LAKEPORT, Calif. – The newest portrait of a retired Lake County Superior Court judge was unveiled on Friday.
The portrait of Judge David Herrick had its debut during a Friday afternoon ceremony that included many past and current judges and a courtroom filled with friends and other colleagues from the local justice system.
Herrick’s official portrait is a formal black and white photograph taken of him by his son-in-law, Ryan Ottem, who was on hand along with several other family members.
Herrick retired from the bench after 18 years of service as a Lake County Superior Court judge in January 2013, and was succeeded by Michael Lunas.
He continues to hear cases on a part-time basis, joining a group of other retired working judges including Galen Hathaway, Robert Crone and Arthur Mann, all of whom were on hand for the ceremony in the Department 1 courtroom where Herrick had served.
Presiding over the jovial ceremony were current Lake County Superior Court judges Andrew Blum, Richard Martin and Stephen Hedstrom.
The judges took turns sharing stories about Herrick and each other, with members of the audience – including District Attorney Don Anderson – adding their thoughts about Herrick's tenure.
One of the recurring themes was how that the paths of Herrick and Hedstrom had continued to cross over the years.
They had met in law school in 1971 at University of California’s Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, where the alphabetical seating arrangement put them side by side. They would meet again several years later when both were working in the Lake County legal system.
During the ceremony the judges joked that perhaps Judge Hedstrom has been stalking Judge Herrick due to the course of their careers sharing significant commonalities.
When Judge John Golden announced his retirement in 1994, Herrick ran to succeed him, winning in the fall after a hard-fought campaign against Peter Windrem, who had led the race after the June primary.
During the ceremony, Herrick was offered the opportunity to “rebut” some of the comments and kidding that had been directed his way.
Armed with what he said were about 10 pages of notes on a legal pad, he took a seat at the stand and shared fond memories of working as a judge.
John Jensen contributed to this article.
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