Arthur L. Littleworth Named "Defender of the Constitution"

The California law firm of Best Best & Krieger LLP (BB&K) announces that Arthur L. Littleworth, the firm’s senior partner, has received the Erwin Chemerinsky Defender of the Constitution Award from the Federal Bar Association - Inland Empire Chapter.  The Award honors individuals whose work reflects a commitment to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.  In a congratulatory letter from the chapter president, the Honorable Oswald Parada, United States Magistrate Judge, said that Littleworth received the award for his “efforts in initiating the voluntary desegregation of the public schools in Riverside after the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education” in 1954.

While a member of the Riverside Unified School District’s Board of Education (from 1958 to 1973), and particularly while he served as president (from 1962 to1973), Littleworth helped guide Riverside public schools through a difficult, but ultimately successful, transition to voluntary desegregation.  Riverside was one of the first major cities in the United States to voluntarily integrate their public schools and served as a model to other U.S. cities in their efforts to desegregate schools.

Littleworth is one of the preeminent water law attorneys in the United States.  In his fifty years of practice, he has participated in all aspects of water law, including transactional and litigation matters.  In 2003 he was named as one of the “Top 100” lawyers in California.  He is co-author of California Water, widely viewed as the definitive book on this subject.  In 1987, he was appointed by the United States Supreme Court as Special Master to hear a water rights case of original jurisdiction between the States of Kansas and Colorado involving the Arkansas River.  His role in that case continues today.

Littleworth has lived and worked in Riverside for more than half a century since arriving in 1950 to join BB&K.  His service and commitment to the community have been a hallmark of his life.  He has served as president of the Riverside County Bar Association, a founding member and president of the Mission Inn Foundation Board of Directors, honorary chairman of Riverside City College’s Passport to College endowment fund, president of UC Riverside’s Citizens University Committee, a member of the Citizens’ Goals for the Greater Riverside Area Board of Directors, president of the Riverside Press Council, as well as a member and president of the Riverside Unified School District Board of Education.

Presentation of the Award

Littleworth received the Erwin Chemerinsky Defender of the Constitution Award at the Federal Bar Association – Inland Empire Chapter’s Eighth Annual Constitutional Law Lecture at the Mission Inn on Friday, May 4, 2007.  The Award was presented by the Honorable Virginia A. Phillips, United States District Judge and a BB&K alumnus.  During the event, Erwin Chemerinsky, a professor at Duke University School of Law, provided an annual Supreme Court update.