About Bonnie

JUDICIAL COUNCIL OF CALIFORNIA/ ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURTS CENTER FOR FAMILIES, CHILDREN & THE COURTS (CFCC) - San Francisco, California (August 1997-December 2022)

The Center for Families, Children & the Courts is a division of the Judicial Council that serves to improve the quality of justice and services to meet the diverse needs of children, youth, parents, families, and other users of the California courts. It supports court programs designed to improve practice in family and juvenile law, as well as other areas, including collaborative justice, domestic violence, language access, treatment of mentally ill court users, services to self-represented litigants, and tribal projects. Roles at the CFCC included:

Principal Managing Attorney, CFCC  (Mar. 2008-Dec. 2022)

• Member of the management team for this division, which has more than  70 employees
• Lead staff to the Sargent Shriver Civil Representation Pilot Project,  administering $11 million in funding for legal services agencies to provide  representation in civil case types involving critical needs.
• Assigning and reviewing all rules, forms and opinions regarding family and juvenile law. Managing staff in four subject matter areas: Self-Help,  Domestic Violence, Tribal/State Courts Assistance, and Family Law.
• Continued responsibility for duties of Supervising Attorney described  below.

Supervising Attorney, CFCC  (Feb. 2002-Mar. 2008)

• Supervise the Equal Access Project, which focuses on helping courts meet the  needs of self-represented litigants, including:
 - Coordinating the California Courts Self-Help Website (www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp), which provides over 4,000 pages of legal  and procedural information and referrals and has been translated into  Spanish (www.sucorte.ca.gov).  
- Managing a website that provides sample instructional materials,  translations, management resources, volunteer training materials and other  resources for courts and legal services programs providing self-help  assistance.
- Supervising legal review of materials developed by local courts and legal  services agencies for adaptation for statewide use.

• Supervise development of forms completion programs to assist self-represented  litigants and self-help center staff and volunteers to complete legal documents  and forms efficiently using a question and answer format.  

•  Serve as subject matter expert in family law and domestic violence in  development of case management systems and e-filing solutions developed by  the California courts.

• Oversee four grant programs providing over $100 million annually in funding for  legal services and court-based self-help programs – the Equal Access Fund,  Self-Help Center funding, Family Law Information Centers, and Community  Focused Action Plans for Serving Self-Represented Litigants – Planning and  Implementation.

• Assist the Family and Juvenile Advisory Committee with family law forms and  rules including developing rules and procedures for limited scope representation  (unbundling), and a series of forms designed to assist self-represented litigants  successfully complete dissolutions, domestic violence restraining orders,  parentage actions and similar matters.

• Serve as staff to the Judicial Council’s Task Force on Self-Represented Litigants  (now Committee on Providing Access and Fairness in the Courts) which  developed a “Statewide Action Plan for Serving Self-Represented Litigants in  California.”

• Coordinate development of LEP (Limited English Proficiency) plans for the  Administrative Office of the Courts and trial courts. Oversee funding for  interpreters in domestic violence cases. Coordinate translation of critical Judicial  Council forms and materials.:

Senior Attorney, CFCC  (Aug. 1997-Feb. 2002)

Assisted in developing family law facilitator and child support commissioner program in California. Additional responsibilities included:

• Coordinating all trainings of facilitators, commissioners, clerks and  administrators.
• Developing new child support forms, rules and procedures.
• Coordinating effort to evaluate child support guidelines in California.  
• Preparing requests for funding from legislature.
• Developing evaluation system for family law facilitator program.
• Overseeing grant for ICAN! legal assistance kiosks.

Attorney, Law Offices of Bonnie Rose Hough  (Feb. 1995-Aug. 1997)

Sole practice focusing on family law representing children and adults. Provided counsel and representation on issues regarding dissolution, child and spousal support, child custody and visitation, domestic violence, guardianships and juvenile dependency actions.

Assistant Professor, Sonoma State University  (Sept. 1995-May 1997)

Developed and taught two semester-long courses in family law for paralegal certification program

Executive Director, Family Law Center of Marin  (Sept. 1989-Jan. 1995)

Founder and lead attorney of innovative legal services program providing assistance to low income persons with family law problems. Responsibilities included:

• Supervising and providing counsel to an average of 250 clients per month.
• Recruiting, training and overseeing staff of three attorneys, two paralegals, two support staff as well as 125 active volunteers per year including attorneys, law students, paralegals and community volunteers.
• Fundraising, public relations, program development, educational workshops, and advocacy programs. Increased agency budget from $20,000 to $250,000 per year.

Established interagency legal services coalition. Assisted in modifications of local judicial rules. Received honorable mention for Louis M. Brown Award from the American Bar Association for services to moderate income persons.