OCBA Appellate Program

And speaking of the OCBA Appellate Law Section, its Mar. 1 program will be “Everything An Appellate Lawyer Needs to Know About Surety Bonds and Undertakings,” featuring Daniel Huckabay, President of  Commercial Surety Bond Agency.

The meeting will take place at Chapter One on 4th and Broadway in downtown Santa Ana.  RSVP through the OCBA website.

Section Chair Makes Partner

Speaking of Snell & Wilmer, the firm has elevated OCBA Appellate Law Section chair Todd Lundell to the ranks of partner. 

From the official release:

"Based in Orange County, [Todd] Lundell is a Certified Specialist in Appellate Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He has assisted clients on various appeals in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Eighth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits, and in state appellate courts in California, New York, Oregon and West Virginia. Lundell has also prepared several certiorari petitions and merits briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court.

"He has considerable experience drafting merits briefs, amicus briefs, motions to stay and/or vacate judgment, petitions for review and petitions for writ of mandamus. Lundell earned his J.D. with honors, from Columbia University School of Law where he was senior editor for the Columbia Law Review."

NAWL Honors 9th Circuit Judge Nelson

OCBA Appellate Law Section member and Snell & Wilmer appellate partner M.C. Sungaila passes along the following invitation:

"I invite you to join me and an audience of dynamic women attorneys at the National Association of Women Lawyers Mid-Year meeting being held in Los Angeles at the Omni Hotel downtown on Friday, February 23rd.  The Mid-Year is one of NAWL's premiere meetings, and is always a great event.

"The program features a stellar lineup. In addition to a keynote by Professor Emerita Barbara Babcock (who can be counted on to deliver a barn-burner), there will be panels featuring O’Melveny & Myers managing partner and LA Sparks co-owner Carla Christofferson, newly-appointed Judge Holly Fujie, and a program titled “Wine & Wisdom!” This year's Mid-Year also provides some valuable CLE and career enhancing sessions, including a program by Karen Kahn on advancement issues and an ethics CLE program set to music (I know, only in LA). 

"At the luncheon awards program, NAWL will honor Warner Bros. and Ninth Circuit Judge Dorothy Nelson [pictured right]."

"Of course, the Mid-Year also provides the opportunity for you to meet exciting women attorneys from law firms, in-house legal departments, and government agencies.

"This is an era of continuing change for law firms and legal departments alike, and the need to strengthen our professional and leadership skills has never been more compelling.  Please join me at NAWL'S Mid-Year – I promise it will inspire you to reach “for the stars” in 2012!

Registration and additional information, including the complete program, at http://www.nawl.org/

LACBA Appellate Programs

Don’t miss the next LACBA Appellate Courts Section program: “Briefs & More! – What the L.A. Law Library Can Do For Your Appellate Practice.” Director of Reference Ralph Stahlberg will speak at the law library, 301 W. First Street in downtown LA, on Feb. 28 from 4:30 to 6:30 pm.

Other upcoming programs include:


Mar. 15: “Don’t Get SLAPPED Around,” with Justice Dennis Perluss and Section members Phil Goar and Ben Shatz, at Third Floor Employees’ Lounge of the Court of Appeal, 4:30 to 6:00 pm.

Apr. 3: The Section’s annual Supreme Court luncheon, featuring keynote speaker Deanell Tacha, Dean of the Pepperdine School of Law and former federal appeals court judge. The Section will present the 2012 Pamela E. Dunn Appellate Justice Award to past Chair David Ettinger.

May 9: Enforcement of Judgments and Bonds, with Robin Meadow, David Axelrad, and Debbie Niemeyer of John Burham Insurance Services. The program will take place in the Third Floor Employees’ Lounge from 4:30 to 6:00 pm

Thanks to Ben Shatz for the info.

PJ Confirmed!

The Commission on Judicial Appointments unanimously confirmed the appointment of Justice Kathleen O'Leary as the 4/3's Presiding Justice. 

As the Daily Journal noted (subscription required):

"[Governor] Brown first appointed O'Leary to the Orange County Municipal Court bench in 1981. She started her legal career as a deputy public defender and briefly worked in private practice. Gov. George Deukmejian elevated her to that county's Superior Court five years later, and she later became its first female presiding judge. She helped oversee the court's unification in the late 1990s. In 2000, Gov. Gray Davis appointed her to the 4th District bench. 

The DJ also noted the witnesses for Justice O'Leary were Supreme Court Justice Carol Corrigan, 6 DCA Justice Patricia Bamattre-Manoukian, Presiding OC Superior Court Judge Tom Borris, and "O'Leary's former law colleague," Gary Pohlson.

Court statistics

The Judicial Council released its 2011 Court Statistics report, available here.  Brad Pauley and the gang at At the Lectern have crunched the numbers at the Cal. Supreme Court.  Their conclusions are invaluable to appellate lawyers seeking high court review.  Read them here.

What about the 4/3?  Here's one nugget.  The Statewide average median time from Notice of Appeal to Filed Opinion for the civil cases at the Court of Appeal is 438 days.

Here at the 4/3?  Only 405.

9th Circuit Returns to SoCal

At the January OCBA Appellate Law Section meeting, our distinguished panel on oral argument -- 4/3 Justice Richard Fybel, 9th Circuit career law clerk Paula Mitchell, and Snell & Wilmer partner M.C. Sungaila -- suggested that lawyers prepare for their own oral arguments by watching others.

You'll have the chance to see the 9th Circuit hold oral argument at the University of San Diego Law School on Feb. 6, 2012.  Judges Margaret McKeown, Milan Smith, and Rudi Brewster will hear three cases.  More info here.  Thanks to Ben Shatz.

Today: State of the 4/3

The New Year brought us a new location for our section meetings, thanks to the hard work of outgoing chair Lisa McCall and incoming chair Todd Lundell. 

We met at Chapter One - The Modern Local, on 3rd and Broadway in downtown Santa Ana, for the first time last month.  The inaugural lunch service brought gourmet food designed to please the most discriminating foodie.  After the meeting, our section leaders and restaurant management thoroughly reviewed the service, and so today's lunch promises to be even better.

Please join us at noon today at Chapter One for the annual State of the Court presentation.  Acting 4/3 PJ Justice Rylaarsdam will update us on court happenings.  He'll be joined by 4/3 administrator Kevin Stinson, supervising clerk Kathy Rossi, and calendaring clerk Toni Cajigal.  For local appellate lawyers, this is a can't-miss event.

Appellate Bonds

The California Supreme Court just held prevailing appellants may not recover "the interest expense incurred . . . to borrow funds to secure a letter of credit that was obtained to secure an appeal bond posted to stay enforcement of a money judgment during the pendency of the appeal."  (Rossa v. D.L. Construction, S183523.)

Existing law provides the prevailing appellant may recover (1) the premiums paid to secure an appeal bond, and (2) the cost of a letter of credit obtained as collateral for the bond.  (Rule 8.278(d)(1)(F).) 

But that's as far as it goes.  The appellant recovers the bond premiums, and the cost (or "charge") for the letter of credit securing the bond, but NOT the interest paid to borrow money to obtain the letter of credit to secure the bond.  That's too many steps removed from the bond, and allowing recovery "would be inconsistent with the historic principle that cost provisions are to be strictly construed," holds the Court today.

Justice Codrington to Swear in OCBA Officers, Directors

4/2 Justice Carol Codrington (right) will install Dimetria A.Jackson as the next OCBA President at tonight's 2012 OCBA Judges’ Night and Annual Meeting at the Irvine Marriott.

Justice Codrington will also swear in the OCBA's officers (President-elect Wayne Gross, Treasurer Tom Bienert, Jr., Secretary Ashleigh Aitken) and its Board of Directors. 

In addition, the Franklin G. West Award will be presented to John Hurlbut, Jr.

The OCBA press release highlights Ms. Jackson's dedication to our community.  "A graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia School of Law, Jackson is a freelance lawyer with Montage Legal Group and CEO of redBAMBINA.com, an online retail boutique catering to nursing and expectant women, babies, and children. In addition to her service on the OCBA’s Judiciary, Finance, Education, Diversity & Equal Justice, Nominating, and Appointments Committees, Jackson has served on the California State Bar’s Ethnic and Minority Relations Committee, the California Minority Counsel Program’s Executive Committee, the Prentice School’s Scholarship Committee, and the Boards of the Public Law Center, First American Federal Credit Union, and Pink Ladder, a non-profit committed to encouraging, empowering, and mentoring African American women personally and professionally. Jackson currently serves on the Boards of the OCBA Charitable Fund, the Orange County Bar Foundation, and InTouch Credit Union." 

The press release also notes Ms. Jackson will be the OCBA's "first female African American president."  Congrats!

Appellate Event Today in LA

Today (!) the ABTL is sponsoring “Everything Trial Lawyers Need to Know About Appeals” over lunch at The Jonathan Club in downtown LA.

The top drawer panel includes 9th Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinksi, 2/8 Justice Elizabeth A. Grimes (right), and retired 2DCA Justice Miriam A. Vogel.  The moderator is Robin Meadow of Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland.

More info is available here.

Chapman Law School revisits Watergate

The Chapman Law Review is sponsoring a symposium on “The 40th Anniversary of Watergate:  A Commemoration of the Rule of Law.”

John W. Dean, Nixon’s White House Counsel, will give the keynote address.  Other speakers include Chapman Law Dean Tom Campbell and Chapman Law professor Ronald Rotunda.

Panelists including Nixon aide Alexander Butterfield, former Washington Post reporter and Senate investigator Scott Armstrong, and law professors from across the country will discuss “Obstruction of Justice: Does History Have it Wrong?,” “A Constitutional Analysis of the Exposure of Government Official Scandal,” and “The Legacy of Watergate:  Reform 40 Years Later.” 

RSVP here.

(Thanks to Law Review editor (and former 4/3 extern) Jon Hammond for the heads-up)

9th Circuit Visits OC

Tomorrow the Ninth Circuit will sit at UCI Law School. 

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw (left), and Judge Richard A. Paez will hear argument in three cases at 10 am in the school's Robinson Courtroom.  You will need a photo ID for admission.  More info is available here.

(Thanks to Ben Shatz)

Law, Justice and the Holocaust

If you’ve appreciated Justice Fybel’s presentations on the failure of the German justice system under Nazi rule, you may also want to attend the following event.

Law, Justice and the Holocaust.  Wed., Jan. 25, 2012, 5:30-7:30 p.m, UCLA Faculty Center.

The Nazi regime used the German legal system to strip legal and civil rights from Jews and other minorities to make them scapegoats for Germany's economic and political problems. How was that allowed to happen? What steps were taken to bring the judiciary in line with Nazi ideology? As we address our own political and economic issues in light of the current economic situation and concerns with homeland security, what lessons can we learn from that period in history?

Featured Speaker:  Dr. William F. Meinecke Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  Panelists:  David Kaye, UCLA School of Law; Laurie L. Levenson, Loyola Law School; Charles E. Patterson, Morrison & Foerster.Moderator: Stanley W. Levy, Manatt Phelps & Phillips, LLP.This event is being co-sponsored by Bet Tzedek, The UCLA School of Law and The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  RSVP by Jan. 19 at (323) 549-5831 or llandry@bettzedek.org




Many thanks to Ben Shatz.

Commission To Consider Justice O'Leary's Appoinment

A Court of Appeal appointment becomes "effective when confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments."  (Cal. Const., art. VI, s 16, subd. (d)(2).)

Accordingly, the Commission will meet Feb. 10 at 11:00 a.m. in Los Angeles to consider the Governor’s appointment of Justice Kathleen E. O’Leary as Presiding Justice of the 4/3.

The commission will consist of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye; Attorney General Kamala Harris; and Presiding Justice Manuel A. Ramirez, who sits by virtue of being the senior presiding justice of the Fourth Appellate District.

4/3 Welcomes New Presiding Justice

From the press release:

"Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointment of Kathleen E. O’Leary as presiding justice of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three.

"O’Leary, 60, of Santa Ana, has served as an associate justice for the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three since 2000. Previously, she was a judge for the Orange County Superior Court from 1986 to 2000, where she served as presiding judge from 1998 to 2000. She was a judge for the West Orange County Municipal Court from 1981 to 1986. O’Leary served as a deputy public defender for the Orange County Public Defender’s Office from 1976 to 1981. She earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Southwestern Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola Marymount University.

"O’Leary fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Presiding Justice David G. Sills. This position requires confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. The Commission consists of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and Senior Presiding Justice Manuel A. Ramirez. O’Leary is a Democrat. Subject to her confirmation, O’Leary will be the first female presiding justice in the history of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three."

Congrats Presiding Justice O'Leary!

Photos from Presiding Justice Sills Tribute

All photos courtesy of Court of Appeal

Photos from Presiding Justice Sills Tribute

Photos from Presiding Justice Sills Tribute

U.S District Judge David Carter, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Acting Presiding Justice William Rylaarsdam

Photos from Presiding Justice Sills Tribute