Sullivan & Guzman

“Judge-Elect Garry Haehnle,” by Erin Guzman & Jeffrey Lacy

Published in North County Lawyer, Vol. 25, No. 7, July 2008

Judge-elect Garry Haehnle, due to be sworn in in January, was elected to the bench on June 3, 2008. Prior to being elected, he has been a commissioner with the North County bench since August 2006 presiding in Departments 11, 33, and 34—alongside Commissioners Gross and Jones—hearing traffic matters, unlawful detainers, and small claims matters. He previously spent time at the courthouse in Kearny Mesa hearing traffic matters.

Judge-elect Haehnle believes his previous assignment as a commissioner has prepared him for his new assignment as a judge in that he oversaw approximately 1,000 traffic and small claims cases per week. Because a majority of these cases were with self-represented litigants, he has learned how to balance his courtroom demeanor to accommodate most of the public’s first-time experience with a court.

With more than two years of experience as a commissioner, Judge-elect Haehnle believed it was a natural next step to become a judge. He decided the most likely way to accomplish this goal was through election rather than appointment and based his campaign on his experience both as an attorney and as a commissioner. He relied heavily on word-of-mouth and his reputation, and it paid off. He believes his new position is a privilege and not a right, and intends to treat it as such.

Practicing law since 1990, he graduated from Thomas Jefferson School of Law during which time he clerked at the U.S. Attorney’s office for juvenile dependency attorneys. Although he initially believed he wanted to become a transactional attorney, he realized after his clerkship that he wanted to be inside the courtroom as a litigator.

 After passing the bar, he joined the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office where he began practicing in the juvenile court. After spending approximately 17 months in South Bay prosecuting misdemeanor offenses and appearing for preliminary hearings, he joined the child abuse task force downtown in 1993 where he prosecuted offenders for about three years. In 1996, he moved to Vista where he prosecuted domestic violence cases, then, in 1998, was promoted to supervising the child abduction and family protection unit downtown.

 He began overseeing this unit when there was only one additional attorney; however, by the end of his tenure there, the unit had increased in size to seven attorneys because of its success. He is very proud of his experience with the child abduction unit and enjoyed working closely with Mexico and the judicial branch in that country. He believes it to be a very important experience for each country to meet their counterparts in order to better address many of the mutual and serious issues involved.

Judge-elect Haehnle graduated in 1979 from Clemson University with a bachelor’s degree in Forestry, then continued his education there receiving a master’s degree in the same field in 1981. He worked in the forestry industry in South Carolina for a number of years, then, shifting gears a bit, eventually opened up a restaurant in South Carolina that he ran for over two years.

After taking a vacation in San Diego to visit a friend who lived on the beach, he moved out here permanently in 1986 and initially dabbled in modeling for clothing catalogs and was also a stockbroker for a brief period of time. Responding to an advertisement in the paper, he applied to Thomas Jefferson School of Law (then Western State School of Law) where he was enrolled and taking classes within one week of submission of his application. He received his JD in 1990 and has been practicing law since then recognizing that this is his true calling in life. He enjoys participating in moot court competitions throughout the state and with the San Diego County Bar Association’s high school outreach programs. He has also participated in Youth in Court, teaching children about the judicial system. In his spare time, he breeds, trains, and shows German Shepherds. He is a member of a local German Shepherd club and has four dogs of his own.