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The Sacramento County Bar Association |
| The Sacramento County Bar Association would like to take this opportunity to thank Eugene H. Henderson and Robert C. Tronvig, Jr., who recently left the SCBA(s Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program after providing many years of valuable service as arbitrators. "What these two gentlemen have given to the Sacramento County Bar Association(s Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program is priceless," SCBA Public Programs Coordinator Vince Miles said. "The program simply does not happen without those two gentlemen and the others that still serve on the panel." Mandatory fee arbitration is program operated by the SCBA pursuant to Business and Professions Code sections 6200 to 6206. Under those sections, clients who get into a fee dispute with their lawyers have a right to seek resolution of the dispute through arbitration. Lawyers can also seek arbitration of their fee disputes, but their clients cannot be compelled to participate in fee arbitration, according to the Sacramento County Bar Association's Fee Arbitration Rules (available at http://www.sacbar.org/public/FeeDisputes_SCBAArbitrationRules.pdf). Miles, who serves as coordinator for the program, said fee arbitrators such as Henderson and Tronvig perform a valuable public service by keeping attorney-client fee disputes out of the court system. "What both Gene and Bob did was give back to the profession and the community, and I am quite grateful for their service," Miles said. HENDERSON: A FIRE CAPTAIN TURNED LAWYER As a volunteer member of the SCBA's Fee Arbitration Committee, Henderson estimates that he has arbitrated over 150 fee arbitration cases through the years. "Gene Henderson was the first arbitrator that I met because his office was on the same floor as the SCBA office, which meant that I slammed him with more cases than anyone else," Miles said. "He would always give me that look and say, 'I'm done doing fee arbitrations,' but he would take them anyway. I always enjoyed going to his office because he would tell me stories ranging from family law to his fireman days to the times he donned the 'tools of ignorance' when he played catcher during his youth baseball days. Needless to say, I dearly miss him being around." Henderson, who has retired from the practice of law, is an avid hunter and fisherman. He and his wife, Gaye Wood, a retired choral director, are members of the Sacramento Blues Society and are active in "Blues in the Schools," a program in which volunteers bring professional musicians in middle schools and high schools to teach students the cultural heritage of the blues. TRONVIG: MOVING TO THE BENCH AS A FEDERAL ALJ Since the end of college meant the end of his student deferment, Tronvig enlisted in the United States Navy Reserve to "avoid" Vietnam. Nonetheless, his first active duty assignment following boot camp was the Armed Forces Language School in Saigon, where he taught English to Vietnamese military personnel. After his tour of duty, Tronvig returned to the United States and received an appointment as an economist with the Department of Labor in Los Angeles. He then entered McGeorge School of Law, where he re-kindled his friendship with Superior Court Judge David Abbott, a Marine JAG Officer who was about to start his tour of duty. After graduation, he joined the litigation law firm of Crow, Lytle & Gilwee in 1976. Tronvig was a partner at the Crow firm until leaving to form his own firm in 1997. Through the years, Tronvig has served as a settlement conference judge and a judge pro tem for the Superior Court. He has also been a very active fee arbitrator. He is leaving the SCBA's Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program because he has accepted a federal appointment as an Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration's Office of Hearings and Appeals. Tronvig called the federal appointment "a wonderful opportunity to serve the public. The folks that will appear in front of me are, in some cases, one step away from homelessness. Supplemental Security Income is society's safety net for those most in need." Miles describes Tronvig as comparable to the character of Atticus Find in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. "Bob Tronvig is a lawyer that gives the profession a good name, and I can't say enough about him and his accomplishments. He is most certainly as classy as they come." The picture of Tronvig accompanying this article was taken while he performed a wedding ceremony with a Hawaiian theme. Tronvig has performed many civil weddings for friends. In other civic activities, Tronvig has served as the McGeorge Alumni Association's National Fund Raising Chair and as the Alumni Association President in 1985. In addition to his alumni activities he has served as the President of both the College Greens - East Homeowners' Association and the Sutter Village Homeowners' Association, and he has served as the Treasurer of the Sacramento Chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). The Sacramento County Bar Association wishes Tronvig and Henderson the best in their future endeavors. July / August 2005 |
Henderson was born and raised locally, attending Folsom High School, American River College and Sacramento State. He worked for many years as a captain in the Sacramento City Fire Department. After graduation from Lincoln Law School, Henderson passed the bar in 1977. Henderson practiced law for 17 years with the late William Weniger until Weniger's untimely passing in 1977. Until last year, Henderson volunteered as a pro tem settlement judge for Superior Court in family law matters.
Born and raised in the East Bay, Tronvig attended Diablo Valley College before graduating from UC Davis with an economics degree. At UC Davis, he met his future wife, Beth.