Judge Berzon goes senior

Law.com has Another 9th Circuit Judge ‘Goes Senior,’ Creating Second Vacancy on Court
Ninth Circuit Judge Marsha Berzon, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, is the second judge on the circuit to announce her semi-retirement in the last month.

[Law360's article is Biden Gets 2nd Opening On 9th Circ. Thanks To Judge Berzon, which notes:

• she plans to maintain a "substantial" caseload in senior status. Leaving active status means she is generally not eligible to sit on the 11-judge panels that hear en banc reviews in a process unique to the Ninth Circuit due to its size.
• some members of the influential circuit court have remained active well past retirement eligibility, including Judge Stephen R. Reinhardt, who never retired before his 2018 death at age 87, and Judge Harry Pregerson, who took senior status in 2015 just two years before he died at age 94.
• likely contenders [for 9th Cir. appointment] include California Supreme Court Justices Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, Leondra R. Kruger and Goodwin H. Liu. Other possibilities include Davina T. Chen, a federal public defender focused on appeals and sentencing, and Brian E. Nelson, chief legal officer for Los Angeles' 2028 Olympic Organizing Committee and a former general counsel to then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris.]

The DJ's article is First California-based 9th Circuit Judge to Take Senior Status, and notes:

• California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh of the Northern District of California, have been mentioned widely as favorites to fill the vacancy.
• perhaps Michael Mongan, the solicitor general of California, who is a very experienced appellate lawyer and fairly young.