Hon. Nho Nguyen

Hon. Nho Nguyen Receives the NAPABA Trailblazer Award

The Honorable Nho Trong Nguyen has been selected as our region’s 2006 NAPABA Trailblazer. Please read the biography below on this remarkable Trailblazer. 

                                                                   

NHO TRONG NGUYEN’S BIOGRAPHY

In his native land of Viet Nam Judge Nho Trong Nguyen was a prominent leader in the student movement for democracy in the 1960’s. As a Congressman from 1967 to 1975, he championed the political and economic reforms in South Viet Nam, including the historical rural land redistribution program, enabling millions of farmers to become owners of the land they farmed for generations. He was elected by his colleagues in Congress to serve as an Associate Justice on the Constitutional Special Supreme Court. His extraordinary life in Vietnam was featured in documentary films by the Japanese and German television networks. He was also seen in the PBS Vietnam Television History.

Judge Nguyen began his life in the U.S. as a laborer. He went to school at night and earned his M.B.A. from Pomona California Polytechnic University in 1981. He graduated from Western State University College of Law (WSU) in 1988. He began his legal career as a Deputy Public Defender of Los Angeles County that year, then a private practitioner, and a California State Deputy Attorney General. As a lawyer, he served the community with countless hours of pro-bono service to the poor and on behalf of victims of human rights abuses in Vietnam.
Since July 2000, Judge Nguyen sits as a trial judge on the Orange County Superior Court.
Judge Nguyen taught International Human Rights Laws at Chapman University School of Law. He also teaches International Laws, Human Rights Laws, and Trial Practice at WSU and Whittier College of Law.
He is a frequent speaker at local law schools and colleges, high schools, bar associations, and numerous community functions in California and other States. He also gives MCLE lectures on search and seizure, evidence and trial techniques.
Citing his exemplary contributions to the community and the legal profession, WSU inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2001 and set up a scholarship bearing his name. He was elected President of the California Asian American Judges Association in 2002-2003. He was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Laws by Whittier College of Law in 2005. The West Orange County Bar Association honored him with the Patrick McCray Judge of the Year Award in 2005.
His rise from refugee to being the first Vietnamese American Superior Court Judge in Orange County inspires people across ethnicities and backgrounds. His achievements serve as an impetus of hope and dreams for many.
Judge David O’Carter of the Federal District Court in California, said that Judge Nguyen “epitomizes the American dream.” Justice Eileen C. Moore of the California Fourth Appellate District commented to the Los Angeles Daily Journal that Judge Nguyen is “a quintessential American.”