A MESSAGE FROM LACBA PRESIDENT KRISTIN ADRIAN  

LACBA mourns the loss of Past President Roland L. Coleman, Jr. following news of his passing on March 26, 2024.

As former president of LACBA in 2001-02, he believed in keeping the legal profession relevant by improving the image of legal professionals, as well as the courts, and improving access to the courts. Most notable accomplishments under his leadership include the launch of LACBA’s Task Force on the State Criminal Justice System to review various elements of the criminal justice system in light of the issues raised by the Rampart scandal. LACBA improved online services by providing online judicial profiles and interviews of hundreds of local judges and debuted its former exclusive searchable Superior Court Civil Register, with more than 1,000 firms signing up for it in the first six months. LACBA also worked with the Court to implement the recommendations of the Los Angeles Superior Court Improvement Initiative, resulting in many court improvements, including elimination of “local local” rules, the court’s adoption of a one-day, one-trial jury system and the random reassignment of cases after a challenge to a bench officer.

Roland participated in many LACBA committees and sections, including LACBA’s Diversity in the Profession Committee (now the Diversity in the Profession Section), Judicial Elections Evaluation Committee and the Litigation Section Executive Committee. Roland also served as president of the John M. Langston Bar Association, a LACBA affiliated association since 1972.

Roland received his law degree from Loyola Law School in 1974, starting his legal career at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, and then moved to the California Department of Transportation. In 1986, he joined Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP in Los Angeles, where he became partner, primarily serving as a defense lawyer. He then joined the Community Career Development as Deputy Director/ General Counsel in 2011 and in 2015, founded the Law Offices of Roland L. Coleman.

Roland will be remembered for his service to LACBA and the legal community. We are grateful for his many contributions. Above all, we extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends for their loss.

Kristin Adrian
President
Los Angeles County Bar Association