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Uncontested candidate from Bakersfield wins seat on Board of Trustees

By Laura Ernde
Staff Writer

A Kern County prosecutor will join the State Bar Board of Trustees later this year after being deemed elected in District 5.

Brandon Stallings
Stallings

No one filed to run against Brandon N. Stallings in District 5, comprised of the Central Valley counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne.

Stallings, 31, of Bakersfield, will join the board for a three-year term in October along with the winner of an election in District 4, which covers Imperial, Inyo, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties.  

Stallings has been a deputy district attorney in Kern County since he was admitted to practice in California in 2009. He has also been active in the Kern County Bar Association.

“I have seen the necessity of training young attorneys to represent our profession in a manner that personifies our ethical standards,” he said in his candidate statement.

A graduate of Oak Brook College of Law, Stallings grew up in Colorado and lived in New Zealand after college working as a counselor for juvenile delinquents.

Meanwhile, ballots were mailed Dec. 31 to attorneys in District 4, who will have three people to choose from.

The candidates are Teresa A. McQueen, 49, of Irvine, who practices employment litigation; Scott C. Smith, 56, of Irvine, a land use attorney; and Todd F. Stevens, 52, of San Diego, a civil litigator.

McQueen, who has been active in the Orange County Bar Association and the State Bar Solo and Small Firm Section, describes herself as “a proactive leader” who believes that “giving back to our profession means taking responsibility.” 

Smith touted his leadership experience with his firm, Best Best & Kreiger LLP, where he’s worked for 29 years in the municipal law practice group. “My greatest fulfillment in practice has been recruiting and mentoring lawyers,” he says in his candidate statement.

Stevens, a past president of the San Diego County Bar Association, said he supports education for new and diverse members of the profession and encouraging pro bono service. “Lawyers, with the right opportunities and tools, affect positive change in the profession and society,” his statement says.