Chief Justice Steven C. González

Chief Justice Steven C. González was sworn in as the Supreme Court's 58th Chief Justice on January 11, 2021, following a vote of his peers for a four-year term. He was appointed to the court effective January 1, 2012, and subsequently won two contested races for six-year terms starting in 2013 and 2019. Before joining the Supreme Court, Chief Justice González served for ten years as a trial judge on the King County Superior Court hearing criminal, civil, juvenile, and family law cases.

Prior to his election to the King County Superior Court, Chief Justice González practiced both criminal and civil law. He was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Washington, a Domestic Violence Prosecutor for the City of Seattle and in private practice at a Seattle law firm.

As an Assistant United States Attorney, Chief Justice González was part of the team that successfully prosecuted the international terrorism case U.S. v. Ressam, for which he received two Department of Justice awards: the U.S. Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service and the Director's Award for Superior Performance. He also prosecuted organized crime cases and served as the Hate Crimes Prosecution Coordinator. After September 11, he lectured on international terrorism prosecution to U.S. Attorneys in Washington D.C.

While working in private practice, Chief Justice González gained significant civil and business law experience, including acquisitions, mergers, land use, intellectual property, commercial litigation, and contract negotiation. He regularly provided pro bono representation to people who could not afford to pay for a lawyer. Chief Justice González continues to be a lecturer at continuing legal education seminars and speaking engagements.

Chief Justice González has received numerous awards throughout his career, including: the Golden Scarf from the Seattle Sounders FC; the "2022 Spirit of Excellence Award" from the American Bar Association's Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession; the "2012 Difference Makers Award" from the American Bar Association's Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division; the 2021 CZ Smith Trailblazer Award and 2011 Exceptional Member Award from the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington; and the 2009 Vanguard Award from the King County Chapter of Washington Women Lawyers. He also received "Judge of the Year" awards from the Washington State Bar Association, the Washington Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and the Asian Bar Association of Washington in 2011.

Chief Justice González is passionate about providing open access to the justice system for all. He was appointed by the Supreme Court to the Washington State Access to Justice Board and served on the Board for seven years, including the last two years as its Chair. Chief Justice González served as Chair to the Interpreter Commission for eight years, supporting efforts to enhance language access across our state, including, the amendment to General Rule 11.3 to address remote interpreting as courts continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the adoption of General Rule 11.4 to establish protocols for team interpreting. Chief Justice González also mentors students, regularly participates in the Northwest Minority Job Fair, and serves as a Board member for the Washington Leadership Institute, a program that aims to develop Bar and community leaders who reflect the diversity of Washington State.

Chief Justice González chairs the Board of Judicial Administration (BJA) and COVID-19 Court Recovery Taskforce. He is a member of the Conference of Chief Justices and chairs the Court's Administrative, Budget, and Circulation Committees.

Chief Justice González earned his B.A. with Honors in East Asian Studies from Pitzer College and his J.D. from U.C. Berkeley School of Law where he was the Technical Editor of the La Raza Law Journal. As a part of his undergraduate degree, Chief Justice González studied at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan and at Nanjing University in China. Before law school, he did graduate work in Economics at Hokkaido University on a scholarship from Rotary International. He received Honorary Doctor of Laws Degrees from Gonzaga University School of Law in 2011 and the University of Puget Sound in 2015. In 2018, he taught State Constitutional Law at Gonzaga University School of Law.

Chief Justice González speaks Japanese, Spanish and some Mandarin Chinese.