DJ profiles LASC Appellate Dept. Judge (& more)

Today's DJ profiles Alex Ricciardulli: "For the past three years, Ricciardulli has been on the appellate panel of the Los Angeles County Superior Court where he has been learning something new: how to collaborate with other judges in rendering an opinion. "It's really coming home for me," he said, "because 16 years ago, when I joined the public defender's office, I was assigned to the appellate division as a manager." In fact, out of his panoramic window in the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, Ricciardulli can see the Hall of Records, where he used to work as a lawyer. "I gravitated toward appeals and when I became a judge I wanted to get back to that and I'm really happy," he said."

He said there is a humbling aspect to sitting in review of other judges. "On one hand, you don't want to Monday morning quarterback what's happened in the trial court, but on the other side you're making sure that justice was done," he said. "Navigating between those two things is not always easy." 

• Yesterday's DJ features PJ's Gilbert's column, It's All About Me. Note that he will be tickling the ivories backing The Singers in Law, Sunday, March 22, at 8:00 p.m. at Vitello's, upstairs in the E Spot Lounge, 4339 Tujunga Ave.)
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• Appellate specialist Vangi Johnson, formerly Chair of Bonne Bridges' appellate group, has joined the appellate group at Haight Brown.

• BNA offers Peeling the Onion: Appellate Lawyers' Take on DisparateCases by Paul Hastings lawyers Sean Unger, Danielle Doremus and Stephen Kinnaird, which begins: "Appellate lawyers sometimes get asked by clients and colleagues how an appellate lawyer is different from any other type of lawyer. The answers to that question are many, but one of them is that when appellate lawyers read cases to stay current, they are often reading them for a different purpose than a subject-matter expert would. A securities lawyer reads a case to learn what the current interpretation of securities law is. An appellate lawyer is likely interested in that question, too, but when an appellate lawyer reads a case, she is just as interested in the process. The appellate lawyer is curious about the structure of the reasoning, recognizing that in her next environmental appeal the same court's most recent approach to statutory interpretation in an employment dispute may prove a useful analogy. While the “what is the answer?” question matters to all of us, the “how did they get there?” analysis may matter more to the appellate lawyer's next appeal in the same or perhaps disparate area of law." The article concludes: "An appellate court's reasoning often transcends subject matter. With expertise in that second layer, appellate lawyers can help subject-matter experts and clients identify and apply the critical patterns that will drive the best outcomes for their case."

• Law 360 Appellate offers 5 Ways to Botch A Supreme Court Petition, i.e., (1) Presenting too many questions; (2) Overloading with facts; (3) Embellishing circuit splits; (4) Neglecting the merits; and (5) Fussing about state laws.

Justice Lee Edmon, 2/3's PJ,
will chair a 19-member commission to revise California’s ethical rules for attorneys. Click here.