VENTURA : 3 Area Residents Earn Law Degrees

Three Ventura County residents were among the graduating class of six who earned juris doctor degrees from the Southern California Institute of Law in Ventura, school officials said.

Commencement ceremonies for the graduates, who attended four years of night classes at campuses in Ventura and Santa Barbara, were scheduled today at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse.

Keynote speaker for the Saturday ceremony will be Arleigh M. Woods, presiding justice for the California Court of Appeal, 2nd Appellate District in Los Angeles.

The county graduates are Sally LaMacchia and Jeff Scarberry, both of Oxnard, and Ralph Chabot of Camarillo. Tom Hudgins of Westlake Village, Bruce Parks of Carpinteria and Katherine Mottarella of Santa Barbara also earned degrees from the law school.

All will take the State Bar of California exam in July, said Stan Pulle, dean of the law school.

“They should all do quite well,” Pulle said. “Students who have completed four years at the school have passed the bar exam with a 75% success rate,” he said.