Barbara J.R. Jones

Presiding Justice, California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division 5

Justice Jones was confirmed as Presiding Justice of Division 5 of the First District, Court of Appeal in September 1998, the first woman to serve as a presiding justice in the First District. In December 1996, she was confirmed as Associate Justice of Division 5. Justice Jones retired from the Court of Appeal in September 2020. She was appointed Judge of the San Francisco Superior Court in January 1992, and reelected in November 1992. Judge Jones served in the Superior Court civil and criminal divisions, and its appellate department.

Justice Jones received her undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1965 and her JD degree from University of San Francisco, School of Law in 1974. She was a member of the University of San Francisco Law Review and McAuliffe Society, the academic honor society.

In 1995 Justice Jones was appointed by the California Supreme Court to its Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics, charged with drafting a new code of ethics for California judges. She has advised the Supreme Court ever since on issues related to California’s Code of Judicial Ethics as a member of the Advisory Committee.

Throughout her legal career, Justice Jones has taught countless continuing legal and judicial education programs. She has been on the faculty and Planning Committees for California Center for Judicial Education and Research, Civil Law and Procedure Institutes and has served on various Judicial Council advisory committees and work-groups.

Justice Jones was honored by the National Association of Women Lawyers in 2003 with its President's Award in recognition of her work in judicial ethics, and by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association in 2005 as Appellate Justice of the Year. In 2009 Queen's Bench Bar Association of the San Francisco Bay Area awarded Justice Jones its Lifetime Achievement Award. Justice Jones was President of Queen's Bench in 1983; she is a lifetime member of Queen's Bench and California Women Lawyers. She was President of the University of San Francisco, School of Law alumni association in 1984, and a founding member of the USF School of Law Women Lawyers Committee.

For over sixteen years prior to her judicial appointment, Justice Jones practiced civil litigation, emphasizing general business and personal injury matters. Before attending law school--during which she worked full-time--she was an elementary school teacher and an editor of social studies textbooks. She spends many extra-judicial hours road cycling.