Hon. David J. Cowan will teach Wills and Trusts. Judge Cowan sits in the Beverly Hills Courthouse of the Los Angeles Superior Court where he hears long-cause Civil and Probate trials. He also conducts mandatory settlement conferences.

Previously, Judge Cowan was Supervising Judge of the Civil Division of the Court. As Supervising Judge of Civil, he oversaw the operations of over one hundred and fifty courtrooms around the County. Earlier, he was Supervising Judge of the Court’s Probate and Mental Health Depts. During his six plus years sitting in a Probate department, he was a member of the Probate and Mental Health Advisory Committee to the Judicial Council of California, as well as Vice-Chair of the Probate Committee of the Calif. Judges Ass’n.

Judge Cowan was appointed a Judge by Governor Jerry Brown in 2014. Before his appointment as a judge, Judge Cowan served as a Court Commissioner. For much of that time, Judge Cowan handled a Family Law calendar at the Santa Monica Courthouse.

Prior to going on the bench, Judge Cowan practiced business and real estate litigation for seventeen years. He started at Rogers & Wells, now known as Clifford Chance. Later, he had his own office.

Judge Cowan received his J.D. from Univ. of Calif. College of the Law San Francisco (formerly known as Hastings) and B.A. from Columbia University. In law school, Judge Cowan published in one of the law journals and was an extern to Judge Lucy Kelly McCabe of the San Francisco Superior Court.

Judge Cowan was an Adjunct Professor at Loyola Law School for over ten years.

Judge Cowan was the recipient of Beverly Hills Bar Ass’n Ronald M. George Award for Judicial Excellence in September 2022 and of the Beverly Hills Bar Ass’n Timothy Whitehouse Award, for his Contribution to the LASC Probate Dept., in August 2020.