Judge John Nho Trong Nguyen: Professional Background and Legal Expertise

The Hon. John Nho Trong Nguyen (Ret.) served as a judge for the Orange County Superior Court in California. Nguyen was appointed to the bench by former Governor Gray Davis in 2000, at which time he became the first Vietnamese-American judge in Orange County. He retired on September 25, 2013.

Prior to his appointment, Nguyen worked as the Director of St. Anselm Cross Cultural Center, Catholic Students Association, and Buddhist Charitable Services. He also served as a Deputy Attorney General for the California Department of Justice, where he prosecuted people accused of committing frauds against citizens and consumers, as well as a deputy public defender for the Orange County Public Defender’s Office.

Nguyen worked as a handyman’s helper while earning an M.B.A. from California Polytechnic University at Pomona in 1981. He then completed a J.D. at Western State College of Law in 1988.

He has taught International Law, Human Rights Law, Trial Practice, and Mediation & Arbitration as an adjunct professor at Chapman University School of Law, Whittier College of Law, and Western State College of Law.

His memberships have included the California Asian American Judges Association (President), the National Asian American Judges Association (Secretary), and the Commission on Access to Justice.

He is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Korean American Sister Cities Association (2002), the Patrick McCray Judge of the Year Award from the Orange County Bar Association (2005), and the Trailblazer Award from the National Pacific American Bar Association (2006).

Before arriving in the United States as a refugee in 1975, Nguyen attended the School of Forestry and Engineering and the University of Saigon, becoming one of fifteen forestry engineers in the country. Soon after, he joined the II Corps of the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam in the Central Highland of Vietnam as an infantry officer.

Nguyen was a prominent member of the House of Representatives in Vietnam, where he dedicated his career to political, economic, and land reform. He later served as an Associate Justice on the Constitutional Special Supreme Court of South Vietnam.