I keep on my legendary bench, ACCTLA must have a sense of humor!”  Well, it is truly special for me to be recognized for working hard to serve the litigants who come before the Court.  A case is not just another line number to me.  Each case represents a person who faces criminal charges or civil challenges, each case is about a family or children in distress.  I take each case seriously, because I am focused on my duty to follow the law and to maintain the trust and confidence in the grand institution of the Judiciary.

I also want to acknowledge the hard work that each of you performs on behalf of your clients.  As a trial court judge, I’ve had the privilege of presiding over 50 jury trials and nearly 100 court trials (and over two thousand hearings), many with self-represented individuals.  With each experience, I confirm my admiration of you for diligently practicing your skills and trade on behalf of your clients.  You spend countless hours briefing your positions, preparing evidence, anticipating the other party’s positions and complying your ethical obligations.  Without your high level of skill and experience, our jobs as trial judges would be difficult.  I want to encourage all of you to continue to honor your commitment to work zealously and ethically.  Continue to raise the bar because society needs excellent trial lawyers to preserve our system of justice.

In turn, I will also continue to perform my job.  In listening to the confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court, I am inspired to reaffirm my dedication to the rule of law, to be objective, impartial, but also to continue to be compassionate and to always consider that we are humans, subject to the flaws of our own humanity and the imperfections of our human processes.  Like my colleagues, I hope to continue to inspire public confidence in the judiciary. 

As I conclude, I issue this challenge to you:  Yesterday, Judge Brown Jackson stated that “diversity bolsters public confidence in the institutions of government and in the businesses that serve the people.”  When a variety of people, reflective of the rich cultural diversity of California, take an Attorneys’ Oath to protect the Constitution, we owe it to them to provide an opportunity to serve their communities, their neighbors and society.  It is essential to preserving a justice system that serves all People of California and assists the Court with its mandate to guarantee access to justice.   

As California steadily becomes more diverse, I challenge you and our legal community to explicitly focus on developing our collective levels of cultural proficiency.  I ask you to welcome and train the next generation of California’s diverse attorneys to carry on the proud tradition of ethical practice, skilled advocacy and, in turn, to become awesome trial lawyers.

Together, with the collective efforts of this bar and our bench, we continue to uphold the values and traditions that make our system of justice not only unique, but the best among the world’s modern democracies.  Thank you again and good evening!