Judge Eskin presides over
Dept. 12 in the
Santa Barbara
Figueroa Division.

Judge George C. Eskin

          George Castelle Eskin was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned his A.B., cum laude, in the College of Fine Arts, Department of Theater Arts at UCLA in 1960 and his J.D. in 1965 at the UCLA School of Law, where he served as President of the Student Bar Association and Associate Justice of the Moot Court Honors Program.

         Judge Eskin began his legal career in 1966 as a Ventura County deputy district attorney, and two years later, he was promoted to the position of Assistant District Attorney.  He entered the private practice of law in 1971, handling civil litigation and criminal defense, and in 1975 served as Assistant District Attorney in Santa Barbara County. He was the Chief Assistant City Attorney in Los Angeles between 1976 and 1981, when he returned to private practice in Santa Barbara and Ventura with his wife, former Assemblymember Hannah-Beth Jackson. He was appointed to the Superior Court on August 26, 2003 and is currently assigned to criminal trials.  Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George appointed him to serve on the Judicial Council Criminal Law Advisory Committee in 2005-2006.

         The Ventura County District Attorney honored Judge Eskin with the 2002 Woodruff J. Deem Medal of Justice Award. He is also a recipient of the Santa Barbara Criminal Defense Bar Association's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Ventura County Criminal Defense Bar Association's Award for "Outstanding Contributions to the Criminal Justice System.”  In 2005, he was honored by the Santa Barbara Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League with its annual Distinguished Community Service Award.

         Judge Eskin served on the California Commission on Personal Privacy, the California Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission, the Santa Barbara County Human Services Commission and on the boards of directors of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association, the Ventura County Bar Association, the Ventura County Trial Lawyers Association and California Attorneys for Criminal Justice. He has also served on the advisory boards of Shelter Services for Women, Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Jewish Federation and the Anti-Defamation League. He has three children and four grandchildren, and he has been the public address announcer for the UCSB women’s basketball team since 1994.