Halim Dhanidina

The Honorable Halim Dhanidina (Ret.) joins Werksman Jackson and Quinn after heading the trial practice group at Umberg Zipser LLP. In his career as a distinguished jurist, he heard over 800 appeals as an Associate Justice for the Second District of the California Court of Appeal and presided over 70 jury trials as a Judge for the Los Angeles County Superior Court. As a Deputy District Attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney Major Crimes and Hardcore Gang Divisions, he handled numerous high-profile prosecutions, including seven capital cases.

He sits as an adjunct professor of law at the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of California at Irvine and Chapman University, and has taught judicial education courses for trial and appellate judges statewide. He serves as an Independent Director on the Board of Fidelity National Financial Group (FNF) and is a consultant for the venture capital firm CerraCap Ventures. He also volunteers as a board member for the non-profit organization Muslim-Jewish NewGround, and he serves on the Advisory Boards of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association, South Asian Bar Association and Asian Americans Advancing Justice and is a member of the Foundation Board and Board of Trustees of the Orange County School of the Arts.

Justice Dhanidina earned a B.A. in International Relations from Pomona College in 1994 and a J.D. from the U.C.L.A. School of Law in 1997, which named him the Asian Pacific Islander Law Students Association Alumnus of the Year in 2013. He was a founding member of APABA-LA and has received the South Asian Network’s Community Empowerment Award, the Muslim Public Affairs Council Foundation’s Community Leadership Award, the Muslim Legal Fund of America’s Trailblazer in Justice Award, and the South Asian Bar Association Foundation’s Trailblazer Award. Justice Dhanidina was recognized by the California State Assembly in Special Resolution 1470 for his contributions to the legal profession, and he is also a recipient of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award.

• Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, 2017
• South Asian Network’s Community Solidarity Award, 2017
• South Asian Bar Association Foundation’s Trailblazer Award, 2016
• Muslim Legal Fund of America’s Trailblazer in Justice Award, 2014
• Asian Pacific Islander Law Students Association Alumnus of the Year, UCLA School of Law, 2013
• Muslim Public Affairs Council Foundation’s Community Leadership Award, 2013
• Recognition for Victims’ Rights Advocacy by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors