Second Appellate District Bids Farewell to Presiding Justice Lee Edmon and Associate Justice Audrey Collins

The Second Appellate District marks the retirement of two long-serving colleagues, Presiding Justice Lee Smalley Edmon of Division Three and Associate Justice Audrey B. Collins of Division Four, both effective at the end of June 2026. Together, their nearly two decades on this court reflect a shared commitment to public service that shaped not just their divisions, but the district as a whole. The court extends its deepest gratitude for their years of dedicated service.

Presiding Justice Lee Edmon

Before her appellate appointment, Justice Edmon spent 15 years on the Los Angeles County Superior Court, including terms as Assistant Presiding Judge and Supervising Judge of the Civil Departments. From 2011 to 2012, she served as the court's Presiding Judge, becoming the first woman to hold that position in the history of the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Earlier in her career, she practiced civil litigation for 19 years, first at Adams, Duque & Hazeltine and later at Dewey Ballantine LLP, where she made partner.

Justice Edmon's record of service extends well beyond the bench. She chaired numerous Judicial Council committees, including the Litigation Management Committee and the Civil & Small Claims Advisory Committee, and served on the Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee. Her contributions to the legal community were recognized many times over, including the Alfred J. McCourtney Trial Judge of the Year Award, the Metropolitan News-Enterprise Person of the Year, and the Joan Dempsey Klein Distinguished Jurist Award from California Women Lawyers.

Associate Justice Audrey Collins

Justice Collins was appointed to the Second Appellate District in 2014 by Governor Jerry Brown, also earning an "exceptionally well qualified" rating and unanimous confirmation. She served as Associate Justice of Division Four for more than a decade.

Justice Collins came to the appellate bench after a distinguished career in the federal judiciary. Nominated by President Bill Clinton, she served as a United States District Court Judge for the Central District of California from 1994 to 2014, including as Chief Judge from 2009 to 2012. Before that, she spent 16 years in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, where she was the first African American woman to become a Head Deputy, Assistant Bureau Director, and Assistant District Attorney.

A graduate of Howard University, where she was named Woman of the Year and elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Justice Collins went on to earn a master's degree from American University and her law degree from UCLA, where she served on the UCLA Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. Her honors include the Outstanding Jurist Award from the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Joan Dempsey Klein Distinguished Jurist Award, and a Hall of Fame award from the City of Los Angeles during its African American Heritage Month celebration.

A Shared Legacy

Appointed within weeks of one another in 2014, Justice Edmon and Justice Collins built parallel legacies of service across Divisions Three and Four, each bringing decades of judicial and legal experience to the appellate bench. Their combined body of work, spanning trial and appellate courts, state and federal systems, has left a lasting mark on the administration of justice in Los Angeles and throughout California.

The Second Appellate District thanks Presiding Justice Edmon and Justice Collins for their integrity, leadership, and service, and wishes them both well in retirement.   

Eva McClintock
Clerk Executive Officer 
COURT OF APPEAL, SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
300 South Spring Street | Second Floor | North Tower, Los Angeles, CA 90013 
(213) 830-7112 | eva.mcclintock@jud.ca.gov | courts.ca.gov/2dca
Committed to providing fair and equal access to justice for all Californians