Superior Court Judge Lisa Guy-Schall not only was recognized as a TWIN, she has twins: daughters Ashley and Amanda.

Law is the family business to San Diego County Superior Court Judge Lisa Guy-Schall: Her father, John Thomas Schall, was a practicing attorney, as were her uncle and her grandfather. Her sisters Kim, Melinda, Victoria and Jill, like she, earned law degrees from San Diego’s Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Her father, who established his practice before completing studies, returned to law school post retirement to earn his degree at Thomas Jefferson, which conferred an honorary degree on her mother, Biddy, during the ceremonies in which Guy-Schall’s father and sister Jill received their degrees.

Now one of Guy-Schall’s 21-year-old twin daughters is awaiting word on admission to law school.

Guy-Schall began her career as a San Diego County deputy district attorney in 1978. She was appointed to the San Diego Municipal Court bench in 1985, then in 1989 was elevated to the San Diego Superior Court bench and assigned to the San Diego Juvenile Court. Transferred to Vista’s North County Superior Court Regional Center in 1993, Gay-Schall has been the supervising North County judge overseeing issues related to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) since 1997, before which she presided over Vista Superior Court’s criminal division and civil law and motion division.

Guy-Schall’s 1984 TWIN award is among her many professional accolades. Her colleagues respect her as a judge who is tough and organized but sympathetic to caseload. She volunteers time to help her judicial colleagues in other departments, keeps active in law-related organizations and is a past president of the San Diego County Humane Society.

Energetic and athletic at 54, Guy-Schall’s abiding delights are daughters Ashley, now studying political science and English at UC Davis, and Amanda, now at Stanford University pending law school acceptance, in addition to volunteer work through the North Coast Calvary Chapel.

Her daughters, she says, embody her own philosophy: “Find your passion in life and don’t let anyone convince you to do otherwise.”

—Robin Maydeck