2d District pro tems

 

The following are currently sitting on assignment:

• Judge Michael C. Kelley of the Los Angeles Superior Court will be sitting Pro Tem in Division One until August 31, 2022  
• Associate Justice Patricia D. Benke (ret.) of the Fourth District Court of Appeal will be sitting Pro Tem in Division One until September 30, 2022  
• Judge Rashida A. Adams of the Los Angeles Superior Court will be sitting Pro Tem in Division Three until August 31, 2022
• Judge Armen Tamzarian of the Los Angeles Superior Court will be sitting Pro Tem in Division Five from August 8, 2022 until September 9, 2022  
• Judge Noël Wise of the Alameda Superior Court will be sitting Pro Tem in Division Seven until August 31, 2022  
• Judge Albert T. Harutunian III of the San Diego Superior Court will be sitting Pro Tem in Division Eight until August 31, 2022

ABA diversity report

ABA Journal has 'ABA Profile of the Legal Profession' report shines a light on judicial diversity

• It’s been 94 years since Genevieve Rose Cline became the first female federal judge, and 77 years since President Harry Truman appointed the first Black federal judge, Irvin Charles Mollison.
• Decades later, judicial diversity remains an ongoing concern. And it is front and center of the ABA Profile of the Legal Profession 2022 report released Thursday.
• of the 1,400 judges serving in federal courts, most are “overwhelmingly male and overwhelmingly white"
• According to the profile, in 16 states—Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Delaware—there were no federal judges of color.
• There are also three states—Nebraska, North Dakota and Idaho—where no women are serving as federal trial judges, the report said.

Law.com's take on the report is Harvard & Yale Still Dominate as Biden Focuses on Diversifying the Judiciary -- Altogether, 232 judges have Ivy League law degrees, representing 18% of the U.S. judiciary, according to a new American Bar Association report.

And Law360 reports Senate Committee Advances 9th Circ. Nominee (Roopali Desai)

And also How Much Do Associates Like Their Jobs? Not Much -- Associates at many law firms don't sound very happy: Only about a quarter rank their job satisfaction as excellent, a mere 40% believe they are well mentored, and just 52% would recommend their current firm to a peer, a new report shows.

SG Analysis

Flag of the USSG

Law.com has US Solicitor General Scored Well Overall Last Term, but Lost Most of the Biggest Cases

• The Office of the U.S. Solicitor General, led by Biden appointee Elizabeth Prelogar, appeared in 52 of the term’s 63 argued cases. Two of the 52 were dismissed as improvidently granted (DIGs) and one ended in a 4-4 split. Of the remaining 49, the office had an overall win rate of 67%. Breaking down the cases into where the government was a party, the win rate was 58%, and where it was an amicus, 76%.
• The office lost five of the term's seven biggest cases in which it participated, including abortion, guns and climate change.
• Last term, 27 of the 118 advocates argued two or more cases, according to SCOTUSblog statistics. Seven of the 27 were from law firms

Apply to be a 9th Cir. Rep!

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is seeking applicants from among the federal appellate bar to serve as Appellate Lawyer Representatives to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. Those selected will serve three-year terms commencing October 1, 2022, during which they will participate in meetings throughout the circuit, coordinate activities with District Lawyer Representatives, and attend and participate in the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, an annual gathering of federal judges, attorneys, agency representatives and court staff. This is a hard-working committee, so familiarity with this court’s rules of practice and the ability to serve on one or more sub-committees will be important.

To be considered, applicants should submit a resume of no more than two pages and a brief statement of interest and qualifications, with emphasis on their appellate experience, particularly in the Ninth Circuit. The material should be mailed to Molly Dwyer, Clerk of Court, James R. Browning United States Courthouse, 95 Seventh St., San Francisco, CA 94103, or sent via email to molly_dwyer@ca9.uscourts.gov. The deadline to submit materials is August 12, 2022.

Click here for additional information

3 DJ articles re Chief's retirement

Today's DJ has 3 articles about the Chief's retirement:

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye won’t seek retention

• Her decision allows Gov. Gavin Newsom to replace her in January.

Let the parlor games begin! What’s next for Cantil-Sakauye?

• “My future plans are, I have no plans" but “There will be no politics in my future”

Who will be the next California chief justice?

• The most mentioned names were two of Gov. Jerry Brown’s appointees, Goodwin H. Liu and Leondra R. Kruger. The next two names that came up were appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Martin J. Jenkins and Patricia Guerrero.
• Those mentioned outside the current roster include a trio of appellate justices: 1st District Court of Appeal, Division 1 Presiding Justice James M. Humes; 5th District Presiding Justice Brad R. Hill; and 1st District, Division 2 Justice Therese M. Stewart.

Spanish maxims for appeals

Law.com has Judge Bea and former Bea clerk Ben Feuer in Old Spanish Wisdom for Today’s American Appellate Practitioners--The Spanish are known for their many witty aphorisms, passed down over centuries, which they call refranes. As it turns out, some of these refranes carry with them useful lessons for American appellate lawyers today.

• Al pan, pan y al vino, vino: “Call bread, ‘bread’, and call wine, ‘wine’.”
• A caballo viejo, poco verde: “Don’t feed an old horse much young grass.”
• Camino estrecho para ti; camino ancho para mi: “A narrow path for thee; a wide path for me.”
• El mono vestido de seda, mono se queda: “Even though you dress a monkey in silks, he remains a monkey.”
• A falta de pan, buenas son tortas: “In the absence of bread, crusts will do.”
• Todo se contagia, menos la belleza: “Everything is contagious, except good looks.”
• La venganza es un plato que los conocidos comen frío: “Revenge is a dish that connoisseurs eat cold.”
  
• Incluso en el infierno se necesita amigos: “Even in hell you need friends.”

Chief to retire!

 

California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye Announces Decision to Retire

The Sacramento native and California's first Asian American chief justice said she will finish her current term, which ends in January, but not stand for retention in the November election.

Official announcement here.

[Law360's story is Calif. Top Judge Cantil-Sakauye To Step Down In January; Bloomberg Law's story is California Supreme Court Chief Justice Announces Retirement; MetNews story here]

Updated 7th Cir. protocols & J.Barrett's writing style

How are they doing it in Chicago? Check out the new order re masking, covid self-certification, and oral arguments here:

• On September 6, 2022, the courtroom will reopen to the public. In-person oral argument, which resumed last year, will continue in accordance with the terms of this order. Please check the court’s website for additional instructions, if any, regarding social distancing and other pandemic-related protocols
• Option to Present Argument Telephonically or by Video Communications: The assigned panel may, in its discretion, permit counsel to present oral argument telephonically or by a video-communications platform approved by the court. Not later than 14 days before the argument date, and after conferring with opposing counsel, a party may file a motion to present oral argument telephonically or by video communications. The motion shall: (1) state the reason for the request; (2) state whether the request is opposed or unopposed; and (3) identify which counsel wish to appear remotely.

Also of note, The Marble Palace Blog: Justice Barrett's 'Austere and Desert-Like' Writing Style -- In her nearly two years on the Supreme Court bench, Amy Coney Barrett has developed her own terse way of writing opinions.

With 10 majority opinions under her belt, Justice Amy Coney Barrett has put enough words on paper during her tenure thus far to be scrutinized for her writing style. In a recent series of postings in the always interesting Appellate Advocacy Blog, Utah appellate lawyer John Nielsen has done just that.

And see Marci'a Coyle's The Justices’ faith and their Religion Clause decisions

And see Judge With History of Sexist Comments Called Out, Again, by 5th Circuit--Judge Lynn Hughes had issued a lifetime ban against a female litigator after she won an appeal related to comments he made in an earlier case.

22:2 JAPPV Summer 2022

The Journal of Appellate Practice & Process (vol. 22:2, Summer 2022) is now available, and the Appellate Advocacy Blog provides details here.

"Closing observations"

Decisions from the 1st DCA (especiall7y 1/2) are more frequently including "closing observations," as does this published opinion today from 1/2 in an appeal by a lawyer against a sanctions order imposed on her:

By way of closing observation, we note that [Appellant's] brief provided us virtually no assistance in reaching our decision and fails to meet basic standards governing appellate briefing. The brief’s arguments are conclusory and undeveloped. It does not analyze the statutes we are asked to interpret, ignores published authority directly at odds with [Appellant's] legal position, provides no pertinent legal authority, and relies on inaccurate citations to the California Rules of Court, an irrelevant statute and a bad misreading of irrelevant caselaw. Indeed, for this reason we could have affirmed the trial court’s ruling without even reaching the merits of this appeal on the ground that [Appellant's] briefs have fallen far short of meeting her burden of persuading us that the trial court erred.

And that's not all. There's this too:

We remind counsel of a point we made in another case not long ago, specifically, that rule 3.3 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, entitled “Candor Toward the Tribunal,” provides in pertinent part as follows: “ ‘ “A lawyer shall not [¶] . . . [¶] (2) fail to disclose to the tribunal legal authority in the controlling jurisdiction known to the lawyer to be directly adverse to the position of the client and not disclosed by opposing counsel or knowingly misquote to a tribunal the language of a book, statute, decision or other authority. . . .” ’ (Rules Prof. Conduct, rule 3.3.)” (Davis v. TWC Dealer Group, Inc. (2019) 41 Cal.App.5th 662, 678.)

And then this:

For all of the many potentially meritorious cases that come before us on appeal, this case, regrettably, reminds us once again of the futility and costs of aggressive but ultimately empty advocacy in the appellate courts. There are presumptively innocent individuals—who could be any one of us—who have been incarcerated for crimes they say they did not commit, because of errors in the conduct of their prosecution. There are parents—who could be any one of us—who have been separated from their children, because of errors in the application of our juvenile dependency laws. There are children—who could be any one of ours—who, often against the backdrop of difficult life circumstances, have made errors of judgment that have brought them to the attention of our juvenile delinquency courts, sometimes resulting in the imposition of terms of rehabilitation that may be unwarranted, excessive or unduly harsh. We could go on. When counsel files an appellate brief in a civil case such as this that is so utterly lacking in content sufficient to persuade us of the claims they raise on appeal—by presenting arguments in conclusory fashion, failing to engage in any meaningful analysis, citing no potentially relevant authorities and failing to address authorities that plainly are relevant—it not only dooms their client’s appeal. It also clogs our appellate docket and inhibits our ability to timely review and decide other cases, including those involving interests of the utmost personal urgency and importance.

No motion for appellate sanctions was filed, and so no appellate sanctions are imposed. But:

We publish this opinion to make clear that, in the future, an appellate argument such as this that is so lacking in even potentially persuasive value will indeed carry the possibility of sanctions as a frivolous appeal. (See, e.g., J.B.B. Investment Partners Ltd. v. Fair (2019) 37 Cal.App.5th 1, 19 [imposing sanctions because “we conclude that ‘any reasonable attorney would agree that the appeal is totally and completely without merit’ and would not have raised the arguments defendants make on appeal”].)

9th Cir. updated Covid protocols

 

The 9th Circuit has issued an update to its Covid-19 protocols here.

Facts or unsupported inferences?

 

See footnote 1 of the dissent here, which begins: "I find the majority’s rendition of the facts unreliable. The unsupported inferences are legion."

Justice Guerrero elected to ALI

The American Law Institute has elected new members who will bring their expertise to ALI’s work of clarifying the law through Restatements, Principles, and Model Codes. Members were selected from confidential nominations submitted by ALI members for the March 15, 2022 deadline. 

Justice Guerrero is now a member!

She joins many others known to the CA appellate world, e.g., Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye, Justices Groban, Liu, and Kruger; Court of Appeal Justices Brown, Bendix, Edmon, Epstein, Hoffstadt, Irion, Manella, McConnell, Perluss, Streeter, Tucher, Wiley, Zelon; and 9th Circuit Judges Berzon, Callahan, Collins, Fletcher, Goodwin, Koh, McKeown, DW Nelson, Nguyen, Owens, Wallace, Wardlaw, Watford.

Speaking of Judge McKeown, she was awarded the 2022 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Ninth Circuit, presented at the Circuit Conference in Big Sky. Details here. Judge McKeown played a key role in launching the San Diego Appellate Inn in 2016. Formerly a judicial master for the Lewis M. Welsh American Inn of Court in San Diego, she is now judicial master for the Appellate Inn.

2022 Court Stats out!

The 2022 Court Statistics Report on Statewide Caseload Trends is now available here!

Appellate highlights:

Supreme Court

• The Supreme Court issued 59 written opinions during the year. • Filings totaled 6,522, and dispositions totaled 6,311. • Automatic appeals arising out of judgments of death totaled 12 cases, and the court disposed of 22 such appeals by written opinion. • The Supreme Court ordered 28 Court of Appeal opinions depublished in this fiscal year.

16% of Petitions for review were granted overall. But only 5% in civil matters (5% civil appeals; 6% for civil writs). Criminal had a 20% grant rate (21% in criminal appeals, 8% for criminal writs, 15% for habeas corpus). Zero rehearings were granted (which is true for every year from 2012 to 2021, expect for one granted in 2015).

Courts of Appeal

• Total contested matters for the Courts of Appeal totaled 15,781, made up of 10,171 records of appeal and 5,610 original proceedings. • Dispositions in the Courts of Appeal totaled 20,159. Of these dispositions, 14,682 were appeals and 6,024 were original proceedings. • Dispositions of appeals by written opinion totaled 9,147, appeals disposed of without written opinion totaled 3,397, and appeals disposed of without a record filed totaled 2,137. Dispositions of original proceedings by written opinion totaled 301, and original proceedings disposed of without written opinion totaled 5,302. • Statewide, 9 percent of Court of Appeal majority opinions were published.

78% of civil appeals were affirmed; 17% reversed; 5% dismissed.

18.2% of civil appeals were published statewide (with the 1st Dist. at 26.2%, the 2d at 15.5%, 3d at 28%, 4th at 15.2%, Fifth at 14.8% and Sixth at 19.8%)

As for timing in civil appeals, the statewide median is 568 days: 2/6 is fastest with a median of 452 days from notice of appeal to opinion;  at the other end, the 6th is the slowest at 920 days, the 3d is at 905 days and the 5th at 791 days.

Kagan in Montana & Jackson's chambers

Reporting on the 9th Cir. conference in Big Sky, the DJ has Kagan Says High Court Should Act Differently to Restore Confidence.

• U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan told the 9th Circuit Judicial Conference on Thursday that it’s up to the court itself to restore flagging public approval by acting differently. “The way it fosters public confidence is by acting like a court, not just individual people with policy or social preferences that we’re making everybody live with,” Kagan told a packed audience in Big Sky, Montana.
• Kagan said she liked the court’s new way of handling oral arguments. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the court held what was essentially a conference call, allowing each justice to ask questions one at a time. Justice Clarence Thomas, famous for not asking many questions at oral argument, “was a very active participant” under that format Kagan, however, said she didn’t like that it appeared to make attorney arguments “stilted” and didn’t allow for follow-up questions.
• Justices debated what format to use during the last term, and settled on a compromise solution that Thomas, who Kagan said didn’t like the traditional free-for-all format, and Kagan both liked.
• The future of livestreaming court proceedings is less certain. “I personally would prefer to keep the livestreaming but I only get one vote of nine,” Kagan said.

Law360 has Most Of New Justice's Clerks Come With BigLaw Bonafides

• Three of Justice Jackson's four clerks have worked as associates at BigLaw firms, including Morrison Foerster, Hogan Lovells and Covington & Burling
• but there's also an assistant public defender among them

Appellate job with LA City Atty

The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office has an opening for a Civil Appellate Division Deputy City Attorney. Candidates must have at least 7 years of practice, of which at least 5 years have been primarily focused on appellate practice. Interested attorneys should email a cover letter, resume, and writing samples in a single pdf file (subject line: DCA-Civil Liability Appeals Division) to atty.recruit@LACity.org.

I concur with myself

Law.com has Showing Off or Making a Point? Spate of Self-Concurrences Catch Eye of Legal Community-- Aspirations for elevation to the U.S. Supreme Court could drive judges to go beyond the assignment, experts said.

“What we’re talking about is when do judges decide to do extra work? They’ve already done their job. They’ve decided the case, and the sort of baffling thing you’re presented with is, why on earth would they do anything more, especially if they wrote the majority opinion?” said Alex Platt, a law professor at the University of Kansas School of Law.

In the past few months, a number of self-concurrences have garnered attention. Judge Lawrence VanDyke wrote a concurrence to his own opinion in January that offered an “alternative opinion” that an en banc panel could use if the case were reheard and overturned. And in May, Eleventh Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom wrote a self-concurrence describing what he believes is the appropriate Second Amendment framework for federal appeals courts to follow.

The article also notes self-concurrences by 9th Circuit Judges Bybee and Bade.  (Want to an example of this from the 2d District? See People v. Montelongo (2020) 55 Cal.App.5th 1016.)

On the attorney ethics side of things, Law360 has Atty's 'See You Next Tuesday' Remark Prompts Bar Referral

And CLA Litigation Section's Litigation Update for July 2022 is out now.

For a piece on the longest SCOTUS arguments, see The Marble Palace Blog: The Longest SCOTUS Oral Argument--In a Supreme Court oral argument this past term, something unusual happened: The longest argument by a single advocate in decades.

AJEI set for Nov. 10-13

2022 Appellate Judges Education Institute Summit
November 10 – 13, 2022
DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Paradise Valley
Scottsdale, Arizona
Register here


Register now for the 2022 AJEI Summit, the nation’s premier appellate educational event, to be held this year in Scottsdale, AZ. Typically attended by almost 400 appellate judges and practitioners, the Summit will feature 20+ panel discussions on emerging trends, challenges, and legal issues affecting appellate practitioners and the judiciary. See below for a partial list of panelists and session topics, or visit our website for a complete list.

Please visit the AJEI 2022 Summit webpage for information about hotel accommodations, CLE/CJE credit hours, tours, and how to become a summit sponsor. Discounts for ABA Members. The Judicial Division of the ABA will be sending its members an additional promo code.
Summit Webpage
Confirmed panelists to date include:
Keynote Address by Hon. J. Michelle Childs (D.C. Cir.)
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, U.C. Berkeley
Hon. Esther Salas (D.N.J.)
Hon. Robert Bachrach (10th Cir.)
Ret. Four Star Admiral Harry Harris (former US Ambassador to South Korea)
Deepak Gupta, Esq., Gupta Wessler
Prof. Stephen Vladeck, Charles Alan Wright Professor, U. Texas Law School
Prof. Robert Miller, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
Former Arizona Chief Justice Scott Bales
Hon. James Wynn (4th Cir.)
Prof. Nathaniel Persily, Stanford Law School
Ret. General John S. Cooke, Director, Federal Judicial Center
Hon. George C. (“Buck”) James, Supreme Court of South Carolina
Hon. Thomas R. Lee (Ret.), Assoc. Chief Justice, Utah Supreme Court
Hon. Mary Murguia (Chief Judge, 9th Cir.)
Former Arizona Chief Justice Ruth Magregor
Former Ambassador and U.S. Air Force Secretary Barbara McConnell Barrett
Hon. David Thomson, New Mexico Supreme Court
Allyson Ho, Esq., Gibson, Dunn
Michael Scodro, Esq. Mayer, Brown
Hon. Jacqueline Nguyen (9th Cir.)
Former ABA President Patricia Refo
Mark Lanterman, Computer Forensic Services (formerly with U.S. Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force)

 
Session topics include:
Supreme Court Preview – October 2022 Term
Qualified Immunity
Legislative Redistricting After Rucho v. Common Cause
Law and Linguistics
The Legacy of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
A Comparison of Military & Civilian Justice Procedures
Perspectives on Stare Decisis
Threats to Judicial Security and the Dark Web
Legal Writing: Striving for Clarity
Public Confidence and the Courts
1984, Big Brother, & Facial Recognition
The Reign of Three Sovereigns: Jurisdictional Puzzles in Indian Country
Key U.S. Supreme Court Decisions of the October 2021 Term
Appellate Court Pro Bono Program
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Dissent & Concurrence
Em😊jis and the Law: The New Digital Language In a Courtroom Near You
Insights on Amicus Brief Writing
Bias, Discrimination, and Harassment: The Ethics Rules for Lawyers and Judges

Visit the 2022 AJEI Summit page for the latest information. We look forward to seeing you in the fall!

SCOTUS news & Recalling Rose Bird

 Law.com has two SCOTUS stories of note:

Public Approval, Confidence in the US Supreme Court Nose-Dived in July -- The public's approval is now more sharply polarized along party lines than it was in March, a new survey found.

when asked what most often motivates the justices’ decisions—mainly law or mainly politics—those saying that the justices’ decisions are based mainly on politics has increased from 35% in 2019 to 52% in July 2022, the survey reported.

A SCOTUS Artist Recounts 4 Decades of Sketches -- "That year of COVID when I didn’t have to go in [to the Supreme Court building] and commute, it's really the commute that convinced me to retire," said Lien, who lives in Maryland. "I was going to stay on until cameras came in. I wanted to be the last court artist."

For more than four decades, artist Art Lien’s sketches have been a reliable window into the courtroom of the U.S. Supreme Court, where they sometimes captured the anger of a dissenting justice, the meaning in a justice’s jabot, or the passion of an advocate. Lien put aside his sketchbook and familiar opera glasses and retired at the end of this past term. Lien has sketched courts since 1976

Today's DJ has David Carrillo and Stephen Duvernay's Rose Bird was not recalled -- "Former California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird was many things. One thing she was not: recalled."

The upshot is that these are the true facts:
Rose Bird, Joseph Grodin, and Cruz Reynoso were not retained.
No California Supreme Court justice has ever faced a recall ballot.
No California appellate justice has ever faced a recall ballot.
No California appellate justice has ever been recalled.

(The piece was prompted by a recent article that stated that Rose Bird had been 'recalled.')

Yesterday's DJ had Expect Supreme Court to revisit more major issues, conservative lawyer tells 9th Circuit

A prominent conservative appellate specialist told the 9th Circuit Judicial Conference Monday that the past U.S. Supreme Court term will have “potentially huge jurisprudential significance” affecting Second Amendment rights and administrative agencies for years to come. “I think this was the most consequential Supreme Court term not only of my career but also my lifetime,” Kannon K. Shanmugam, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, told an audience of federal judges gathered in Big Sky, Montana.

He pointed out that the 9th Circuit was reversed in 11 of the 12 cases considered by the Supreme Court, with the only surviving case deemed improvidently granted, to chuckles from the audience.

 

DJ profiles Judge Ryan Nelson

Today's DJ has Influential Dissents -- 9th Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson has proven to be persuasive to US Supreme Court.

• When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that the prayers of a public high school football coach on the field's 50-yard line immediately following games were protected by the First Amendment, overturning a decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, it relied in part on the reasoning of 9th Circuit Judge Ryan D. Nelson, who dissented from his court's denial of en banc review in the case.
• When he began his undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University, Nelson thought he would become a doctor. But, by the time he was a junior -- and after completing a two-year Mormon mission in Belgium -- he had decided to pursue the law instead. "I just could never get away from the passion I have for the law, language, writing, critical thinking -- all those things are very interesting to me," said Nelson, whose father is still a practicing attorney in Idaho Falls. "I ultimately decided I wanted something that was going to play to my strengths and my passions, and I felt like the law would do that."

Today's appellate round-up

Law360 has Justice Breyer Joins Harvard Law Faculty.

The DJ has Praising her stability, lawyers hope chief stands for retention

Judicial Council spokesman Peter Allen said Thursday Cantil-Sakauye has from “July 18 through August 15” to turn in paperwork to run in the Nov. 8 election.

If she runs for retention, Cantil-Sakauye will almost certainly win. She received 67% of the vote in her 2010 retention election. The last time justices faced the voters was 2018, when Leondra R. Kruger won 73% of the vote and Carol A. Corrigan got 70%.

Among the other justices on the court, Goodwin H. Liu received 67% of the vote in 2014. Three more recent appointees — Joshua P. Groban, Martin J. Jenkins and Patricia Guerrero — will face voters for the first time in November.

Also in the DJ, is Barry Wolf's cute, pithy and true: Some Clients You Might Want to Pass On: "after 30 plus years as a civil appellate lawyer, I have learned to avoid certain types of problematic clients." He names them: Desperately Seeking a Do-Over. The Dangerous Thing. The Confident Appellant. The Bluffer. The Staller. Fatal (to your license) Attraction. The Waffler. The Procrastinator. J. Willington Wimpy. Don Coyote. And more!

On the poetry front, Justice Perren begins this opinion here with a quote from Alexander Pope:  “A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again.” Yeah, the losing appellant is a pro per.

Desai's Senate committee hearing

 

Law360 has 9th Circ. Pick Commits To Isolate Rulings From Political Views:

Roopali H. Desai, a partner at Coppersmith Brockelman PLC in Phoenix, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee alongside U.S. Magistrate Judge Doris L. Pryor, who is nominated to the Seventh Circuit and is President Joe Biden's first circuit court pick to receive backing from two Republican home-state senators. 

Desai, who has done extensive work in election law for political campaigns and committees, including the state Democratic Party and some Democratic congressional candidates, pledged to keep her advocacy work separate from her work on the bench if confirmed.

The DJ's story is GOP grills 9th Circuit nominee on election cases

Desai is the sixth Biden nominee to the 9th Circuit. Four of the president’s nominees have been confirmed, while U.S. District Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr. of the Eastern District of Washington’s nomination to the appellate court is pending following committee approval last month.

The 9th Circuit is divided between 16 judges appointed by Democratic presidents and 13 chosen by Republicans. The confirmation of Mendoza and Desai would not change the partisan breakdown.

More interested in 9th Cir. caselaw? There's an appealability opinion from yesterday here:

We have appellate jurisdiction because, looking at the record as a whole, “the district court intended its order to end the case.” Knevelbaard Dairies v. Kraft Foods, Inc., 232 F.3d 979, 983 (9th Cir. 2000). Despite acknowledging that amendment of the complaint might not be futile, the district court did not grant leave to amend. That omission, combined with the district court clerk’s entry of judgment on the same day, demonstrates that the dismissal order was final and appealable.

9th Cir. Judicial Conference in Big Sky

 

The 2022 Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference will be held July 18-21, 2022, at the Big Sky Resort, Big Sky, Montana. The theme of the conference, which was last held in Big Sky in 2016, is “The Future of “Being Back”: Technology, Transparency and the Administration of Justice.” Inspired by the changes driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and other forces, the program includes several sessions focusing on how newly introduced technology is shaping our future, our rights and the law. Also prominent on the agenda are climate change litigation, ethics, free expression, innovations in law school teaching and managing offender reentry philosophies. The conference concludes with the traditional “Conversation with the Justice” featuring United States Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan.

Cameo for Cal.5th

 

In the recent movie Everything Everywhere All at Once, apparently "everything" includes volumes of California Reports 5th edition, which make a cameo appearance halfway through (around 1 hour and 2 minutes). The volumes are on the bookshelf in the office, and volumes 50 and 51 are especially prominent. There is, of course, no relevant context. The only 'law' in the movie (and saying 'in' is a stretch itself) involves a federal tax audit.

SAJEC wants your input!

LACBA’s State Appellate Judicial Evaluation Committee (SAJEC) is vetting two potential appointees to the Second District Court of Appeal: L.A. Superior Court judges Audra Mori and Michelle Kim. Anyone wishing to provide input on the potential appointees’ qualifications is welcome to fill out the evaluation forms linked below, or to contact committee chair Alana Rotter at arotter@gmsr.com.

 Audra Mori -- https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SAJECAudraMori

 Michelle Kim -- https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SAJECMichelleKim

And Law.com has Progressive Groups Pressure Democrats to Move Faster on Judicial Vacancies, which begins: "The clock is ticking for the White House and Democrats to fill 119 current and future judicial vacancies (more than half of which don’t have nominees) before the midterm elections in November, when Republicans could take control of the Senate." The piece also notes:

In California, there are nine district court vacancies without nominees. The Washington Post reported earlier this week that Democratic Sens. Diane Feinstein and Alex Padilla put forward names for every vacancy, except two.

JNE evaluating Justice Stewart for PJ

JNE is evaluating 1/2's Justice Stewart to be presiding justice, presumably for the PJ vacancy in her division.

Bloomberg Law has Supreme Court’s Conservatives Want More Robust ‘Shadow Docket’

Justices' terms, etc.

Because "An election will be held on November 8, 2022," information about all the justices' terms is available here: Justices of the California Courts of Appeal November 8, 2022, General Election. Of note, footnote 3, reveals that 2/6's Justice Perren will retire at the end of this month.

JNE evaluating Judge Michelle Kim

The State Bar's Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation is evaluating LASC Judge Michelle C. Kim for the 2d District.

CJA hearing set for August 3

Commission to Consider Appellate Court Appointments
The Commission on Judicial Appointments will hold two virtual public hearings on Aug. 3 to consider appointments to Sacramento and Ventura-based appeals courts.

• 9 a.m.—Judge Stacy E. Boulware Eurie, as associate justice of the Third Appellate District (Sacramento)

• 10 a.m. (*estimated time, immediately follows 9 a.m. hearing)—Judge Hernaldo J. Baltodano, as associate justice of the Second Appellate District, Division Six (Ventura).

These hearings will be held remotely and webcast live on the California Courts Newsroom.

"A formative year"

A Formative Year is the title of today's DJ column by Myron Moskovitz about his year clerking for Justice Ray Peters (served 1959-1973) on the Cal Supreme Court many, many moons ago. His reminiscences still resonate today.

Also in today's DJ is the July Exceptionally Appealing column titled Wonder Twins Powers, Activate! Form of Citation! Continuing the discussion from last month's column about suggested improvements to the California Style Manual (using the best of the Yellowbook and Bluebook conventions).

3d DCA nomination!

Governor Gavin Newsom today announced his nomination of Judge Stacy E. Boulware Eurie to serve as an Associate Justice of the Third District Court of Appeal. The Governor also announced his appointment of seven Superior Court Judges, which include one in Los Angeles County; four in Riverside County; and two in San Bernardino County.
Third District Court of Appeal

 

Judge Stacy E. Boulware Eurie, 51, of Sacramento, has been nominated to serve as an Associate Justice of the Third District Court of Appeal. She has served as a Judge at the Sacramento County Superior Court since 2007 and was Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court there from 2010 to 2018. Judge Boulware Eurie served in several roles at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2000 to 2007, including Senior Assistant Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General. She was an Associate at Rothschild, Wishek & Sands LLP from 1996 to 2000. Judge Boulware Eurie earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice William J. Murray. This position requires confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which consists of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Senior Acting Presiding Justice Ronald Robie. Judge Boulware Eurie is a Democrat.

The compensation for this position is $257,562.