Candidate for
Judge of the Superior Court; County of El Dorado; Office 9

Judge Nelson Keith Brooks

To begin with the bare-bones vital statistics: I was born in Columbus, Ohio. I graduated from the University of Santa Clara in 1973 and moved to South Lake Tahoe where I met my future wife, Tish. We married at the Lake in 1976. I got my law degree from U.C.'s Hastings College of the Law in 1982 and Tish got her D.V.M. from U.C. Davis Veterinary School in 1988. In 1989 we bought the home here on the Western Slope where we still live today and where we have raised our two kids. I had practiced law here in El Dorado County and in Sacramento County for over twenty-five years when I was first made a Judge of the El Dorado County Superior Court. I am running for re-election in June and have been endorsed by all of the Counties' current and retired Judges, the District Attorney, the current and former Sheriffs and many others. I would appreciate your support and your vote on election day, June 8, 2010.

If you're interested in a little more detail after that thumbnail sketch: My parents met and started dating while attending college at Tuskegee Institute before the start of World War II. My father had been the Regimental Cadet Commander of Tuskegee's R.O.T.C. Unit. When the announcement came that the U.S. Army Air Corps was going to institute a flight school at Tuskegee to train pilots, ground support and technicians, he was one of the very first recruits to be graduated from the program.

As soon as the War ended in Europe Dad returned home and married my mother. I came along a few years later. Dad remained in the Army Air Corps and then the U.S. Air Force until his retirement in 1969 as a full Colonel. Growing up as the eldest son of a career Air Force officer I was fortunate to have seen a good portion of the world before I even entered college.

We lived in numerous places here in the U.S., including Washington, D.C., New York State, the Mid-West and the South, as well as California. We also lived outside of the Country for two years in the Philippine Islands when I was fairly young, and for four years in Europe and Germany during my Jr. High and early High School years. This experience traveling and living in different countries and in different regions of our own country instilled in me at an early age a life-long awareness of cultural differences which can foster conflict and misunderstanding if not recognized and dealt with appropriately. It was this awareness that first sparked my interest in the Law and its important role in resolving such conflict.

After I graduated from high school I began college at a small school in New England. I eventually transferred to the University of Santa Clara where I received my BA Degree. I then moved here to El Dorado County and took a job with Harrah's in South Lake Tahoe. While working there I met my future wife, Tish Starr, and we were married at the Lake in 1976.

Shortly after that we both decided to further our education, and so moved to San Francisco where we both worked while Tish finished her undergraduate degree in biology at San Francisco State University and I obtained my law degree from U.C.'s Hastings College of the Law. While attending Hastings I also clerked for the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Nevada, assisting in the prosecution of convicted State Prison inmates for crimes committed while they were incarcerated.

After I graduated we moved to U.C. Davis where Tish obtained her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine and I began working as a new litigation attorney for Weintraub, Genshlea, Hardy, Erich & Brown in Sacramento I remained there for seven years and advanced from associate to a participating partner. During my early years at Weintraub I also prosecuted criminal trials for the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office on a volunteer basis in order to gain trial experience.

Tish and I moved back to El Dorado County in June 1989 after she had graduated. We purchased our home in Shingle Springs where we still live today, and where we have raised our family. Shortly after the move back here to El Dorado County I left the Weintraub firm to practice in Cameron Park with Bob Laurie, Brian Maloney and Bob Wheatley. Tish also began her own veterinary practice, Camino Animal Hospital, in the Spring of 1992, shortly after our son had been born. A few years later our daughter was born.

During my twenty-seven year career as a lawyer before being appointed to the Bench by the Governor, I mainly practiced as a civil litigator, trying cases in both Federal Court and in State Courts throughout Northern California. Over the course of my career as a litigation attorney my clients ranged from indigents referred by Legal Services of Northern California to well known public figures. I have won cases in which my clients have received a million dollar verdict as well as in which I have successfully defended clients being sued for a million dollars or more.

Before receiving my appointment as a Judge I was fully vetted by the California State Bar Association's Judicial Nominations Evaluation Commission, which found me to be fully qualified for the position of Superior Court Judge.

Since taking office in Department 9 in Cameron Park I have worked hard to identify areas where costs could be cut and the Court's service to our community improved by eliminating unnecessary, duplicative and expensive court appearances. In that regard I have succeeded in implementing a new, streamlined system for requesting necessary appearances directly through the Court's website, rather than requiring a costly in-person appearance in Court just to select a date for the requested appearance, as was the case in the past.

As a long-time resident of El Dorado County I have been involved in many civic and volunteer activities from coaching youth soccer and basketball to serving for nearly a decade on the Board of Directors for Snowline Hospice, through the period of its expansion of services into the Folsom area and its acquisition and construction of its permanent administrative facility on Pleasant Valley Road in Diamond Springs. I have also served as President of the El Dorado County Bar Association, am a Trustee for the County Law Library, Chairman of the Evelyn Horn Scholarship Selection Committee and a volunteer judge for the County's Teen Court Program.

I see my role as a Judge to be the tireless and unswerving dedication to upholding the law and applying it fairly, without prejudice or preference, to everyone who appears before me. I believe that our judicial system must provide a respectful, efficient, no-nonsense forum for the fair and equitable resolution of disputes, and that is the way I run my courtroom. I believe firmly that judges should interpret the law, and not legislate from the bench.

I have been very honored to serve as your Judge in Department 9 since my appointment and, with your support in the up-coming election, I look forward with great enthusiasm to continuing to serve and protect our community in that role. I would appreciate your vote.