State Bar selects new chief court counsel

The State Bar has named Antonia “Tonie” Darling, a bankruptcy law expert who once worked at the agency, as the next chief court counsel for the State Bar Court.

Darling has worked for the last 27 years as the assistant U.S. trustee in the Sacramento office of the U.S. Trustee, a watchdog agency for bankruptcy cases.

She previously worked for the bar from 1976 to 1983, which included five years as a senior trial counsel.

Darling will start her court counsel/court administrator role Dec. 18, according to an email bar Executive Director Leah Wilson sent to staff.

“She brings a wealth of legal, management, judicial branch and court operations experience to the position, and has particularly impressed the selection team with her thoughtful and enthusiastic approach to organizational culture and employee engagement,” Wilson wrote Wednesday.

Darling, who also spent time as an assistant U.S. attorney in Louisiana, declined to comment when reached Thursday.

“My first job and first love was the State Bar, and I’d love to complete the circle,” Darling wrote in her cover letter seeking the position at the agency.

“I believe that as a leader it is imperative that you model excellence, encourage growth and creativity and engage everyone in moving the mission forward,” she wrote.

Darling will make $220,000, said bar spokeswoman Rebecca Farmer. Colin Wong, who held the court counsel post for many years, made $202,257 prior to retiring this fall.

Steven H. Felderstein, a bankruptcy attorney in Sacramento, said Darling will be sorely missed in her role as assistant U.S. trustee because she has done great work.

“I think the State Bar will be a challenge, but I know Tonie will be up to it. She has great supervisorial and organizational skills, and she is smart,” said Felderstein, managing partner of Felderstein Fitzgerald Willoughby & Pascuzzi LLP.

The chief court counsel serves as both the executive administrator responsible for State Bar Court operations and the senior legal adviser to the judges and staff counsel on court proceedings.

The bar announced earlier this fall that Gregory Dresser would be taking on the court counsel role.

But not long after the announcement, the Commission on Judicial Performance said that Dresser had instead agreed to become its director-chief counsel.