The Alaska Judicial Council met via videoconference on November 16-17, 2020 to interview applicants for a position on the Alaska Court of Appeals. Following its meeting, the Alaska Judicial Council announced that Brooke Berens, Trisha Haines, and Timothy W. Terrell were nominated as the most qualified applicants to fill the Alaska Court of Appeals judicial vacancy. The governor now has 45 days in which to make the appointment from among these nominees.
The Judicial Council is required to nominate the most qualified applicants applying for judicial vacancy. (The framers of the Constitution referred to this standard as the “best available timber.”)
The Council is a citizens’ commission created by the Alaska Constitution composed of three attorneys, three non-attorneys, and the Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. The Council completes an extensive investigation and evaluation of judicial applicants. The Council reviews each applicant’s education, experience, bar discipline and credit records, participation in community activities, and other records. It asks members of the Alaska Bar to evaluate the applicants, encourages the public to submit comments, and interviews the applicants.
Nominees for the Alaska Supreme Court of Appeals are:
- Brooke Berens: Ms. Berens has been an Alaska resident for 12 years, and has practiced law for 12 years. She graduated from Northwestern University School of Law in 2008, and is currently an assistant public advocate in Anchorage.
- Trisha Haines: Ms. Haines has been an Alaska resident for 9½ years, and has practiced law for 8½ years. She graduated from Temple University Beasley School of Law in 2010, and is currently a staff attorney for the court of appeals in Anchorage, and resides in Fairbanks.
- Timothy W. Terrell: Mr. Terrell has been an Alaska resident for 49 years, and has practiced law for 29½ years. He graduated from the University of Oregon School of Law in 1990, and is currently an Attorney V with the Office of Criminal Appeals, Department of Law, in Anchorage.