jennifergoddardcombsSANTA BARBARA, California – Renee M. Fairbanks, a prominent family law attorney and community volunteer, is the new president of the Santa Barbara Courthouse Legacy Foundation.
Fairbanks was elected president by the foundation’s board on April 21. The Santa Barbara Courthouse Legacy Foundation is dedicated to the conservation, restoration, and educational legacy of the historic Santa Barbara Courthouse.
“I’m so honored to have the opportunity to lead this incredible organization,” said Fairbanks, an attorney and certified family law specialist with family law offices in Santa Barbara and Los Olivos. “The Santa Barbara Courthouse is an icon for our community, and my goal is to ensure this magnificent building can be enjoyed for many generations to come.”
Completed in 1929, the Santa Barbara Courthouse is a nationally recognized architectural gem and one of the most famous examples of the city’s Spanish Colonial Revival civic style. While the County of Santa Barbara is responsible for maintaining the courthouse, it does not have the artistic resources or funds to authentically restore the building.
The Santa Barbara Courthouse Legacy Foundation is the only organization dedicated to preserving and restoring the courthouse, which has been designated a local, state, and national historic landmark. Since its founding by a small group of committed citizens in 2004, the foundation has funded numerous conservation projects, including restoring s murals and paintings, rehabilitating the Hall of Records, and restoring the Courthouse Seth Thomas Tower Clock.
Fairbanks has served on the foundation’s board since 2018. She is also active in many other community organizations, including the Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County, the Fund for Santa Barbara, and the local Animal Shelter Assistance Program.
A graduate of UCSB and Santa Barbara College of Law, Fairbanks has spent more than a decade advocating for clients in divorce, legal separation, support, parentage and custody proceedings in Santa Barbara County and along the Central Coast. She is a member of the Santa Barbara County and the Northern Santa Barbara County bar associations, a past president of the County Bar Foundation, and a former board member of Santa Barbara Women Lawyers. She is also an adjunct professor of law at the Santa Barbara College of Law, where she teaches community property.
–For more information about the Law Office of Renee M. Fairbanks visit www.reneemfairbanks.com/, or contact assistant@reneemfairbanks.com or 805-845-1600.
–For more information about the Santa Barbara Courthouse Legacy Foundation visit https://www.courthouselegacyfoundation.org/
