Judge Victor E. Bianchini
Judge Bianchini is an active mediator and arbitrator for Judicate West and for the American Arbitration Association. He is a retired San Diego County Superior Court Judge. He is also a retired U.S. Magistrate Judge and a retired Colonel of the United States Marine Corps. He was appointed to the position of U.S. Commissioner and served from 1968 to 1969. He was then appointed a U.S. Magistrate Judge by the Southern District of California in 1974 and served until 1982. He vacated that position to accept a California state court position. He retired as a Superior Court Judge in 2002. After retiring from the state court bench, he was recalled part-time to the Western District of New York as a U.S. Magistrate Judge while engaged in a private mediation and arbitration practice in San Diego. He served the Western District until 2006, at which time he was appointed to a full-time position serving both the Western and Northern Districts of New York. He is now a judge in the Federal Court of the Eastern District of Washington. He also serves the Central District of California and Southern District of California on special settlement projects. His duties now include deciding Social Security Disability Appeals, handling calendars during judicial absences, and settling prisoner civil rights cases and complex civil cases. In these positions he has authored over 1,000 decisions, approximately 820 of which are reported in Westlaw and the Federal Supplement. He also continues his practice as a mediator, Arbitrator and Discovery Referee.
After graduating from law school, Judge Bianchini served as the confidential law clerk to Chief Judge James M. Carter of the Southern District of California from 1963 to 1964. He then served on active duty from 1964 to 1967. Leaving active duty, he remained in the Marine Corps Reserve. During his service 31 years of service, Judge Bianchini served as a tank platoon commander, Force Reconnaissance platoon commander (parachute qualified), a Force Reconnaissance Commanding Officer, a general courts-martial judge and Deputy Inspector General of the U.S. European Command. During Vietnam, from 1965 to 1966, he served as a combat correspondent and photojournalist and combat air crewman. Included in his 24 military decorations are the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with Combat "V", 3 Air Medals and the Combat Action Ribbon. He later received the Joint Services Commendation Medal following service during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. He retired in 1991 with the rank of Colonel. Immediately following his active military service after Vietnam in 1967, he lived on a kibbutz in Israel for 6 months as a volunteer.
During his judicial service, he was honored as "Judge of the Year" by the San Diego Trial Lawyers, received the Foothills Bar Association Legal Professional of the Year award, received Family Law Judge of the Year Honors from the El Cajon Superior Court, and was the recipient of numerous additional awards and recognitions. Immediately prior to his retirement from the Superior Court in 2002, he served for 3 months, during a leave of absence, as a Senior Fulbright Scholar in the Sub-Saharan African country of Eritrea as a consultant to the Minister of Justice and taught South African Law to a select group of Eritrean judges.
Judge Bianchini has served as Vice Chair of the Vietnam Veteran's Village of San Diego, and remains on the board as a director. He is the past president of the MCRD Museum Historical Foundation, a director of the Flying Leathernecks Historical Foundation and a life member of the USMC Combat Correspondents Association. He is also a life member of the Disabled American Veterans, a life member of the Jewish War Veterans, and a life member of the VFW. He is past president of the San Diego County Law Library (2 terms), past president of the San Diego County Public Law Library Foundation, and currently serves on its board. He has held numerous adjunct professor positions, specializing in the field of evidence and served on the Faculty Council of the National Judicial College. He was the volunteer debate coach for the Mt. Carmel High School Debate Team—from 2006 to 2010, and was named the Mt. Carmel Volunteer of the Year in 2007 by the Poway School District. He was also honored by inclusion the San Diego County Bar Association’s “Legal Legends” oral history project.
Judge Bianchini took up the sport of Sabre fencing February, 2010, and after fencing for 1 ½ years, placed 6th in the 2011 World Championships in Porec, Croatia, was the 2012 U.S. National Champion in his Veterans age-group, and placed 7th in the World Championships in Varna, Bulgaria in 2013. He won “team” Gold Medal in the 2014 World Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. He was at one time ranked first in the Nation and was most recently ranked 2nd in the Nation. He recently won a Gold medal in Team Sabre at the Canadian/American Championships on May 31, 2015, in Toronto.
