COUNTYWIDE : Appeals Court Jurist to Speak at Dinner

Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will be the keynote speaker at the Ventura County Bar Assn.’s annual dinner Saturday.

Kozinski, 40, is the youngest judge to serve on a federal appeals court in this century. He was appointed in 1985 by former President Ronald Reagan, and his generally conservative judicial philosophy has placed him among the names often mentioned for a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy.

A native of Romania, Kozinski earned his law degree at UCLA in 1975 and served as law clerk for former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger. Before his appointment to the 9th Circuit, Kozinski served as chief judge of the U.S. Claims Court.

The dinner will begin at 6 p.m. at the Radisson Suite Hotel in Oxnard. Tickets at $75 per person are available through the bar association at 653-5252.

Leonard Alexander, an attorney with the Thousand Oaks firm of Cohen, Alexander & Clayton, will receive the association’s Ben E. Nordman Award. The award, named for a deceased Ventura lawyer, is given each year to recognize a Ventura County attorney for community service.