CJ Roberts' Year-end report

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., has issued his 2017 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary. The report addresses disasters and sexual harassment affecting the court system--both issues with a SoCal connection. Read it here.

CSC Historical Society Newsletter

The California Supreme Court Historical Society's newsletter is available here and should be of great interest to SoCal appellate lawyers, especially Bob Wolfe's piece Law Walk: A Legal Site-Seeing Tour of Downtown Los Angeles and Eleanor Dierking's History the Walls about 4/3's courthouse paintings. (And see a staff attorneys' memoir about Justice Werdegar; and this one too.)

9th Cir. Travel Ban opinion

Here's the latest 9th Circuit Travel Ban opinion. (Actually, the opinion was revised, so the real opinion is here.)

Some key quotes:

For the third time, we are called upon to assess the legality of the President’s efforts to bar over 150 million nationals of six Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States or being issued immigrant visas that they would ordinarily be qualified to receive.

The Proclamation, like its predecessor executive orders, relies on the premise that the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) vested the President with broad powers to regulate the entry of aliens. Those powers, however, are not without limit. We conclude that the President’s issuance of the Proclamation once again exceeds the scope of his delegated authority. 

In assessing the public interest, we are reminded of Justice Murphy’s wise words: “All residents of this nation are kin in some way by blood or culture to a foreign land.” Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214, 242 (Murphy, J., dissenting). It cannot be in the public interest that a portion of this country be made to live in fear.  

The Recorder has: Ninth Circuit Slaps Down Trump's Travel Ban a Third Time:The court, which heard oral arguments in the case last month, ruled that Trump exceeded his authority in issuing the Sept. 24 travel ban proclamation.

Governor Appoints 33 Superior Court Judges

SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointment of 33 California superior courtjudges, which include: One in Alameda County; one in Butte County; one in Contra Costa County; one in Humboldt County; one in Kings County; one in Lake County; one in Lassen County; six in Los Angeles County; one in Monterey County; two in Napa County; two in Orange County; one in Riverside County; three in Sacramento County; two in San Bernardino County; one in San Diego County; one in San Francisco County; one in San Luis Obispo County; one in San Mateo County; two in Santa Clara County; one in Solano County; one in Stanislaus County; and one in Ventura County.

Many have appellate backgrounds, of course!



Victor A. Rodriguez, 42, of Oakland, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Alameda County Superior Court. Rodriguez has served as supervising staff attorney for the Honorable Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar at the California Supreme Court since 2015, where he served as judicial staff attorney for the Honorable Carlos R. Moreno, Goodwin H. Liu and Carol A. Corrigan from 2006 to 2015. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Consuelo B. Marshall at the U.S. District Court, Central District of California from 2005 to 2006. Rodriguez was a Skadden fellow at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund from 2003 to 2005. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, a Master of Arts degree from California State University, Long Beach and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California. Effective January 26, 2018, Rodriguez will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Keith H. Fudenna. Rodriguez is a Democrat. 

David J. Hesseltine, 47, of Tustin, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Orange County Superior Court. Hesseltine has served as a senior appellate attorney at the Fourth District Court of Appeal since 2010. He served as a senior legal research attorney at the Orange County Superior Court from 2004 to 2010. Hesseltine was a partner at Connor, Blake and Griffin LLP from 2003 to 2004, where he was an associate from 1996 to 2002. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Irvine. Hesseltine fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Andrew P. Banks. He is a Democrat. 

Emma C. Smith, 37, of San Clemente, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Riverside County Superior Court. Smith has been an assistant public defender at the Riverside County Public Defender’s Office since 2017, where she served as a senior deputy public defender from 2009 to 2017. She was an attorney at the California Appellate Project from 2007 to 2008. Smith earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from American University. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge James S. Hawkins. Smith is a Democrat.

Shama H. Mesiwala, 43, of Davis, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Sacramento County Superior Court. Mesiwala has served as a commissioner at the Sacramento County Superior Court since 2017. She has served as a visiting lecturer of law at the University of California, Davis School of Law since 2013. Mesiwala was a judicial attorney at the Third District Court of Appeal from 2004 to 2017, where she served as a senior judicial attorney for the Honorable Ronald B. Robie from 2006 to 2017 and as a central staff attorney from 2004 to 2006. She served as a staff attorney at the Central California Appellate Program from 1999 to 2004 and as an attorney at the Office of the Federal Public Defender, Eastern District of California in 1999. Mesiwala is co-founder of the South Asian Bar Association of Sacramento. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego. She fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on October 13, 2016. Mesiwala is the first South Asian American judge ever appointed to the Sacramento County Superior Court. She is a Democrat. 

Danny Y. Chou, 48, of Millbrae, has been appointed to a judgeship in the San Mateo County Superior Court. Chou has served as an assistant county counsel at the Santa Clara County Counsel’s Office since 2012. He served as chief of complex and special litigation at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office from 2008 to 2012, where he was chief of appellate litigation from 2006 to 2008. Chou served as a supervising staff attorney at the California Supreme Court from 2005 to 2006, where he was a judicial staff attorney from 1999 to 2005. He was a staff attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 1998 to 1999, an associate at Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk and Rabkin from 1995 to 1998 and a law clerk for the Honorable Stanley A. Weigel at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California from 1994 to 1995. Chou earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University. Effective February 26, 2018, Chou will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Barbara J. Mallach. Chou is a Democrat.

Governor Appoints Two Court of Appeal Justices

SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointment of Judge Thomas M. Goethals as associate justice, Division Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal and Judge Mary J. Greenwood as associate justice of the Sixth District Court of Appeal. 

Thomas M. Goethals, 65, of Newport Beach, has been appointed associate justice, Division Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal. Goethals has served as a judge at the Orange County Superior Court since 2003. He was a partner at Pohlson, Moorhead and Goethals from 1990 to 2002. Goethals served as a deputy district attorney at the Orange County District Attorney’s Office from 1985 to 1990 and from 1978 to 1984. He was an associate at Robinson and Robinson in 1984. Goethals earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Santa Clara University. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice William F. Rylaarsdam. This position requires confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. The Commission consists of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Senior Presiding Justice Manuel A. Ramirez. Goethals is a Democrat.

Mary J. Greenwood, 60, of Menlo Park, has been appointed associate justice of the Sixth District Court of Appeal. Greenwood has served as a judge at the Santa Clara County Superior Court since 2012. She served as public defender of Santa Clara County from 2005 to 2012 and was an assistant public defender and supervising attorney in the Santa Clara County Alternate Defender’s Office from 2002 to 2005. Greenwood was an attorney at Coblentz, Patch, Duffy and Bass LLP in 2001 and an associate at the Boccardo Law Firm in 1997. She served as an assistant public defender at the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office from 1994 to 2001, where she was a deputy public defender from 1982 to 1994. Greenwood earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Grinnell College. She fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Justice Miguel Marquez. This position requires confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. The Commission consists of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Senior Presiding Justice Franklin D. Elia. Greenwood is a Democrat. 


The compensation for each of these positions is $228,918.

2018: Expect a Fight Over 9th Cir. Seats

Law360 presents: Kozinski's Exit Escalates Fight Over 9th Circ. Seats, noting, "The Ninth Circuit is set to have the most vacancies of any circuit court in the country next year — seven — including planned retirements."

"Although Circuit Courts cover all states within a circuit, the judgeships are typically assigned to individual states in the circuit. Counting the retirement of Judge Kozinski, five of the circuit’s vacant seats come from states represented in the Senate by Democrats: one each from Hawaii, Oregon and Washington and two from California. The remaining two seats are from Idaho and Arizona, represented by Republicans."

Emotional Arousal predicts outcomes?

Here's a new paper of interest titled Emotional Arousal Predicts Voting on the U.S. Supreme Court. And here's the abstract:

Do judges telegraph their preferences during oral arguments? Using the U.S. Supreme
Court as our example, we demonstrate that Justices implicitly reveal their leanings during oral arguments, even before arguments and deliberations have concluded. Specifically, we extract the emotional content of over 3,000 hours of audio recordings spanning 30 years of oral arguments before the Court. We then use the level of emotional arousal in each of the Justices’ voices during these arguments to accurately predict many of their eventual votes on these cases. Our approach yields predictions that are statistically and practically significant and robust to including a range of controls; in turn, this suggests that subconscious vocal inflections carry information that legal, political, and textual information do not.

See also Help a Justice Out.

Interesting split today

The Cal Supremes appear split along gender lines here, with Justice Cuellar writing for a majority consisting of Justices Chin, Liu and Mauro (by assignment) and on the concurring/dissenting/distaff side, Justice Corrigan joined by the Chief and Justice Kruger. The topic? Duty to warn in product liability cases. This will get plenty of other press for many reasons, but note how the vote of the Court of Appeal Justice sitting by designation could make all the difference. Those temporary gigs can make a big difference in the development of the law!

Justice Marla Miller named to Ethics Committee

Appellate Justice Marla Miller Named to Supreme Court Ethics Committee: Justice Miller, of the First District Court of Appeal, to fill vacancy on the Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions.

Justice Miller, of the First District Court of Appeal, Division Two (San Francisco), was appointed for the balance of the term to be vacated by Justice Maria P. Rivera, who announced her resignation from CJEO effective December 31. Justice Rivera, a founding member of CJEO who served for seven years, also announced her retirement as an Associate Justice of the First District Court of Appeal, Division Four. Justice Miller’s CJEO appointment is effective January 1, 2018, through December 31, 2018.
=====================================
SCAN readers know that we sometimes highlight first-lines or openings to decisions, but for an interesting, poetic and philosophical conclusion, see this case here:

The complexities of this case, as we have said in another context, “ ‘would bring tears to the eyes of a brass monkey.’ ” (Schellinger Brothers v. Cotter (2016) 2 Cal.App.5th 984, 988.)
....
Appellate courts also strive to be right. We don’t want to err any more than a trial court does. Our obligations to the parties demand this as does our institutional role as a reviewing court that decides questions of law. That is another reason appropriate legal briefing from the parties is so essential. So, when a case appears to raise complicated legal issues that haven’t been adequately briefed, we sometimes request supplemental briefing with the hope the parties will assist the court to root through the chaff, and arrive at the legally correct result. Here, though, that approach has proved unhelpful.

In this case, we requested several rounds of supplemental briefing on a number of points, which generated a significant number of new arguments and potential issues. Suffice it to say, the supplemental briefing by and large raised more complexities and questions than it supplied answers.

Every appeal must come to an end. In fairness to other litigants whose appeals are waiting to be heard and decided, and cognizant of the institutional necessity of doing our job unconstrained by any appearance of favoring any party, we are refraining from requesting any further supplemental briefing. There are too many unanswered questions on this record and on the state of the present briefing, for us to devote further judicial resources to staunch the flow of tears from this particular brass monkey’s eyes. 

2018 LACBA ACS programs

Here's information about upcoming LA County Bar Appellate Courts Section programs:

• Wednesday, January 17, 2018, at 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Opinionated:  A Look Inside the Legal Opinion Unit of the California Attorney General’s Office

Courts are not the only source of published legal opinions.  The Opinion Unit of the California Attorney General's Office provides formal legal opinions upon request to designated state and local public officials and heads of government agencies on questions of law arising in the course of their duties.  Learn from two members of the Opinion Unit about the unit's authorization to prepare opinions, the process for requesting opinions, how opinions are crafted, and how the unit's opinions have been received by the courts.  The program will also cover the Opinion Unit's role in quo warranto actions, which resolve disputes over whether a specific person has the legal right to occupy a public office. Panelists: ·        Marc J. Nolan, Lead Deputy Attorney General, California Attorney General’s Office, Opinion Unit. ·        Catherine Bidart, Deputy Attorney General, California Attorney General’s Office, Opinion Unit. ·        Kent Bullard, Esq. (Moderator), Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, Criminal Appellate Section

  

• Tuesday, February 27, 2018, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

 “I Dissent”: When And Why Do Judges Dissent, And How That Shapes The Law

This event will explore why and when appellate judges, at both the state and federal level, choose to write dissenting or concurring opinions.  What prompts a judge to dissent or concur?  What is the purpose of these separate opinions?  How do they shape the law?  Are such separate opinions good for the development of law, or do they detract? Panel Members: ·        Hon. Frances Rothschild, Presiding Justice, Division One, California Second District Court of Appeal ·        Hon. Elizabeth Grimes, Associate Justice, Division Eight, California Second District Court of Appeal ·        Judge Sandra S. Ikuta, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit ·        Jens B. Koepke, Esq. (Moderator), Shaw Koepke & Satter LLP

·         Tuesday, March 13, 2018, Philip L. Goar Night of the Roundtables, organized by Sharon Perlmutter, Appellate Court Attorney, Second Appellate District

·         Tuesday, April 3, 2018, Supreme Court Luncheon

·         May 2018, Access To The Appellate Courts for the Un- and Underrepresented (working title), moderated by Tyna Orren, Esq.

·         June 2018, Is This Our Exit? Traveling the Highways and Byways of Appealable Orders and Judgments in Family Law (working title), moderated by Herb Fox, Esq.

Bruins on the Bench

The January 2018 UCLA Magazine features Bruins on the Bench about how "nowhere is UCLA's imprint more apparent than on the 9th Circuit" where "Eight Bruins sit on the court, six of whom earned their J.D.s from UCLA--the largest number from any institution." "[E]very president since Jimmy Carter has selected at least one Bruin for a lifetime appointment to the 9th Circuit ..." The article begins with Judge Alex Kozinski ('72, J.D. '75), calling him "the court's most recognizable member" and then moves to discuss Judges Dorothy Nelson ('50, J.D.'53), Wallace Tashima ('58), Kim Wardlaw ('76, J.D.'79), Sandra Ikuta (J.D.'88), Jacqueline Nguyen (J.D.'91), and Paul Watford (J.D. '94).

RIP Kenneth Ofgang 1953-2017

The MetNews reports that Journalist/Attorney Kenneth Ofgang Dies, after 27 years of writing for the paper. He joined the MetNews in March 1990, after he "applied in response to an ad for a messenger. He was hired, instead, to write news stories on appellate court opinions—which he did, adeptly, for nearly three decades." The paper estimates his byline appeared in over 6,000 articles.

Katyal's practice advice

Law360 offers MVP: Hogan Lovells' Neal Katyal, which includes the following:

Advice for young appellate lawyers:

“Be a good listener.”
Writing and speaking skills are essential for a successful appellate lawyer, but Katyal noted that “law schools aren’t really good at cultivating the skill of really listening hard and trying to understand where the other person is coming from.”
“Our job is to persuade,” he said. “We’re not artists ... we are advocates, and in order to be an effective advocate, you have to really understand what the argument is on the other side.”
[T]here’s more to being a skillful appellate lawyer than just mastering a cold paper record and being able to wage intellectual combat.
“I think all good appellate advocacy is actually making it real, not just your head in the clouds, but telling the story in a way that resonates with people”

Other advice today from 2/7 here: When you ask the Court of Appeal to "reverse the ruling of the Superior Court," it's not good for the appellate decision to ask "But what ruling? Nowhere does [Appellant] provide a citation to any ruling in the record, whether written or oral, that [Appellant] would have us reverse. In fact, not once in its briefs does [Appellant] identify the 'erroneous decision' it is challenging. That failure is fatal..."

Other appellate news today

This morning the Cal Supremes issued Kurwa v. Kislinger (II), a unanimous opinion on appealability.

Today's DJ's Moskovitz on Appeals column is Do I make myself clear? "We lawyers spend a good chunk of our waking hours writing stuff. We write briefs, letters, emails -- you name it. So it's worth spending a bit of time studying how to write better."
In addition to recommending Steven Pinker's The Sense of Style, he suggests:

Biskind, "Simplified Legal Writing"; Cooper, "Effective Legal Writing"; Garner, "The Winning Brief"; Mellinkoff, "Legal Writing: Sense and Nonsense"; Parham, "Fundamentals of Legal Writing"; Weihofen, "Legal Writing Style"; Wydick, "Plain English for Lawyers" But then notes, "I just read a new book that I found more helpful than any of these: "Do I Make Myself Clear," by Harold Evans (Little Brown, 2017)."

Also of interest in today's DJ's is James Otto Heiting's The Evolution of the State Bar, which provides background on the history of the California State Bar and the big changes that are coming.

Finally, the JNE Commission is evaluating 2/8's Justice Rubin for a Presiding Justice spot in the Second Appellate District, presumably for Division 5, since that is the only open PJ spot... right now.

In the SCOTUS department, see 'Oysters Le Burger'? SCOTUS Cookbook Reveals Justices' Food Traditions and Recipes: The new book “Table for 9” recounts the history of the U.S. Supreme Court's dining traditions, and throws in some recipes to boot. The book's worth a read as much for the glimpses it gives into the lives of the justices as the recipes that are included.

Kozinski Resigns!

At 7 a.m. this morning the National Law Journal issued a breaking news alert:
Judge Alex Kozinski, Apologizing Amid Harassment Claims, Retires Immediately: Federal appeals judge Alex Kozinski, beset by allegations of sexual misconduct, on Monday announced his retirement effective immediately.

The DJ has posted his retirement statement, which includes the following:

I've always had a broad sense of humor and a candid way of speaking to both male and female law clerks alike. In doing so, I may not have been mindful enough of the special challenges and pressures that women face in the workplace. It grieves me to learn that I caused any of my clerks to feel uncomfortable; this was never my intent.
For this I sincerely apologize.
A couple of years ago, as I reached the age when several of my colleagues had decided to take senior status or retire, I began considering whether the time had come for me to move on as well. Family and friends have urged me to stay on, at least long enough to defend myself. But I cannot be an effective judge and simultaneously fight this battle. Nor would such a battle be good for my beloved federal judiciary. And so I am making the decision to retire, effective immediately.

See With Kozinski's Departure, Calls  for Transparency and a Ninth Circuit in Flux: Court watchers expect Kozinski's resignation won't be the end of the judiciary's #metoo moment.

Kozinski’s departure leaves five current vacancies on the Ninth Circuit with a sixth set to come next year when N. Randy Smith, a George W. Bush appointee from Idaho, is set to retire. Trump has only made one Ninth Circuit nomination so far: He tapped federal prosecutor Ryan Bounds in September to fill the seat previously held by Diarmuid O’Scannlain. 

TrueFiling Software Update Notification

TRUEFILING NOTIFICATION OF SOFTWARE UPDATESoftware Update On: December 27, 2017

Introduction
This notification details a software update to the TrueFiling e-filing and e-service system for the California Courts of Appeal, for the 1^st District, 2^nd District, 3^rd District, 4^th District, 5^th District, and 6^th District and the Supreme Court of California (the "Courts").

New Process for Adding Entities to a Case Service List
In this update, new steps of verification have been added to change how a user can gain access to a case service list or be added onto a case service list in order to be served in a case. In the previous version of the TrueFiling system, TrueFiling users would be able to manually access a case service list and add themselves onto a list of potential case service recipients, after searching for and identifying the case through the TrueFiling case search query.
Under the new version, TrueFiling users may no longer access and manually add themselves onto a case service list simply by searching for the case and entering their name and contact information to become a case participant. Now, a TrueFiling user may access a case service list and be added as a potential recipient on a case service list only if the user has been verified by the court ("Verified User"). A Verified User is:

1. An original case party or a case participant as reflected in the court’s records for the case;
2. An entity that has submitted a filing in a case that has been accepted by the court; or
3. A nonfiling entity that the court has verified is entitled to be added to a case service list (e.g., a government entity that is entitled to be noticed on a case).

• Note: Item #3 will require the nonfiling entity to either contact the court or submit a request via TrueFiling in order to be verified by the court. A TrueFiling user meeting any of these criteria will be deemed a Verified User for the case, and will be added to the case’s service list.

Upon executing a case search query, TrueFiling users who are not verified will still be able to see the case details, but will not be able to view the case contacts list until they become verified.
Interested parties to a case who wish to be served case filings but do not qualify as Verified Users may still be served with a case filing by the serving party through the TrueFiling system. The serving case party member will be able to enter an interested party’s e-mail address as an additional entity to receive service for a specific filing. Interested parties may also be added as Verified Users by contacting the court to confirm their status as a valid case participant in the court's records.
 
Review and Confirm Your Case Service List
ImageSoft and the Courts recently discovered that a TrueFiling user accessed and added themselves onto a small number of court case service lists for unauthorized purposes. These events do not affect most court cases and TrueFiling users. We are issuing this update to add new authorization steps to better control how a user can gain access to a case service list, or be added onto a case service list in order to be served in a case.
 
For existing cases, please carefully review the TrueFiling service lists that you are a Verified User on: confirm whether the individuals listed are case parties or case participants who should be included as potential recipients for service. If you identify any individuals who you believe are not Verified Users on your existing cases, please reach out to the court to request removal of those individuals from your case's service list.
 
Where Can I Get More Information?
If you have further questions or concerns about these changes to the TrueFiling system, you may contact ImageSoft support at (855) 959-8868 or your court using the contact information below.
If you wish to remove a nonverified user from your case’s service list, you may request to do so at the following link: www.courts.ca.gov/documents/removal-form.pdf.
If you wish to verify your status as an interested party to a case, you may contact the respective court where the case is being heard as follows:
 
Supreme Court

• jillian.chapa@jud.ca.gov 415-865-7401

First DCA

• Beth Robbins, beth.robbins@jud.ca.gov (415) 865-7263
• Stacy Wheeler, stacy.wheeler@jud.ca.gov (415) 865-7292

Second DCA

• 2d1.truefiling@jud.ca.gov

Third DCA

• 3DCefiling@jud.ca.gov

Fourth DCA

• Div. 1  josette.yost@jud.ca.gov at 619-744-0744
• Div. 2  4CA2.Clerk2@jud.ca.gov Sonia DeLeon at 951-782-2500
• Div. 3  Shahira.Naqshbandy@jud.ca.gov at (714)571-2612

Fifth DCA

• Shandra Santana, 5DC-efilingnotice@jud.ca.gov (559) 445-5491

Sixth DCA

Scott Nasson - Sixth.District@jud.ca.gov

Appellate Tidbits

Today's DJ has many items of appellate note already noted by this blog:

• 9th Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith to take Senior Status
• Three State Appellate Justice Approved
• 9th Circuit orders investigation into allegations of misconduct against Judge Kozinski  and see the related article Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?
• And note that Chief Justice Roberts has sent the investigation to the 2d Circuit, here.

Today's DJ also features a number of articles by judges, including It ain't over til it's over by retired Justice Carlos Moreno, Admiration for those who struggle to be on juries, by LASC Judge Anthony Mohr, and Judging on the graveyard shift, by LASC Judge Lawrence Riff.

And to top it off, today's DJ profile is By the Book: Riverside County Judge Kira Klatchko reads everything, from old novels to every court brief. "A self-described law nerd, Klatchko wanted to do appellate work. She spent the lion’s share of her career as a lawyer spearheading Best Best & Krieger LLP’s appellate practice."

Of note elsewhere:

• Trump's Judge-A-Palooza: A Sneak Peek at Trump Watch: The White House had a record-setting win Thursday with the confirmation of its 12th appellate judge. But there were also losses.
• Reinhardt, a Prolific SCOTUS Feeder Judge, Tells Clerks 'Don’t Count on Me': Ninth Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt said in a recent interview that, despite his track record of sending clerks to the high court, he doesn’t push his clerks to the justices.
• For an unusual amicus brief, see here.
• And for some writ philosophy, see the dissenting opinion here.

Commission Confirms Appointments to Courts of Appeal

Here's the press release to document that Associate Justice Elwood Lui is now Presiding Justice of 2/2; LASC Judge Anne Egerton is now Justice Egerton in 2/3; and Judge Patricia Guerrero is now a 4/2 Justice. Photos of today's confirmation hearings here!

Other notable items:

• N. Randy Smith to Take Senior Status, Opening Up Another Ninth Circuit Seat (on Aug. 11, 2018) Official Press Release here.
• 9th Circuit In re Complaint of Judicial Misconduct filed today re Judge Kozinski.
• Federal Judicial Nominee Flunks 'Motion in Limine' Definition at Senate Hearing: Federal Election Commissioner Matthew Petersen has never tried a case, has assisted on just a handful of depositions and was stumped by a Republican congressman on a question about the basic trial term.
• Ninth Try Is a Charm for Lawyer Making First Oral Argument: The decline in oral arguments for federal courts is well-known and documented and has sparked concerned discussions between lawyers and judges.
• Bryan Garner's latest: How to start a sentence: Consider all your alternatives, and sprinkle in some conjunctions, too
• Today the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown LA, home to the 2d District, had to be evacuated in the middle of 2/2's oral argument calendar, around 9:40 a.m. Everyone had to leave the building for about 15 minutes, but the entire evacuation and reassembly in the courtroom took about 45 minutes. There apparently was no actual emergency, and the evacuation alarm was apparently caused by a faulty switch somewhere--a false alarm originating from a duct in the 4th floor of the North Tower. Here's the docket for the case being argued when the alarm went off, showing argument starting at 9:34 and ending at 10:47 with the notation "(fire alarm for bldg. went off during OA on this matter)"!
• You may (or may not) also have noticed that the online docket for California appellate courts has upgraded its security to thwart robots. The website looks the same, but if you had bookmarked particular dockets under the old system, those old bookmarks no longer work and need to be re-done.

2/6 Research Attorney Fatal Victim of Fires

The Southern California fires have caused tremendous property loss, disruption, and even loss of life -- all affecting the SoCal appellate community. The Santa Barbara Independent reports about the tragic death of Virginia Pesola, who worked for the Court of Appeal for 12 years, in Thomas Fire Fatality Identified.
And more sad news about another Thomas Fire fatality here.