The Honorable Donna D. Geck

Biography

The Hon. Donna D. Geck is a judge for the Santa Barbara County Superior Court in California. She was appointed to the bench by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010.

She is registered decline-to-state.

Judge Geck graduated with her B.A. in journalism from Marquette University in Wisconsin in 1971. She then earned her J.D. from the University of North Dakota Law School in 1976.

After law school, Geck worked briefly as an assistant public defender with the State of Minnesota Board of Public Defense at the Second District Management Office. After a year there, she would enter into private practice, where she would remain until her appointment to the Superior Court in 2010.

During her time in private practice, Geck worked for various law firms in Minnesota before landing at the Santa Barbara law firm of Hager and Dowling in 1995. Her practice centered on civil litigation, which included jury and court trials as well as arbitrations and mediations. She was certified as a Civil Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and also served as a settlement master for the Superior Court. Geck was licensed to practice in North Dakota (1976), Minnesota (1976), Wisconsin (1989), and California (1996).

While on the bench, Judge Geck has presided over criminal arraignments as well as a civil calendar.

Her memberships have included the American Board of Trial Advocates, the William L. Gordon Inns of Court, the Santa Barbara Women Lawyers, the California Judges Association, and past-president of the California Coast Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Geck received the Deborah Talmage Attorney of the Year Award from the Santa Barbara Women Lawyers in 2011.

She has served as a judge for the Teen Court.