Donald B. King

Retired Judge, Superior Court of California, San Francisco County

Spring 1948 Graduate

        After graduating from Lincoln in 1948, Justice King attended the University of San Francisco, earning a B.S in 1952. After a stint in the United States Army as a First Lieutenant, Don returned to USF to graduate from its law school with a J.D. in 1958. Entering private practice in 1959, he tried civil cases until 1976.

        In 1976, Don was appointed a judge of the San Francisco Superior Court where he served until 1982. That year, Judge King became Justice King by his appointment to the California Court of Appeals, First District, where he served until 1996 garnering uniform praise as one of that court’s most respected jurists. During his distinguished career on the bench, Don served on the Judicial Council of California, was a frequent lecturer on legal issues in many forums including the Trial Judges College and the National Judges College. He taught law at Hastings College of Law, and the law schools at the University of San Francisco and Golden Gate College. He also received numerous awards for his work as a jurist including being named “Trial Judge of the Year” by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association; receiving the “Award of Merit” from the Bar Association of San Francisco; receiving the “President’s Trophy” from the California Judges Association; receiving the National Public Services Award from the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and being named “Family Law Judicial Officer of the Year” by the California State Bar. The latter award has now been renamed the “Justice Donald B. King Family Law Judicial Officer of the Year Award”.

        Don left the Court of Appeal in 1996 but that did not mean that he had retired. He began a new stage in his legal career by becoming an arbitrator and mediator with the American Arbitration Association where he mediates more than thirty cases a year and arbitrates at least ten cases a year. He also finds time to be the co-author of California Practice Guide-Family Law published by The Rutter Group.

        His contributions to the practice and administration of law in particular and to his community in general have been recognized by his being accorded numerous honors including being the recipient of the University of San Francisco’s “St. Thomas More” award and, in 1995, being named that university’s “Alumnus of the Year”.

        In recognition of his many accomplishments, Justice Donald B. King was inducted into the Abraham Lincoln High School Wall of Fame in May 2003.