Division Three: Justice Halim Dhanidina

Justice Dhanidina was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in nearby Evanston where he attended public school.  In 1994, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Pomona College in Claremont, California and earned his Juris Doctorate degree in 1997 from UCLA School of Law in Los Angeles, California.

Beginning in 1998, as a Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County, Justice Dhanidina prosecuted serious felony cases for the elite Hardcore Gang and Major Crimes divisions.  In 2012, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. appointed him to serve as a judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court, where he presided over 72 jury trials in the Compton and Long Beach courthouses.  In 2018, Governor Brown, Jr. appointed Justice Dhanidina to Division Three of the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District where he had been a justice pro tempore for nearly a year, reviewing over 100 appeals.  The Commission on Judicial Appointments unanimously confirmed him on August 23, 2018.

Justice Dhanidina is a devoted teacher and mentor and has worked as an adjunct professor at the Chapman University Fowler School of Law, Western State Law School, Whittier Law School and the Glendale University College of Law, where he has taught criminal trial advocacy, civil trial advocacy, criminal procedure, professional responsibility, and California criminal law.  He has also taught fellow judges statewide on topics including felony sentencing, case management and domestic violence, while also serving on the faculty for the B.E. Witkin Judicial College for new judicial officers.  

Justice Dhanidina serves on the boards of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and Muslim-Jewish NewGround.  He has been recognized for his service and achievements, having received awards from the California State Assembly, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, South Asian Bar Association, UCLA School of Law, South Asian Network, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council.