Who is Leo A. Deegan?

Leo A. Deegan was born in Hemet, California on November 8, 1914 and graduated from Loyola High School.  He graduated from Loyola University in 1936 and received his law degree in 1939 from Loyola Law School.  He became licensed to practice law in California in January 1941 and spent five years in private practice with the Los Angeles firm of O'Melveny and Myers.

Mr. Deegan began practicing in Riverside in 1946 as a deputy in the District Attorney’s Office, before promoting to Assistant District Attorney.  In 1948, he was appointed by the Board of Supervisors as the first Public Defender for the County of Riverside.  In 1949, Mr. Deegan transferred to the County Counsel’s office, where he remained until 1951 to enter private practice.  In 1953, he returned to the District Attorney's Office as Assistant District Attorney.  Later that year, he returned to the County Counsel's Office as Chief Deputy, a position he held until 1958, when he became the 13th City Attorney for the City of Riverside. He was the City Attorney from September 15, 1958 to November 4, 1959. He was president of Riverside County Bar Association in 1959.

He was appointed to the bench by Governor Edmund Brown in 1959 and began his judicial career on November 5, 1959.  In 1965, Judge Deegan, Judge John Neblett, John Babbage (President of Riverside County Bar Association) and Thomas T. Anderson (President of the Desert Bar Association) spoke at a presentation before the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to request the Board ask the California State Legislature for legislation to establish a new court department in Indio.

In 1974, Judge Deegan sought the support of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors for a judge to replace the juvenile court referee position.

Judge Deegan served on the Superior Court until his retirement on August 31, 1975.  During the next 10 years, Judge Deegan sat by assignment through the Assigned Judges Program. He was assigned to twenty different northern counties in California to serve as an assigned judge in various Superior Courts. In one assignment, he presided over the Chowchilla Bus Kidnapping Trial, which gripped the City of Chowchilla and the nation. A photograph of Judge Deegan can be found on Getty Images.

During 1988-1989, he served for 14 months on the Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, in Sacramento. Judge Deegan passed away on March 17, 1993 in Grass Valley, California from cancer, per the Los Angeles Times.

What is the Inn?

The Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court is a professional organization comprised of attorneys and judicial officers, organized under the American Inns of Court. The organization focuses on improving the skills and professionalism of the bench and Bar.  The organization was founded in 1992 by Sharon Waters, the Honorable Robert J. Timlin, Stanley Orrock, James Heiting, and Terry Bridges.  Listen to the history of the Inn here:

Watch the history of the Inn here:

Why Join the Inn?

The Inn offers the opportunity to network with members of the bench and bar, practicing in all areas of law in the Inland Empire.

The Inn provides training regarding ethics, civility, legal skills, professionalism, and various legal topics. The monthly meetings qualify for MCLE credits and include specialty credits such as legal ethics, competence, and recognition and elimination of bias.

WHO ARE THE MEMBERS?

Each team consists of a Judicial Master (if available), Attorney Masters, Barristers, and Associates. As part of your Inn experience, you will collaborate with your team to teach a subject for your month's presentation.

"American Inns of Court" and the crest are service marks of the American Inns of Court Foundation.

The Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court thanks the City of Riverside for its thorough biography of Judge Deegan.  Additional information about Judge Deegan may be found here.

The Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court thanks the Digital Commons for Loyola Marymount University and LMU Law School for information pertaining to Judge Deegan which was found in the Loyola Digest 12-1959.

The Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court thanks the California Digital Newspaper Collection for information pertaining to Judge Deegan which was found in The Desert Sun, Volume 38, Number 198, 24 March 1965 and in The Desert Sun, 2 September 1974.

The Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court thanks Free Law Project and Court Listener for providing the exact dates of Judge Deegan’s judicial service.