Judge William Q. Liebmann

At the AAML Southern California Chapter’s Institute of Trial Advocacy in San Diego last month, I was honored to introduce the Honorable William Q. Liebmann as one of our Chapter’s Distinguished Judicial Officers of 2015.  He is only the second judicial officer from the “805” area to have received this honor.  (I was pleased to have also presented the award to the Honorable John R. Smiley, of the Ventura Superior Court, in 2006).

Judge Liebmann is the Supervising Family Law Judge of the Ventura Superior Court.  He is a product of Wisconsin, and thus proudly displays his “Packers” coffee mug in his Courthouse Chambers.  His undergraduate studies were accomplished at Georgetown and also the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay.  He achieved his JD from USC in 1975.

Early in his career, Judge Liebmann became involved in local government, eventually becoming elected to the Camarillo City Council.

He simultaneously maintained a private law practice that focused on civil litigation and family law.  He was known as an excellent and results-oriented lawyer with a great demeanor.

In 2003 he was retained as a Court Commissioner.  Coincidentally, he was then appointed Superior Court Judge within mere weeks.  Clearly, he was made for the job.  From a practitioner’s perspective, it was and remains a blessing to have an experienced and expert family law professional overseeing our cases.

Judge Liebmann is known for being patient, calm and efficient.  He promptly opens his courtroom doors at 8:30, and then marches through the morning calendar.  He is nonetheless known for allowing litigants to have their say — to “have their day in court.”  Known as a “lawyer’s judge,” he gives us room to make our arguments and do our jobs.

Counsel appearing before Judge Liebmann need to be prepared, ready to think and willing to stand and deliver.  We can expect to be riddled with tough follow-up questions, almost like in Appellate Court proceedings.  He reads his files and will be ready to probe the weak spots in our presentations.

Family law litigants and lawyers are lucky to have Judge Liebmann in Ventura.  We thank him for his dedication and service.