Sacramento Superior Court Presiding
Judge Michael G. Virga: SCBA Judge of the Year

By John Bachman • Photo by Sirlin Photography

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael G. Virga has spent much of his life in the Sacramento County Courthouse. As a youngster, he sometimes came to work with his judge father, observing the inner workings of the court and trials, including watching his uncle, John Virga, who was a local criminal defense attorney.

"I learned to appreciate the work of judges and the court," he said. "It was fascinating as a young man to see the system at work and to watch trials unfold."

His years as a Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney revolved around courthouse hearings and trials. Now, after 13 years as a judge, Virga has risen to the pinnacle of the Sacramento Superior Court Bench, being selected as Presiding Judge in 2004 and as the Sacramento County Bar Association's Judge of the Year for 2005.

During his tenure as Presiding Judge, Virga has attempted to juggle the demands of ever increasing caseloads and an understaffed court while focusing on trying to reduce the number of times civil practitioners show up for trial only to be told there is no courtroom available. If that occurs a second time, the case is assigned to a specific judge, creating much greater certainty in rescheduling the trial. He also put a renewed effort on settlement of criminal cases through changes to the home court criminal system, including reviving use of a second pre-trial settlement conference and assigning one judge to handle all settlement conferences and law and motion in a given case, increasing the likelihood of resolution.

"The criminal cases drive the system and the civil cases can fall behind," he said. "I wanted to make an effort to increase settlements in civil and criminal cases and see that civil trials were not backlogged."

Success requires good bench-bar relations. For instance, it relies on local practitioners serving as settlement conference judges. He has also assigned additional judicial resources toward family law and probate cases and restructured their calendars with a goal of allowing more time to be spent on existing cases while moving them through the system efficiently.

"It's still early and it is a work in progress. We're looking to improve," he said, adding it is also important quality does not suffer because of the push to move cases through the system. "Participants must feel they are given due time for their matters. We need more judges to cover ever increasing caseloads and provide quality access to justice."

Courthouse colleagues said Virga's administrative style stresses building consensus and including as many voices in the process as possible.

"He is a very considerate person," said Sacramento Superior Court Judge Judy Holzer Hersher. "He likes to hear from all sides and consider the strength and merits before making a decision."

"His style is very judicious and very deliberate and he has bent over backward to make sure everyone is included in court decisions," added Sacramento Superior Court Judge Roland L. Candee. "He is very mindful we survive because of solid bench-bar relations."

Virga has also emphasized engaging other judges in the process of developing court policy and potential solutions to problems.

"He is very willing to create sub-committees to investigate issues or concerns before the court," Hersher said.

"Consensus building is very important," Virga said. "I think it is important that everyone feels involved and heard in the business of the court. I always make an effort to encourage participation and input from my fellow judges in making the decisions that need to be made."

That considered, thoughtful approach has been a Virga hallmark throughout his career.

"In my trials before Judge Virga, his rulings were articulate and well-reasoned despite the spontaneous oral motions and objections," said Paul Bernardino, a former Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney who now works as a California Deputy Attorney General. "And now that I am an appellate lawyer and I read his transcripts, I can see how he protects the entire record from error."

"He is a respected judge because he takes the time to weigh the facts and explain his decisions on the record, and his cases stand up on appeal because the reviewing court can actually read the reasons for his rulings."

The Third District Court of Appeal even took the unusual step of commending Virga for fashioning a "dynamite instruction" designed to guide a jury that reports it is deadlocked. "The trial judge did not err in giving the challenged instruction. Indeed, the trial judge should be commended for fashioning such an excellent instruction," the Court of Appeal's opinion states.

As a practitioner, Virga especially enjoyed trial work, in part because he enjoys competition.

"No trial is mundane. I love the drama of trials. Every trial brings with it a new twist," he said. "I enjoyed the camaraderie of working with opposing counsel, law enforcement, colleagues in the DA's office, and the victims and their families in an effort to obtain justice for them. I liked having the opportunity to help make them whole. I probably handled just about every type of case that came through the District Attorney's Office."

The administrative side of his presiding judge duties also provides a daily does of new twists.

"New and complex court, county and state issues hit you that you cannot anticipate or prepare ahead for," he said.

The Virga family has always been heavily involved in the Sacramento community, including youth sports as well as charitable endeavors and community wide activities. Judge Virga believes that judges and attorneys should interact with the citizens of our community, commenting that such interaction provides one of the primary means for citizens to learn about the system, since most do not observe the system first-hand the way he did in his youth.

"I think it is important for the court and the community," he said. "I feel strongly about it."

Raised in Sacramento, Virga's father, Michael J. Virga, was a judge, appointed to the Municipal Court Bench in 1970, and to the Superior Court Bench four years later. Virga earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business from Santa Clara University. Virga began working as a Deputy District Attorney in 1981 after graduating from Santa Clara Law School, the same school his father attended.

Virga was elected to the Sacramento County Municipal Court in 1992. Two years later he successfully ran for his father's Sacramento County Superior Court seat. Virga and his wife, Deborah, have two daughters, Nicole and Natalie. Nicole attends UC Davis and Natalie attends Santa Clara University. He enjoys golf, tennis and swimming in his free time.

July / August 2005