Sheila Prell Sonenshine is California’s first female Jewish justice and California’s youngest intermediate appellate court justice. She is the only child of Milton and Devorah (née Zion) Prell; Milton was a hotel owner and developer most notable for his projects in Las Vegas. Even though neither of her parents finished high school (or maybe because of that), both were supportive of their bright and outgoing daughter who proclaimed at age seven that she wanted to be a lawyer. She attended UCLA and received her law degree from Loyola Law School. She then opened her own law office in Newport Beach, becoming one of the first certified family law specialists in the state. Her firm had grown to ten lawyers when she left in 1982 to join the Orange County Superior Court. Her work on the bench, as a businesswoman, and as a philanthropist has led to many awards, including the California State Bar Association Jurist of the Year, The American Bar Association Outstanding Service to Family Law, the Anti-Defamation League Marcus Kaufman Jurisprudence Award, and Temple Bat Yahm’s Elie Wiesel Award for Jewish Ideals and Human Dignity, to name just a few. In addition, Sheila and her family are intimately involved in Orange County Jewish life. She and her husband, Israeli-born Ygal, were one of the earliest families to join Newport Beach’s Temple Bat Yahm, back in 1973; Sheila was the congregation’s first fundraising chair. Both their sons are also lawyers and community leaders, fostering multi-generational commitment to justice, legal education, and philanthropy, especially with groups like Human Options (an Irvine-based organization that helps abused women and their children) and the annual Pro Bono Reception, founded by Sheila in 1994, to introduce new lawyers and accountants at Orange County’s larger law and professional services firms to pro bono and volunteer service opportunities in the community. She and her family’s commitment to both secular and Jewish ideals is an inspiration for all.
Dalia Taft, Director of the Orange County Jewish Historical Society, highlights images from the archives every month. For more information, please visit https://Www.jccoc.org/Pages/Oc-Jewish-Historical-Society. You can also contact Dalia at Daliat@jccoc.org or at (949) 435-3400, Ext. 360. The Orange County Jewish Historical Society is a program of the Merage Jewish Community Center and is funded by the Jewish Community Foundation Orange County.