Judge Lisa C. Schultz, now in her fourteenth year as a New Mexico District Court Judge, presides over family court, mental health court, and the Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program. Recently, Judge Schultz was certified as the first judge in New Mexico to be a Trauma Informed Trainer which allows her to teach other judges how to provide more appropriate judicial service to those persons who suffer from mental illness. In 2020, as in 2014, the national Victory Fund endorsed Judge Schultz in her candidacy for retention. In 2015, Mr. Tom Devine, Legal Director of the national Government Accountability Project (GAP), honored her work for clean justice (anti-corruption) by publishing “Op Eds” about her in the Las Cruces Sun News and the Albuquerque Journal. In 2013, she was nominated for the Justice Pamela B. Minzner Professional Award, and in 2010, the State Bar of New Mexico recognized her for twenty-five years of service. She has been lauded for her dedicated service to the community on numerous occasions, including the “New Mexico Governor’s Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women,” and the “You Make a Difference Award.”
When Judge Schultz began her judicial tenure, she was the only woman judge out of the eight sitting judges in her Court. She was also the only Jewish person, and the only gay person. Indeed, she was the first openly gay candidate to be elected to the New Mexico Judiciary.
Schultz brought many positive changes to her court. For example, when she began her judicial tenure, there were no female security officers in court. Judge Schultz inquired about this practice, and was informed: “there are no qualified women security officers.” Judge Schultz was not persuaded. Needless to say, the Third Judicial District Court now operates with both male and female security officers.
Lisa has also addressed such issues in her court as the need for diversity training, the humane treatment of children, and custody resolutions that are truly in the best interests of the children. Equally important, she also stands up for truth, and refuses to ignore public corruption. Judge Schultz deeply believes in the necessity of an independent and neutral judiciary as one of the foundations of our American Democracy.
Judge Schultz, while testifying for the prosecution in the criminal case concerning corruption charges against another judge, was essentially asked the following question by the Defendant’s criminal defense attorney: “You don’t really believe in American Democracy, do you?” She proudly answered: “Yes,” and thought: “don’t you?” She believes that every lawyer, sworn to uphold their state and U.S. constitutions, and every other citizen should believe in and work to preserve a healthy democracy.
Prior to becoming a Judge, Lisa Schultz successfully operated her own law firm for approximately fifteen years. She was an “AV” rated attorney (Martindale-Hubbell), having received the highest ranking for both knowledge of the law and ethics. Among her published work is an article she co-authored that appeared in the Journal of Family Law, and was quoted in the landmark case of Baker v. State of Vermont.1 She has also been listed in: “Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders of America,” “Who’s Who in American Law,” the “International Directory of Distinguished Leadership,” “Community Leaders of America,” and “Outstanding Young Women of America.” Schultz also served as the Legislative Analyst and Lawyer for the New Mexico Senate Ways and Means Committee. During the years she worked as a lawyer, Schultz provided a great deal of free legal service to low-income persons and helped in various justice causes.
Judge Schultz has been the past President of organizations, including the Doña Ana Woman’s Bar Association. She is also an educational and inspirational speaker, who continues her work in this capacity as a Judge. In 2013, she was the Keynote Speaker at the Naturalization Ceremony in Las Cruces, NM. In 2009, she was a speaker/presenter at the National Drug Court Conference in Anaheim, CA. She has also been a guest speaker at NMSU in various criminal justice classes, and in 2007, she traveled to different locations in New Mexico, co-teaching a seminar entitled: “Engaging Families and Preserving Connections: Best Practices in Children’s Court – Foster Parent and Youth Involvement in Court.” These classes were sponsored in part by the New Mexico Supreme Court, Court Improvement Project.
Lisa credits her dedication to public service, truth and justice to her parents. Her father was a renowned architectural sculptor2 and her mother a musician and poet. They were happily married for 67 years until their passing in 2017. Lisa’s parents instilled in her the concept of “tikun olam.” This is a Hebrew phrase that means: “repairing the world” and it “suggests humanity’s shared responsibility to heal, repair and transform the world.”3 Judge Schultz also grew up listening to the stories of her grandfather, Abe. As a teenager he had come to America as an immigrant escaping the Pogroms. Unfortunately, most of Abe’s family later perished at the hands of the Nazis in World War II.
Judge Schultz views the opportunity to serve her community as a great and abiding honor.
Beginning in high school, Judge Schultz earned her way through college and graduate school with employment in the scientific fields of neuroanatomy and metabolism. During this time, she worked her way up from washing test tubes to discovering a cell. Judge Schultz went on to win the Wurdack Fellowship in Metabolism. She was also fortunate to have worked for Dr. Rita Levi-Montalcini, who later won a Nobel Prize in Medicine. Judge Schultz also received the honor of an Internship at the nationally renowned bio-medical think tank, the “Hastings Center – Institute of Society, Ethics & the Life Sciences.”
It was during this formative work experience that Judge Schultz honed her analytic skills and developed a life-long appreciation for the discovery of evidence, i.e., that which reveals those things that are true about our world. However, while she was interested in science, Judge Schultz felt her calling to be in the realm of working for justice.
Before attaining a degree in law, Judge Schultz pursued a Masters in Theological Studies with a double emphasis in Old Testament and Ethics at Harvard Divinity School. Schultz believed that to be a consummate attorney required a foundation in ethics and theology. She graduated with a 3.86/4.00 GPA. Later, she attended and graduated from New York Law School in the top 5% of her class.
After graduate school, she and her spouse Veronica moved to Las Cruces. They celebrate their 45th anniversary in September and have lived in Las Cruces since 1985. They love the natural beauty of the quiet desert and mountains, as well as the vibrant border culture. In 2013, they were thrilled to become legally wedded to each other.
1 Baker v. State of Vermont, 744 A. 2d 864 [Vt. Sup. Ct. 1999].
2 See Mr. Saunders Schultz’ website:
3 See wikipedia Tikkun_olam