Senior Judge Alicemarie Huber Stotler, 72

SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) - Senior U.S. District Judge and Chief Judge Emerita Alicemarie Huber Stotler, of California's Central District, died Monday. She was 72.

Stotler was the first woman to hold a full-time position as an Orange County deputy district attorney. She also worked in private practice with her husband, the Hon. James Allen Stotler of Orange County Superior Court. She got her bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California in 1964 and her J.D. from USC Gould School of Law in 1967.

Judge Stotler was appointed to the Orange County Municipal Court in 1976, where she served until she was appointed to the Orange County Superior Court in 1978.

President Reagan nominated her for the U.S. District Court, where she began work in May 1984. Among her other work, she chaired the National Rules Committee, and was Chief Judge of the Central District from 2005 to 2009, when she assume senior status.

Chief Judge George King said in a statement announcing her death: "Judge Stotler was one of the most influential judges who served on our Court. As chair of the United States Judicial Conference's Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure for five years, Judge Stotler's work literally impacted how every federal lawyer practiced law, and how every federal judge presided over each case. She was a dear friend and colleague who was unfailingly kind and thoughtful, and who carried herself with grace, dignity, elegance and decorum. The Court and the judiciary could not have had a better ambassador. We will all miss her very much."

Courthouse News publisher Bill Girdner, an attorney, said: "She was very easy to talk to, gracious, straightforward, funny, thoughtful and a good listener. On the bench, from a reporter's viewpoint, she was more remote, but very attentive to the arguments and the testimony, while keeping good control of the proceedings."

Flags outside Central District courthouses will be flown at half mast today in honor of Judge Stotler.

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