Lilia G. Judson is smart, tenacious, dedicated, loyal, curious, hard-working, caring, and compassionate. She also has a disarming smile, engaging personality, and a great sense of humor. She has faced many challenges during her life journey and has always met them head-on with her unwavering strength of character.
For many years, she has been the steady rock underlying the administrative support system for the Indiana Supreme Court. As she moves on to the next chapter of her life, it is the end of a remarkable era of important achievements for the Court.
Early life
Lilia was born in a resort town in Bulgaria that dates back to the Roman Empire. Her father, the Very Rev. Boris Vangev Georgiev was an Eastern Orthodox Priest in this town of around thirty thousand people. He had previously served in the King’s Army and was ostracized by the Communist party because of this and his affiliation with the church.
Lilia and her sister, Ophelia, were both required to belong to the Pioneers, a Communist student organization, in order to participate in extra-curricular school activities. Her parents worked hard to find a way to leave the country.
In 1961, their efforts bore fruit when her father and mother, Raina, moved the family to Indianapolis. Rev. Georgiev became the priest of St. Stephen Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church on the west side of the city.
St. Stephen parish, founded in 1907, included a church built in 1915 by immigrants from present day Bulgaria, Macedonia, and northern Greece. They hired Rev. Georgiev to rekindle the ethnic, cultural, and religious spirit of the congregation and to minister to the descendants of the founders, Russian and Ukrainian immigrants, as well as American members. He led this historic ethnic church for twenty-four years.
Education
As a twelve-year old girl with many friends, Lilia strongly objected when her family picked up stakes in Bulgaria and moved to the United States. She spoke no English, yet she met this early challenge and adapted to her new country.
She attended Indianapolis Public School 90 and Washington High School. Even though she was often the lone foreign student, her classmates welcomed her. She served on her high school homecoming court.
An excellent student, she attended Butler University on scholarship before transferring to Indiana University in Bloomington. She once again broke the mold by becoming one of the rare brunettes in the Pi Phi sorority, known for its blondes. She received a degree in Education and History. Following graduation, she soon discovered as a student-teacher that she might be happier in another profession.
She took both the GRE and the LSAT and hand-delivered her application to Dean Kent Frandsen at the Indiana University Law School in Indianapolis (now the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law).
She was again a pioneer, although not a conscripted one as in Bulgaria, as one of only thirteen female law students. She attended classes full-time in her first year; and, thereafter, she attended classes at night while serving as a Legislative Analyst for the newly formed Indiana Judicial Study Commission. She helped draft constitutional amendments to eliminate justice of the peace courts and to initiate merit selection for appellate court judges.
Lilia graduated from law school in 1975 and was one of the first students allowed to take an early bar exam, which she passed.
Career
In 1976, she served as Executive Secretary for the Judicial Study Commission, as well as the Judicial Nominating Commission, the Commission on Judicial Qualifications, and the Judicial Conference.
In 1977, the Indiana General Assembly created the Division of State Court Administration where she served as its Assistant Director until 1986 when she became the Director. Lilia served in that capacity until 1997, when she was promoted to its Executive Director.
In May 2015, the Indiana Supreme Court named her the Interim Chief Administrative Officer, where she helped the Court move to a more efficient and transparent internal organizational structure.
She stayed in that capacity to assist in the transition after the Court selected Henry Circuit Court Judge Mary Willis as the first Chief Administrative Officer.
Lilia Judson has had many accomplishments in her distinguished career with the Indiana Supreme Court. She had to pause and reflect when asked to list her most memorable ones, which she narrowed to her top four.
- Early in her career, one of the Court’s biggest challenges was to develop and implement a case numbering system for all of the trial courts. It is hard to imagine today, but each county had its own unique case identification process.
- Another important accomplishment was assisting in the implementation of court technology and electronic-filing. She envisions a day when the courts will be paperless.
- A third major accomplishment was her role in working on the reorganization of the agencies and entities responsible to the Chief Justice. She helped in the drafting and implementation of Administrative Rule 20 that created the Indiana Office of Judicial Administration.
- Finally, she is very proud of her service as the Interim Chief Administrative Officer of the Indiana Supreme Court, paving the way for Judge Willis to step into this challenging new position.
While these four are the ones selected by Lilia as the most important, the difficulty in sorting through all of them is evident from her numerous job responsibilities, accomplishments, and professional affiliations.
For those of us privileged to work with Lilia, we know that she was a hands-on boss who paid attention to detail. She is a beautiful writer, always thoughtful, exacting and attentive to proper grammar and syntax. Her leadership style was firm, steady, straight-forward but with empathy and compassion. She is a scholar and student of the law, with an insatiable curiosity.
Lilia was always prepared and asked questions until she is satisfied; and, if not, someone will be doing further research. Under her leadership, she created an atmosphere and environment that encouraged excellence and hard work, with respect and caring for each other.
Whether the occasion was a birthday, new baby, illness, or worse, Lilia was there with her outstretched hand and warm heart. With a twinkle in her eye and a big smile on her face, she made coming to work enjoyable. She will be remembered and missed by her colleagues and friends.
Family
Lilia and Steve Judson were married halfway through her law school studies. Their son, Alexander, and his wife, Kate, have two-year old twins: Luke and Piper. And, whatever new ventures lie ahead for her, she and Steve will definitely include more, well-deserved time with these beautiful children and their parents.