2d DCA pro tem update

·  Judge Colin P. Leis of the Los Angeles Superior Court, will be sitting Pro-Tem in Division One until June 14, 2019

·  Judge Gregory J. Weingart of the Los Angeles Superior Court, will be sitting Pro-Tem in Division One until June 30, 2019

·  Judge Allan J. Goodman (Retired) of the Los Angeles Superior Court, will be sitting Pro-Tem in Division Three until June 30, 2019

·  Judge Serena R. Murillo of the Los Angeles Superior Court, will be sitting Pro-Tem in Division Three until May 31, 2019

·  Judge Mark K. Hanasono of the Los Angeles Superior Court, will be sitting Pro‑Tem in Division Three until July 31, 2019

·  Judge Ann I. Jones of the Los Angeles Superior Court, will be sitting Pro-Tem in Division Three until June 30, 2019

·  Judge Kim Garlin Dunning of the Orange County Superior Court, will be sitting Pro-Tem in Division Four until June 30, 2019

·  Judge Natalie P. Stone of the Los Angeles Superior Court, will be sitting Pro-Tem in Division Seven until July 31, 2019

·  Judge Rashida A. Adams of the Los Angeles Superior Court, will be sitting Pro-Tem in Division Eight until June 30, 2019

Justice Groban at Loyola Commencement

See Wise Words from California Supreme Court Justices to the Class of 2019, which includes this SoCal graduation:

JUSTICE JOSHUA GROBAN
At Loyola Law School 
QUOTED:
"You are joining a profession that plays a vital role in maintaining our most basic democratic institutions. President William Howard Taft, the only person to have been both President and Chief Justice of the United States, once said: 'It is the law and the lawyer that make popular government under a written constitution possible.'
How right he was. We, the lawyers, are the defenders, the soldiers, the keepers, the protectors of the Constitution. The Constitution is truly an eternal light on the seashore, and you are the lighthouse keeper. It flickers at times, perhaps now more than ever, but it still burns bright. And you now join a small group of lighthouse keepers who work to keep it lit brightly.
There is a popular Shakespeare quote, from Henry the Sixth, that is often used to make fun of lawyers: 'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.' The quote is accurate, but few know the context. In fact, the speaker, Dick the Butcher, is plotting with the rebel John Cade to overthrow the king.
Dick and John understood that the way to create chaos in a civil society is to get rid of all the lawyers. Shakespeare knew that lawyers bring stability and consistency to society. Lawyers help avert the chaos that would result if individuals were permitted to resolve disputes however they see fit.
...Today is the day where you get a special, almost magical piece of paper that allows you to help people, to give power to the powerless, to give voice to the voiceless, and to defend our most cherished institutions. You are the next generation of lighthouse keepers. So, Class of 2019, my wish for you is that you use these powers wisely, in good health, and to help others."

Appellate tidbits

Today's DJ features David Kupetz's bankruptcy-appellate article Are Stay Relief Denials Automatically Appealable? about SCOTUS's grant of cert in Ritzen Group v. Jackson Masonry.

And today's DJ profile (From the Neighborhood) is of LASC Judge Michael Amerian who's hearing family law cases in Van Nuys, "wearing the same set of robes his father wore." He's the son of "the late 2nd District Court of Appeal Justice Richard Amerian" (2/4 1982 to 1984).

Register now for ABTL-LA's Judicial Reception, honoring the judges of the 9th Circuit, 2d District, and other state and federal robe-wearers on June 11 at the Biltmore.

Fourth District Seeking Attorneys to Represent Inmates in DeathPenalty-Related Habeas Corpus Proceedings: The regional habeas corpus panel committee for the Fourth District Court of Appeal is seeking qualified lawyers to represent indigent persons who have been sentenced to death in their habeas corpus proceedings in the superior courts. Attorneys with their principal place of business in the Fourth District should send their completed application and application materials to 4DHabeasCounselApps@jud.ca.gov

APJ Elwood Lui to receive LACBA's Outstanding Jurist Award

LACBA's 2019 Installation & Awards dinner will be June 27 at the Biltmore.

There are many appellate connections to this event, but the biggest is that APJ Elwood Lui will be receiving LACBA's Outstanding Jurist Award!
Register here.

DJ profiled Justice Tangeman

The May 14 DJ profile was Fresh Perspective: Justice Martin Tangeman has brought a global view to the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

The article notes that under the Rules of Court, "a judge can take an unpaid year off as long as he or she spends that time in a fashion that would 'benefit the administration of justice in California.'" Under this rule, Justice Tangeman spent 2001-2012 teaching Italian law students about the American legal system at the University of Trento just outside Verona. He returns to Italy every year or so to visit, to teach, and to soak in the culture.

News articles etc.

The MetNews has Judge Erred in Adhering to California Supreme Court Decision, which notes:

Although it is presently required under the California Rules of Court, rule 8.1105(a), that all decisions of the state Supreme Court be published, that was not so in 1894.Initially—starting June 1, 1850, even before statehood was granted—all California Supreme Court opinions were reported.The first unreported decision was filed on Sept. 15, 1855. It was a mere 108 words.The last one came on June 10, 1910; in it, the First District Court of Appeal granted admission to law practice to 23 men, on petition of the dean of Hastings College of Law.Although the practice of the Supreme Court is to have all of its opinions published, Art. VI, §14 of the state Constitution specifies that “[t]he Legislature shall provide for the prompt publication of such opinions of the Supreme Court…as the Supreme Court deems appropriate….”

The MetNews also noted back on May 15: Memorial  Service set for Edward Hinz, Retired Court of Appeal Justice, who was formerly of 2/3. An interview from the California Appellate Court Legacy Project is here.

Also of note, Self-Help Resources Expand to Courts of Appeal: California's 5th District Court of Appeal launched a new online Appellate Self-Help Resource Center for self-represented litigants and lawyers who seek help with the appeals process.

In The Recorder, see Judicial Realism is Dangerous
In the May 20 DJ don't miss, Of Two Minds, by Justice Hoffstadt and Constructing an Appellate Brief by Myron Moskovitz.

CLA's Litigation Section's monthly update is available at May 2019 Litigation Update

And another award for Beds!  See The Recorder Columnist Among Top Winners at California Journalism Awards

Law360 has Thousands of Calif. Attys in Trouble Over Fingerprints, noting that only 92% (174,869) of lawyers submitted valid new fingerprints to the the Bar. The missing 8% will have to pay escalating fees and will be placed on inactive status if they don't supply prints by December 1. The fingerprinting campaign has turned up at least 40 felony convictions and over 2,600 misdemeanors, not including federal records, which could reveal another 140.

Another New SoCal 9th Circuit Judge!

Following the confirmation of Kenneth Kiyul Lee (who is expected to maintain chambers in Pasadena, and who is America's first Article III judge to be born in the Republic of Korea), the Senate also confirmed LA appellate lawyer Daniel P. Collins to the 9th Circuit.

Judge Collins, who is expected to maintain chambers in Pasadena, California, was nominated to the court on February 6, 2019. After appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 13, 2019, his nomination was reported to the Senate floor on April 4, 2019. He fills a judgeship vacant since December 11, 2015, when Judge Harry Pregerson of Woodland Hills, California, passed away.
Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Collins had been a partner at the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, in Los Angeles since 2003 and from 1998 to 2001. Before that, he was an associate at the firm from 1996 to 1997. Judge Collins was an associate deputy attorney general in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., from 2001 to 2003. He served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California in Los Angeles from 1992 to 1996. He clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1991 to 1992 and was an attorney adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel at the DOJ in Washington from 1989 to 1991.

Judge Collins received his J.D., with distinction and Order of the Coif, in 1988 from Stanford Law School, where he was a member and note editor of the Stanford Law Review from 1986 to 1988. He received his A.B., summa cum laude, from Harvard College in 1985. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Dorothy W. Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1988 to 1989.

New CA 9th Circuit judge

The Recorder reports Jenner Partner Kenneth Lee Confirmed to Ninth Circuit Bench Over Calif. Senators' Objections

Appellate tidbits

• Supreme Court Justice Groban spoke to BASF last night in a program titled What to Expect from the Brown Court. In a panel discussion following his presentation, the consensus was that calling the Supremes "the Brown Court" is neither useful nor accurate.
• Justice Groban's keeping a busy speaking schedule.He will be keynoting the ABTL 46th Annual Seminar, The Transforming Business of Business Litigation (October 3-6) at La Quinta Resort.
• Just in time for Mothers Day: See Mother's Thoughts for the Day: Ten Character Lessons about SoCal appellate lawyer M.C. Sungaila's newly released book.
• AP has Federal judges have a way to make investigations disappear
• Yesterday's DJ had PJ's Gilbert's column, A Moral Dilemma.
• Tuesday's DJ was the first Tuesday of the month, and so featured Exceptionally Appealing. This month's installment, titled Abbreviated Justice, discussed memorandum opinions in California appellate practice. The online version of the article contains links to the following relevant rules, cases, and articles:

•  Ryers v. City of Los Angeles
•  Report of the Appellate Process Task Force
•  Proposed Local Rules
•  People v. Ciggs
•  Lerner v. 180 Properties LLC
•  In re K.C.
•  Florida 4th District Opinion
•  9th Circuit General Orders

1st Amended General Order re LASC e-filing

Be sure to review the First Amended General Order regarding e-filing in the L.A. Superior Court:
http://www.lacourt.org/division/efiling/pdf/GenOrdCivilEfiling.pdf

For a cute opening to a decision see here. (Can you guess who wrote it? Of course you can!)

CLA Appellate Summit 9/20/19

Save the Date! 2019 Litigation and Appellate Summit!

Friday, September 20, 2019, J.W. Marriott's L.A. Live

Join California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger as the keynote luncheon speaker at the Litigation Section’s Third Annual Litigation and Appellate Summits. Presenters include federal and state jurists, top academics, and cutting-edge litigators and appellate specialists. Earn 7.0 CLE credits while enjoying a Friday in DTLA!

Why Are Law Clerks So White?

Today's Law360 has Why Are Law Clerks So White?, noting:

Justice Liu and researchers from the University of California at Berkeley, the American Bar Foundation and Northwestern University are setting out to conduct the first major study into judicial clerkship diversity. As the U.S. Supreme Court made history this term with a majority of female clerks, details about the gender and race of clerks in lower courts has remained unstudied, they say. Results of the new study are likely to be years away.

Formalism versus Realism

Today's DJ's Moskovitz on Appeals column is From legal formalist to legal realist, in which Myron explains his transition from a formalist into a realist. He now "looks for a theme of justice, based on the facts of the case and policy considerations." Here are some snippets from the article:

Judge Posner sums up "legal formalism" this way: "The character of legal formalism can be captured in such slogans as 'the law made me do it' or 'the law is its own thing'. The law as seen from the formalist perspective is a compendium of texts, like the Bible, and the task of the judge or other legal analyst is to discern and apply the internal logic of the compendium. He is an interpreter, indifferent or nearly so to the consequences of his interpretations in the real world. He is not responsible for those consequences; if they are untoward, the responsibility for altering them through a change in law falls to the 'political branches.'"

 "Legal realism" is "harder to describe," but he gives it a try anyway: "The realist places emphasis on the consequences of judicial rulings."

 At bottom, a judge is a judge. When a judge believes that a certain result is the fair one, he or she will often find a way to reach it. Of course, a lot goes into what is "fair." It involves more than a fair outcome for a particular party. Respect for trial judges and the Legislature come into play too. But when a balance of all those interests adds up to some particular desired result, an appellate judge might bend the words of a statute a bit or reinterpret some dicta to justify that result. As Posner might say, pragmatism usually trumps formalism.

Chief Justice Appoints New Members to Judicial Council

Chief Justice Appoints New Members to Judicial Council

The Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye has appointed three new advisory (nonvoting) members to the Judicial Council and reappointed four members to voting positions. Of appellate note:

• Associate Justice Marsha G. Slough, Fourth Appellate District, will be elevated to a voting position through September 14, 2022. Before her appointment to the appellate court in 2016, Justice Slough was on the bench in San Bernardino County, where she had spent time as that court’s presiding judge, assistant presiding judge, and presiding judge of its juvenile court. Justice Slough currently serves as an advisory member of the council and chairs its Technology Committee.

• Associate Justice Carin T. Fujisaki, First Appellate District, will serve in an advisory position through September 14, 2020. Before her 2018 appointment to the First Appellate District, Division Three, Justice Fujisaki spent 28 years with the California Supreme Court, including as the principal attorney to the Chief Justice. In that capacity, Justice Fujisaki provided advice and counsel to the Chief Justice in her administration of the judicial branch.

When should names not be used in opinions?

Today's MetNews Perspectives Column offers 'Secretization' Continues: Court of Appeal Extends Anonymity to Drunk Driver, which asserts:

It’s getting out of hand.

Justices of courts of appeal are becoming so obsessed with carrying out their perceived duty to safeguard the sensibilities of adult parties who litigate in the courts that, increasingly, they are according them anonymity—sometimes without any request for it—often under circumstances where it’s senseless.

...

The “secretization” of court proceedings ... is a trend—an obnoxious judicial fad. It’s in derogation, in my view, of the public’s right to know what’s going on in the public’s courts, which includes who is doing what in those forums.

Supreme Court Appoints Members to Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions 

The California Supreme Court today announced the reappointment of two current members and the appointment of a new member to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions (CJEO), an independent committee that helps inform the judiciary and the public on judicial ethics topics.
Judge Erica R. Yew of the Santa Clara Superior Court was appointed to fill a vacancy on the committee and will serve a four-year term starting May 1.
Justice Marla J. Miller of the First District Court of Appeal and Judge Curtis E.A. Karnow of the San Francisco Superior Court were both reappointed to serve four-year terms, which began Jan. 1. 

The Supreme Court appoints appellate justices, trial court judges, and commissioners to the 12-member committee. The currently appointed CJEO members are: Justice Ronald B. Robie of the Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District (chair); Justice Douglas P. Miller of the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two (vice-chair); Justice Judith L. Haller of the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One; Justice Marla J. Miller of the Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Two; Judge Kenneth K. So of the Superior Court of San Diego County; Judge Michael T. Garcia (Ret.) of the Superior Court of Sacramento County; Judge George J. Abdallah, Jr. of the Superior Court of San Joaquin County; Judge Robert J. Trentacosta of the Superior Court of San Diego County; Judge Curtis E.A. Karnow of the Superior Court of San Francisco County; Judge Samantha P. Jessnerof the Superior Court of Los Angeles County; Judge Erica R. Yew of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County; and Commissioner Belinda Handy of the Superior Court of Riverside County.

Legal Writing Pet Peeves

Happy Law Day!

Law360 offers The Legal Writing Habit Judges Say They Can't Stand.

In recent interviews with Law360, judges and justices revealed their biggest pet peeves when it comes to legal writing. One common refrain came up again and again: The writing they see is too often overly complicated, filled with jargon, and makes use of unnecessarily long or antiquated words.
Writing clearly is always the goal and that’s extremely hard. It takes a lot of work and is ultimately more art than science.

PJ Gilbert will present light-hearted remarks at the 31st annual Half-Norwegian (on the Mother's Side) American Bar Association dinner, on May 14. Details here.

Bloomberg reports Trump Likely to Hit 100th Judicial Appointment This Week -- Trump appointments so far include 37 circuit judges and two Supreme Court justices

The latest issue of Verdict magazine has Federal Court Practice Tips (at p. 32) by H&L' s Peder Batalden, which focuses on this year's new FRAP and 9th Circuit practices:
--"The hoary term 'supersedeas' has been eradicated" and that FRCP 62 has been revamped to acknowledge security other than bonds. Also, the automatic stay of enforcement on entry of judgment is now 30 days (instead of the old 14 days).
--There are two dozen new 9th Circuit forms, including a form for extensions of time.
--Under revised 9th Cir. Rule 25-5(f), filings by ECF usually no longer need a certificate of service.

And see Justice Stevens, in New Essay, Laments Washington's Partisanship