Candidate for
Justice, California State Court of Appeal; District 1, Division 5

Justice Mark Simons was appointed to the position of Associate Justice of Division Five of the First District Court of Appeal by Governor Gray Davis in January 2001. He previously served as a trial judge in Contra Costa County for over twenty years, where he handled all types of civil and criminal trials. He served as Supervising Judge of the Family Law Division in 1996 and 1997 and as Presiding Judge of the Superior Court in 1999 and 2000. In 1994 and 1995 he sat on the Court of Appeal on two separate occasions on a pro tem basis. He was named the Trial Judge of the Year in Contra Costa County in 2000.

Justice Simons is married to Carol Simons, an instructor in the Education Department of St. Mary's College in Moraga, California. They have two adult children, and a 3-year old grandchild. Justice Simons graduated from the University of Michigan in 1967 and from the University of Chicago Law School in 1970. In law school, he was a member of the Editorial Board of the Law Review and the Order of the Coif. After a clerkship with Federal Judge Alvin B. Rubin in New Orleans, Louisiana, he worked as an associate at Cooley, LLP in San Francisco for two years and as a Deputy Public Defender in Contra Costa County for seven years, before his appointment to the trial court in Contra Costa County in 1980.

Justice Simons has published two widely used text books on California law, each of which is updated annually: California Preliminary Examinations (Lexis) and California Evidence Manual (West). He has lectured on evidence to judges and lawyers on numerous occasions. He teaches evidence to new judges at the B.E. Witkin Judicial College and served as the Dean of that College in 1995 and 1996. For his contributions to judicial education, he was awarded the Bernard S. Jefferson Award by the California Judges Association and the Distinguished Service Award by the Judicial Council.

Justice Simons is an avid fan of college football and basketball. He enjoys working out at the gym and reading biographies.