The Hon. Patricia A. Green is a commissioner for the Pima County Superior Court in Arizona. She was appointed to the bench in 2012, becoming the first African American woman to serve on the bench.
Green earned a bachelor’s degree in African-American history from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976. She spent the next several years working as a legal secretary at Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles before moving to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. She then completed a J.D. at the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law in 1996. As a law student, she was the managing editor of the Arizona Law Review.
After graduating from law school, Green began her legal career as a judicial law clerk for the Hon. William E. Druke and the Hon. M. Jan Florez of the Arizona Court of Appeals (Division Two). She then entered into private practice in 1998, specializing in family law matters at Waterfall, Economidis, Caldwell, Hanshaw & Villamana. During her tenure there, she rose through the ranks, becoming the first African-American shareholder in the firm’s history in 2004.
Her memberships have included the Pima County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Arizona Minority Bar Association, the Arizona Women Lawyers Association, and the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Arizona. She also volunteers as a pro bono attorney with the Volunteer Lawyers Program, the Considering Divorce Program, the Lawyer Referral Service, and she is actively involved with the Tucson Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce, the Governor’s African-American Advisory Council, and the Blanche Johnson Homes.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Green is the mother of three children. When not presiding over legal matters, she enjoys bowling with the Sunsations Bowling Club of Tucson.