Donna Groman was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in a blue-collar housing project. She is the daughter of a police officer and a teacher. Groman attended NY public elementary and secondary schools, receiving her B.A. in economics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1976 and her J.D. from American University in 1979. She is currently a judge for the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Groman is a member of the California Judges' Association, California Court Commissioners Association, National Association of Women Judges, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, and The Lesbian and Gay Lawyers of Los Angeles.

As a practicing attorney, Groman performed pro-bono legal work for the Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center, the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles - Jail Project, the Felicia Mahood Senior Citizens' Center, the Los Angeles County Guardianship/Conservator Project, Public Counsel's Children's Rights Project, and several Los Angeles County Bar Association projects, including AIDS Legal Services Project, Barristers Northridge Earthquake Assistance Project and Immigration Legal Assistance Project.

Groman has worked as an educator and lecturer for CJER (Center for Judicial Education and Research), and participated in training for the Juvenile Court Bar, foster family agencies and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. She is part of projects to help children and youth in Los Angeles, including developing a collaborative court program for victims of domestic sex trafficking, programs with police and probation departments to reduce the number of referrals to the juvenile justice system, and strategies to ease transition back into school and the community for kids who’ve been sent to probation camp. Groman was a tutor at Milliken Learning Center and Kenyon Juvenile Justice Center. She participates in Los Angeles Aids Walk and completed the California Aids Ride.

Groman is an active member of Temple Beth Chayim Chadashim and has served on the Board of Directors and on the Rabbinic search committee. Groman also served 12 years in the United States Naval Reserve, achieving the rank of Lieutenant. She was honorably discharged in 2000.

Donna and her domestic partner of 11 years, Cecilia Quigley, are legal guardians of Donna's 14-year-old nephew, Daniel.

Sources: Donna Groman, biography, 2004. http://smartvoter.org/2004/11/02/ca/la/vote/groman_d/bio.htm

“Alumna Speaks Up for Those Who Can’t: Judge Donna Quigley Groman ’76 - SBU News.” January 28,2013. https://news.stonybrook.edu/alumni/alumna-speaks-up-for-those-who-cant-judge-donna-quigley-groman-76-2/

Groman, Donna. “Juvenile Shackling Reform,” Juvenile and Family Court Journal 66, no. 2, (2015): 19-33. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfcj.12027

Chronology of her career:

1980 Donna moves to Los Angeles and passes the California State bar exam

1980-1990 Works as panel attorney in the Juvenile Court system in the delinquency and dependency divisions

1991 Hired as supervising attorney for the Law Offices of Jo Kaplan, and admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court

1994 Donna and Mitchell Beckloff form Groman & Beckloff, specializing in dependency law

1997 Groman is appointed as a Superior Court referee

1999, April She is appointed as Commissioner, overseeing juvenile dependency, juvenile delinquency, misdemeanor jury trials, small claims and traffic matters

2004-present Elected as Superior Court Judge in the County of Los Angeles, Office 69

2012 Awarded Wilmont Sweeney Juvenile Court Judge of the Year

2015 Publishes “Juvenile Shackling Reform: The Judicial Role in Ensuring Trauma-Informed Courts and Why States Are Rethinking Restraints”

2018 Honored by the California Courts Judicial Council for a commitment to reforming policies impacting youth and diverting their entry into the the court system