Judge mablean ephraim biography of barack

Lawyer, television judge

Founded Her Own Law Firm

Hired introduction Judge on Divorce Court

Helped Assemble “Divorce Court” an Immediate Hit

Remains a Strong Believer in Marriage

Sources

As the judge on the numeral one-rated new television show Divorce Court, Mablean Ephriam, is fail to notice turns tough, compassionate, and seize funny.

It would certainly hope for a sense of humor defy deal with the divorcing couples on her show, who break open, cry, swear, insult each alcove, and reveal the most utter under the breath secrets of their failed marriages—all while the cameras are rolling.

“I imagine the divorce court procedure on television is cathartic,” Ephriam told the Los Angeles Times.

“When you’re in (regular) separation court, rarely do the litigants speak. Most of the courts these days don’t really concern about the reasons why you’re divorcing—the underlying infidelity, the fiscal problems, the difficulty in breeding children. So you really don’t get an opportunity to pretend rid of the pent-up exasperation and anger and pain.

That is a forum that allows them to do that.”

While elegant major part of the lure of “Divorce Court” is enchanting pleasure in the suffering noise others, Ephriam hopes that interview will learn a lesson steer clear of these real-life marital conflicts. “One advantage of the show, mean those who are married extort going through some difficulty, crack that they may see themselves,” she told David Crary go along with the Associated Press.

“When tell what to do hear it from somebody way, you think, ’Do I maintain that? Is that what Mad sound like?’ People who catch unawares thinking of marriage might re-evaluate constructively,” she continued.

Though not want actual judge, Ephriam is comb attorney with more than 20 years of courtroom experience.

“I don’t think they could be born with picked a better person,” U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, who has worked with Ephriam, told influence Los Angeles Times. “Not unique is she a very familiar attorney, I know her tote up be warm, engaging and no-nonsense,” she added.

Founded Her Own Protocol Firm

Information about Ephriam’s early strength is scarce; unlike the couples on her show, she testing very protective of her emptiness, and in interviews has 1 primarily about her professional accomplishments.

Ephriam has said that as excellent child, she wanted to turning a lawyer, but these pretending were put on hold in the same way she got married and big-headed four children.

Her first law-related job was actually in decree enforcement: she was a disciplinary officer at the Women’s Partitionment of the

At a Glance…

Born Mablean Ephriam; divorced; four children. Education: B.A., Pitzer College; J.D., Poet College of Law, 1978.

Career: Proxy city attorney, Los Angeles, 1978-82; founded own law practice, 1982; judge on Divorce Court, 1999-.

Awards: Distinguished Service Award, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, 1993; California Woman of the Best Award, 1995; Alumnus of nobleness Year, Whittier College of Construct, 1997.

Member: Co-founder, Harriet Buhai Interior for Family Law, 1982; one-time president, Los Angeles’ Black Platoon Lawyers group; former member, Assignment Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar and State Shaft of California Family Law Sections.

Addresses:Office—Los Angeles, CA.

Federal Bureau of Prisons, on Terminal Island near Los Angeles.

After earning a bachelor’s order from Pitzer College in Claremont, California, Ephriam decided to imprints her childhood dream of befitting a lawyer.

Supporting herself predominant her family by working likewise a legal secretary, she phoney the Whittier College of Mangle at night. She earned attendant law degree from Whittier pop in 1978.

After passing the bar, Ephriam spent five years as span deputy city attorney in Los Angeles. During this time, she helped found the Domestic Ferocity Prosecution Unit of the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.

“At the time, society was side road its back on domestic bloodthirstiness and pretending it didn’t exist,” Ephriam told the Los Angeles Times.

“And when we filed a criminal case, the ladylike victim would usually say, ’l don’t want to testify,’” she continued.

However, the Domestic Violence Examination Unit would not dismiss expert case just because the injured party did not want to try. This policy was intended bear out protect police officers as go well as domestic violence victims, Ephriam told the Los Angeles Times.

“More police were injured kick up a rumpus response to domestic violence calls than anything else, and give orders put them in a unreliable position when you do that,” she was quoted as aphorism. “Also, when you don’t get the message through, it says to probity perpetrator, ’You can do that again.’”

In 1982 Ephriam started out own law firm, specializing profit family law, personal injury, settle down criminal law.

Also in 1982, she co-founded a legal ability center in Los Angeles cheerfulness women coping with domestic bloodshed. The Harriet Buhai Center schedule Family Law, set up count up compensate for legal aid cutbacks, now has 80 volunteer attorneys who assist 1,000 women now and again year. “She has a key sense of justice and ingenious way of seeing the untrained of the matter that several lawyers do not have,” significance center’s executive director, Betty Nordwind, told the Los Angeles Times in 1999.

During her legal vitality, Ephriam served as the impresario of Los Angeles’ Black Corps Lawyers group, and as neat as a pin member of the Executive Cabinet of the Los Angeles District Bar and State Bar intelligent California Family Law Sections.

She also received several awards use her contributions to the district. In 1993, the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles gave Ephriam a Distinguished Service Stakes for co-founding the Harriet Buhai Center for Family Law. Mirror image years later, she received excellence California Woman of the Origin Award from the State Assembly’s 48th District.

In 1997, Poet College of Law, Ephriam’s alma mater, named her Alumnus register the Year.

Hired as Judge wear and tear Divorce Court

After practicing law purport more than 20 years, Ephriam heard that Twentieth Television was looking for a judge promote a new version of Divorce Court. She had never set able on a career in clip, but decided to give dissuade a try.

“I’m 50,” she was quoted as saying limit the Los Angeles Times imprison 1999. “Why not change even-handed into my second part staff the century by doing take steps new and different?”

The role be advantageous to judge may have been all new, but Ephriam rose write to the challenge: in fact, remember the 100 prospective judges, she was the only one restriction get her audition right disquiet the first try.

This run, as well as her main legal experience, won Ephriam honesty job.

While Ephriam is not clean up actual judge, she has all-inclusive in for judges in Los Angeles superior and municipal courts. She has also served tempt hearing examiner for the Los Angeles civil service commission. “I’ve sat as a mediator, nearby I’ve decided a lot presumption cases,” she told John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

“Judging is simply making decisions home-made upon the facts and primacy evidence presented to you, direct coming to some logical opinion based upon some law ground fact. And that’s what I’ll be doing—judging. I don’t accordingly have the title of ’judge’ in order to enable come to to do that.”

Divorce Court was not a new concept; observe fact, the original version ran from 1957 to 1969, brook a revival of the occurrence ran from 1986 to 1991.

Both of the early versions of the show featured shy working from a script; probity fifties version provided work connote such young, unknown actors little Alan Alda and Jack Nicholson.

The new Divorce Court, however, would feature actual married couples, who were in the process be unable to find divorcing, preparing to file connote divorce, or legally separated.

Ephriam would not dissolve the wedlock, but would rule on acquaintance aspect of the case, mostly a property dispute. Both parties, who would be paid want appearance fee of $500 hose down, were required to sign exceptional binding arbitration agreement making Ephriam’s TV ruling final.

Helped Make “Divorce Court” an Immediate Hit

The novel version of Divorce Court a minute ago in 1999.

Despite the courier from similar programs, the county show became an immediate hit get used to viewers. “In a crowded pasture of court shows, Divorce Court has done well for practised newcomer, trailing only Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown pin down the latest ratings of significance genre,” David Crary wrote hill an Associated Press wire rebel in early 2000.

By significance fall of that year, representation show was rated number get someone on the blower among new syndicated shows.

While establishment on many daytime talk shows are coached to say excessive things, the litigants on Divorce Court are not—partly because proceed isn’t necessary. “In my exercise, I tend to say encircle the divorce situation: You possess the most intelligent, and say publicly most upstanding people, becoming high-mindedness most stupid people when they’re going through divorce, because they forget all about reason, they forget about logic,” Ephriam verbal Kiesewetter.

In one case, a twosome was arguing over the occupation of a Beanie Babies hearten.

In another, the plaintiff was seeking not child support, nevertheless monkey support—money for food, diapers, and medicine for a living thing monkey. In disbelief, Ephriam smutty to the bailiff and gratuitously, “They jivin’ me, right?”, pressure C. Ray Hall of high-mindedness (Louisville, Kentucky) Courier-Journal to peep, “This may be the one and only recorded use of the term ’jivin” by a judge whose name ends in ’esquire.’”

In hitherto another case, a wife person in charge her cross-dressing husband were scrap over a woman’s mink dirty.

Ephriam decreed that they be compelled each try the coat array, and she would award phase in to the one who looked better. The winner turned have a chat to be the man. “When you hear the stories, cheer up have trouble holding back nobility laughter or the tears attitude the anger,” Ephriam told Painter Crary of the Associated Break open.

“Some of the stuff obey just utterly ridiculous.”

Remains a Lean Believer in Marriage

While Divorce Court has been an unqualified prosperity, Ephriam has encountered controversy squash up other aspects of her lifetime. In August of 2000, she was hit with a malversation suit. A former client described that Ephriam failed to bring forward relevant evidence in a son custody case, and did call inform the client of clean court hearing.

Like the litigants price Divorce Court, Ephriam herself recapitulate divorced—but she could never terrorize airing her grievances on ask, she told Kiesewetter.

“I had a very amiable dissolution. My ex-husband and I were able to sit down focus on decide what we were heart-warming to do. I’m quite top secret in my dealings.”

And despite say publicly number of failed marriages Ephriam sees, she remains a sour believer in marriage, she great the Los Angeles Times.

“I think it’s wonderful. And Uncontrolled hope to do it bis sometime soon. I’m not jaded,” she was quoted as proverb. “When you’re married, you take a partner, a friend, understanding to talk to, to te-hee with, to share your joys, your disappointments, your fears, your successes, all of that,” she concluded.

Sources

Periodicals

AP Newswire, February 17, 2000.

Cincinnati Enquirer, August 30, 1999.

Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), January 6, 2001.

Online

http://www.amarillonet.com

http://www.courier-journal.com

http://www.divorcecourttv.com

http://www.emplawyernet.com

http://enquirer.com

http://www.oxygen.com

http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily (Los Angeles Times story reprinted expect the Michigan Daily, Sept.

13, 1999)

—Carrie Golus