Hon. Stephanie Joannides (Ret.)

Stephanie E. Joannides joined the bench in 1994.  During her tenure, she first served as a judge on the District Court and then as a judge on the Superior Court. Judge Joannides presided over numerous civil and criminal cases. Judge Joannides also served as a pro tem judge on the Court of (Criminal) Appeals and served as the Administrative Head of the Three Judge Sentencing Panel.

After her retirement in 2011, Stephanie continued to handle a variety of civil and criminal matters, mediations and settlement conferences in a pro-tem capacity. Stephanie now focuses most of her time on her private mediation business, helping parties resolve disputes.

 In addition, since 2017, she became the Administrative Head and a Mediator for the Alaska Supreme Court Mediation, a program focused on the settling of cases before the Alaska Supreme Court. 

Stephanie is a graduate of the University of Santa Clara, California with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and a law degree from Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Washington. 

Stephanie has worked on numerous legal committees.  She was a member of the Alaska team at the National Civil Justice Reform Summit.  In addition, Stephanie has chaired both the Supreme Court’s Committee on Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions, and the Supreme Court Committee to Review Civil Rule 90.3.  She was member of the Fairness, Diversity, Equality Committee of the Alaska Supreme Courts Fairness and Access Commission. While working as an Assistant Attorney General for the Special Litigation Section, Stephanie was a member of the Third Judicial District’s Attorney Discipline Hearing Committee and the Department of Law Conflict Committee.

Stephanie has been a lecturer on a variety of topics and was an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law Anchorage campus wherein she co-taught a course on Alternative Dispute Resolution to third year law students. 

Stephanie has always been interested in innovative programs.  During her tenure, she served as the Alaska Chair of the Color of Justice Program—a national program designed to foster diversity in the legal profession and judiciary by encouraging students to become judges. She worked on the Felony Drug and DWI Courts in Alaska and co-developed the nationally recognized Early Resolution Program—a program to assist unrepresented litigants to resolve their family law issues through mediation and the help of volunteer attorneys.  Stephanie was the recipient of the 2010 Supreme Court Community Outreach Award.

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