3 appellate appointments!

Governor Gavin Newsom announced his nomination of three Court of Appeal Justices: Justice Joanne Motoike as Presiding Justice of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three, Judge Stephen Goorvitch as Associate Justice of the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Two, and Judge Amy Guerra as Associate Justice of the Fifth District Court of Appeal.

Second District Court of Appeal, Division Two



Stephen Goorvitch, of Los Angeles County, has been appointed to serve as an Associate Justice in the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Two. Goorvitch has served as a Judge in the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 2015. He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California from 2007 to 2015. He was Counsel at O’Melveny and Myers from 2003 to 2007. Goorvitch served as a law clerk in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2002 to 2003 and in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California from 2001 to 2002. He served as a Staff Attorney in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 1998 to 2001. Goorvitch received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Judith T. Ashmann-Gerst. This position requires confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which consists of Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Senior Presiding Justice Francis Rothschild. Goorvitch is a Democrat.
Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three



Joanne Motoike, of Orange County, has been appointed to serve as the Presiding Justice of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three. Motoike has served as an Associate Justice in the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three since 2022. Motoike served as a Judge in the Orange County Superior Court from 2013 to 2022. She served as a Senior Deputy Public Defender at the Orange County Public Defender’s Office from 2008 to 2013. Motoike worked as a Trial Attorney at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal from 2006 to 2008. She served as a Deputy Public Defender at the Orange County Public Defender’s Office from 1994 to 2006. Motoike received a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Presiding Justice Kathleen E. O’Leary. This position requires confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which consists of Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Senior Presiding Justice Manuel Ramirez. Motoike is a Democrat.
Fifth District Court of Appeal



Amy Guerra, of Fresno County, has been appointed to serve as an Associate Justice of the Fifth District Court of Appeal. Guerra has served as a Judge in the Fresno County Superior Court since 2018. Guerra worked as the Chief Defense Attorney at the Fresno County Alternate Defense Office from 2014 to 2018, where she also worked as an Associate from 2007 to 2014. Guerra received a Juris Doctor degree from the San Joaquin College of Law. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Bruce Smith. This position requires confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which consists of Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Senior Presiding Justice Brad Hill. Guerra is a Democrat.

The compensation for each of these positions is $280,052

Plus, Commissioner Victoria Shapiro has been appointed to LASC. She served as the Lead Judicial Attorney at the Second District Court of Appeal since 2021, where she also served as a Senior Judicial Attorney from 2016 to 2021 and as a Judicial Attorney from 2015 to 2016.

And, Carl Chamberlin, of San Francisco County, has been appointed to serve as a Judge in the Santa Clara County Superior Court. Chamberlin has served as the Lead Appellate Court Attorney at the First District Court of Appeal, First Appellate District since 1999.

The DJ has Newsom elevates three to appellate courts, names seven trial judges -- Gov. Gavin Newsom nominated three justices to the state Courts of Appeal and appointed seven Superior Court judges in five counties, continuing a reshaping of California's judiciary.

New SCOTUS rules re stock ticker symbols etc.

 Law360 has Supreme Court Adopts Rule To Suss Out Stock Conflicts

• The U.S. Supreme Court announced Tuesday that litigants will soon be required to include companies' stock ticker symbols in court documents as part of new rules aimed at helping the justices identify potential conflicts of interest.
• The new rules, which take effect March 16, call for litigants to list all involved parties, along with their respective stock ticker symbols, in the "Parties to the Proceeding" sections of their briefs, even if the party's name appears in the case caption. A new software developed by the Supreme Court will use those lists to run automated recusal checks against a list of conflicts provided by each justice, the court said in a news release.
• In addition to the new disclosure requirements, the Supreme Court announced new rules about filing deadlines Tuesday. The court changed Rule 29, which governs the filing of documents, to add that a filing is considered timely if "it is properly submitted to the court's electronic filing system on or before the last day for filing." If a document is submitted electronically, paper copies must be delivered or mailed to the Supreme Court within three days, the court added.
• See the rules here and the revisions here

Bloomberg Law's article is Supreme Court Embraces Tool to Flag Stock, Other Conflicts

Proposed amendments to CRC 8.1115, 8.1125

The Supreme Court has issued an invitation to comment on amendments to rules 8.1116 and 8.1125:

The amendments would:
(1) allow unpublished appellate opinions to be cited for certain purposes in addition to those presently allowed under rule 8.1115(b);
(2) remove language from rule 8.1115(e)(2) providing for the restoration of the precedential status of a Court of Appeal opinion in a review-granted case that has been “held” for another review-granted matter immediately upon the Supreme Court’s decision on review in the “lead” case;
(3) incorporate within rule 8.1115 principles presently articulated only in that rule’s comment regarding the citation and precedential status of published Court of Appeal opinions when review is pending before the Supreme Court, or after a decision on review by the court; and
(4) add to those who must be served with a request for depublication in the Supreme Court (see rule 8.1125(a)(5)) any person who had successfully requested that the authoring court certify the opinion for publication.

All comments must be emailed to the court at CSC2026-Comments@jud.ca.gov no later than Wednesday, March 25, 2026.

Who will be next SCOCA justice?

The DJ has David Carrillo, Brandon Stracener, and Stephen Duvernay's Gov. Newsom will probably go to the appellate bench for the next SCOCA justice

• As the clock ticks away days with an empty California Supreme Court seat, all eyes turn to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Who will he appoint? ... Considering history and the widely reported indications of the governor's future aspirations, the most likely choice is a centrist Court of Appeal justice who will bang out lots of opinions and generate zero headlines, doing no harm to any future political campaigns.
• Past governors have used a wide variety of selection considerations. For his lone appointment to the state high court Gov. Gray Davis tapped federal district court judge Carlos Moreno to replace Stanley Mosk. According to Chief Justice Phil Gibson, Gov. Goodwin Knight had only politics and money in mind when he made his one appointment (Marshall McComb) to the court. Gov. Jerry Brown stands out with his intentional efforts in the 1970s to shake up the court with academics in particular and generally people from outside the traditional track. And Gov. George Deukmejian's mission in his eight appointments was to undo all that Gov. Brown had done.
• Our prediction is that a Court of Appeal justice, with unquestioned bona fides and wide respect, probably male, maybe Hispanic, perhaps not from the Bay Area, goes to the Commission on Judicial Appointments by summer.

The Recorder has As Newsom Makes His Name Out of State, California's Supreme Court Awaits New Justice -- Associate Justice Martin Jenkins left office last year. Will his replacement be chosen through the lens of presidential ambitions?

Jenkins left the Supreme Court at the end of October. In the nearly four months since the veteran jurist’s departure, Newsom has given no indication that his next appointment is on the horizon or even a priority.

See also in the SF Chronical Top court vacancy impacting case flow

The DJ also has Myron Moskovitz's Will AI replace me? -- Although AI can speed up legal research and handle routine analysis, the human intuition and judgment required to persuade appellate judges remain uniquely human strengths.

Bloomberg Law has Solicitor General Pushing Justices to Take More Cases Uninvited

Law.com has Can AI Give You a Seat Inside the Supreme Court? -- A new website, "On he Docket," provides AI-generated videos of justices reading their Supreme Court opinions from the bench.

Next Thursday, Feb. 26, LACBA 's Appellate Section presents an Overview of Appellate Motions (by H&L's David Axelrad and Melissa Whalen) at noon, and also at noon LACBA's Litigation Section presents Protecting the Record on Appeal (by PJ's Edmon and Zukin).

DJ profiles retired J.Benke

Today's DJ has Retired justice Patricia Benke champions classic mediation model -- Now a neutral with ADR Services, retired 4th District Court of Appeal justice Justice Patricia D. Benke encourages joint sessions, creative problem-solving and careful written analysis drawn from nearly four decades on the bench.

• Retired justice Patricia D. Benke spent nearly four decades on the bench and authored more than 400 published appellate decisions. "When I retired, West's gave me volumes for everything I worked on, ... and there were six volumes of cases," Benke said with a chuckle. "And those are just the published ones."
• Benke worked for 35 years as an associate justice for the 4th District Court of Appeal before retiring in the summer of 2021.
• Along with her reference, arbitration and forthcoming mediation work, Benke has also been helping attorneys strengthen their appellate case arguments through moot courts. "It's not a matter of just listening [or] giving practice to the attorneys. It's shaping the case," Benke said of her moot court approach. "It's saying, 'Wait a minute. This is what you need. This is the line you need to lead [with] when you come out and when you first talk.'"

2d Dist. pro tem update & AI sanctions

The following are currently sitting on assignment in the 2d District:

• Justice Arthur Gilbert (Retired) of the Second District Court of Appeal will be sitting Pro Tem in Division Two through March 31, 2026
• Judge Sanjay Kumar (Retired) of the Los Angeles County Superior Court will be sitting Pro Tem in Division Five through February 17, 2026
• Judge Von T. Nguyen Deroian of the Santa Barbara County Superior Court will be sitting Pro Tem in Division Six through March 31, 2026
• Judge Alexander C.D. Giza of the Los Angeles County Superior Court will be sitting Pro Tem in Division Seven through March 31, 2026

Law360 has 10th Circ. Ends Civil Rights Suit, Sanctions Atty For AI Errors -- the panel imposed a $1,000 sanction against pro se litigant Kusmin Amarsingh under Rule 38 for her "reckless disregard of the attorney's duties to the court" in utilizing ChatGPT to help draft a brief that inadvertently included seven "hallucinations."

9th Cir. en banc article

Law.com has Navigating an 11-Judge Pile-Up: Orrick Associates Talk Shop About En Banc Ninth Circuit Arguments -- Katherine Munyan and Alyssa Barnard-Yanni, two senior associates at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, both based in New York, have handled en banc arguments at the Ninth Circuit over the past six months.

2026 SCOCA Roundup

UC Berkely Law's California Constitution Center presents its 2026 SCOCA Roundup Feb. 27 from noon to 1, featuring the Davids (Ettinger and Carrillo), who will discuss significant recent cases and developments at the California Supreme Court. Hosted by the California Supreme Court Historical Society.  

Appellate lawyers on the move: Jenkins and Bielak and Fisher and Ginsburg

Margaret Bielak joined Complex Appellate Litigation Group LLP as a counsel in San Francisco. Bielak served as a research attorney with the 1st District Court of Appeal for nearly a quarter century. During her tenure, she was the lead appellate court attorney in the chambers of Presiding Justice Alison Tucher in Division Three and previously a senior research attorney for Justice Maria Rivera in Division Four. She also served as a law clerk to California Supreme Court Justice Edward Panelli and practiced with a large national law firm. Bielak will be CALG's 27th appellate attorney.

Kirk Jenkins joined Kahana Feld as a partner in San Francisco. Jenkins is a member of the National Appellate Litigation & Consulting Group with nearly four decades of experience as a litigator and appellate advocate. He has handled a broad range of complex litigation, with particular emphasis on antitrust and trade regulation in both civil and criminal matters, including price-fixing, monopolization, essential facilities, and tying claims. His practice also encompasses class actions, constitutional litigation, employment law, personal injury, insurance coverage, consumer protection, privacy, intellectual property, whistleblower actions, and sophisticated business and contract disputes. Jenkins has served as lead appellate counsel in more than 250 appeals and as an appellate consultant to dozens of trial teams nationwide. An accomplished writer and researcher in judicial analytics, regression analysis, and decision-tree modeling, he frequently speaks on appellate law, legal analytics, and emerging issues in the profession.

Stanford Law Prof. Jeffrey Fisher, who has argued 50 SCOTUS cases, has joined Hecker Fink as of counsel. He was formerly special counsel at O'Melveny.

And appellate specialist Ben Ginsburg has been elevated to partner at Michelman & Robinson, LLP.

Check the local rules!

1/5 published this opinion, which begins like this:

Our local rules require that all parties promptly notify us about a bankruptcy that could affect our ability to decide an appeal. Despite this requirement, the parties in this case waited over four months after the filing of a bankruptcy petition by plaintiff Navellier and Associates, Inc. (NAI) and just two days before oral argument to tell us about that petition. Exacerbating the potential consequences of this delay, plaintiffs Louis Navellier and NAI now contend that the automatic bankruptcy stay precludes us from deciding this appeal. (11 U.S.C. § 362(a)(1).) If plaintiffs are correct, then the parties’ failure to provide timely notice of the bankruptcy would have caused this court to squander its valuable time and resources. Fortunately, plaintiffs are not correct because Navellier did not file for bankruptcy and because NAI, the debtor, brought this action. Although the harm to this court caused by the parties’ violation of our local rules is therefore minimized, this does not excuse their misconduct. Although we do not sanction the parties, we do admonish them and advise them to learn and follow our local rules in the future.

The MetNews story is Counsel Cited for Not Following Local Rule About Bankruptcy -- Opinion Says Both Sides Were Derelict in Failing to Timely Inform Court of Plaintiff’s Pending Proceedings Where First District Guidelines Call for Notice, Outside Assurance That Petition Would Not Affect Appeal Is No Excuse

Prof. Martin's take is here.

New CAAL Members!

California Academy of Appellate Lawyers Announces Three New Members

The California Academy of Appellate Lawyers is pleased to announce that it admitted three new members at its January, 2026 meeting: Joshua Klein, Jeff Michalowski, and Radha Pathak.

• Mr. Klein is the Supervising Deputy Solicitor General at the California Department of Justice. Mr. Klein received his B.A. from Amherst College and his J.D. from Stanford Law School. After law school, he clerked for Judge Merrick B. Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor of the United States Supreme Court.
• Mr. Michalowski is a Partner at Quarles, where he Vice-Chairs the firm’s national appellate practice. Mr. Michalowski received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.
• Ms. Pathak is a Partner at Stris & Maher LLP. Ms. Pathak received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and her J.D. from NYU School of Law. After law school, she clerked for Judge Raymond C. Fisher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Founded in 1972, the Academy is the nation’s oldest lawyers’ organization dedicated to appellate practice. Our members are California lawyers with substantial appellate experience, who are elected to membership after rigorous scrutiny of their reputation, character, and appellate advocacy skills. Academy members are frequently counsel of record in the most complex and highest-impact cases before the California Supreme Court, California Courts of Appeal, and federal appellate courts. For further information, contact CAAL President Sean SeLegue: sean.selegue@arnoldporter.com. More information about the Academy appears on its website at www.CalAppellate.org.

LASC under water today?

Superior Court of Los Angeles County to Temporarily Suspend Superior Court Operations at the Spring Street Courthouse on Wednesday, February 4, Due to Water Damage

Superior Court of Los Angeles County to Temporarily Suspend Superior Court Operations at the Spring Street Courthouse on Wednesday, February 4, Due to Water Damage

Out of an abundance of caution to protect the safety of court users, court staff and judicial officers, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County is temporarily suspending operations at the Spring Street Courthouse, located at 312 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, on Wednesday, February 4, due to potential issues resulting from remediation efforts to address a water leak.

The Court, which leases space from the Spring Street Courthouse for Superior Court operations from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), is actively working with the GSA and the Judicial Council of California to conduct an assessment of the damage to ensure the Spring Street Courthouse is safe for court users, court staff and judicial officers

A list of Superior Court departments at the Spring Street Courthouse can be found here.

Oral arg tips

David Lat's Original Jurisdiction has 3 Tips For Appellate Advocates—From Paul Clement:

1. Listen, listen, listen.

2. Stay nimble

3. Keep it conversational--and candid

2025 Appellate Year in Review program

CEB's annual appellate year-in-review webinar has dropped: Key Developments in Appellate Practice 2025 

Justices Adams, D.Kim, and Weingart (and appellate specialist Ben Shatz) discuss the year that was for California appellate practice, focusing on new rules, new practices, appellate news of note, and cases on appealability and appellate ethics. Counts for 1.75 hours of Appellate Specialization CLE credit.

That's not spam, that's the record!

The LASC Civil Appeals Unit has received a significant increase of phones calls regarding the delivery of the electronic Record on Appeal. As reflected on the Notice to Attorneys, the email address is:

“eCART Notification <eCART – DoNotReply@courts.ca.gov.”

Check your spam filter!

CLA seeks ALHOF submissions

The Committee on Appellate Courts of the California Lawyers Association Litigation Section is soliciting nominations for the Appellate Lawyer Hall of Fame for 2026.

Please click here for details for making a nomination.      

This award is presented by the Committee on Appellate Courts of CLA’s Litigation Section.  The new inductee will be recognized, along with the next Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame inductee, during a ceremony at CLA’s Litigation and Appellate Summit at the JW Marriott in San Francisco on May 14–15, 2026. Please submit nominations by February 13, 2026.

LASC Appellate Division seeks attorneys

 

Superior Court of Los Angeles County’s Appellate Division Seeks Attorneys to Represent Indigent Defendants Appellate Division’s Panel of Appointed Attorneys Provide Access to Justice to the Most Vulnerable Litigants The Superior Court of Los Angeles County’s Appellate Division is seeking qualified attorneys to represent indigent defendants. Willing attorneys who are approved to serve on the Appellate Division’s panel provide access to justice to some of the most vulnerable litigants by representing indigent defendants who seek to appeal judgments rendered in misdemeanor cases. The Appellate Division is continually seeking experienced attorneys who are willing to serve on the Appellate Division’s Panel of Appointed Attorneys. “The 14th Amendment demands equal legal representation for both rich and poor at every significant stage of a case, including on appeal,” said Presiding Judge of the Appellate Division Patti Jo McKay. APPOINTED ATTORNEYS: Upon Appellate Division approval, appointed attorneys are compensated by the Professional Appointee Court Expenditure (PACE) program at a rate of $100/hour and are appointed to represent indigent defendants via an alphabetical rotation process. Occasionally, and in the interest of judicial economy and efficiency, an attorney may be appointed out of order when there is a related pending appeal for the same defendant. PREREQUISITES: Attorneys interested in an appointment to represent indigent defendants are required to: Be a member in good standing of the California State Bar. Possess strong research and writing skills. Have an understanding of criminal law and procedure. Be familiar with the appeals process, including the California Rules of Court and the Superior Court of Los Angeles County’s Local Rules governing misdemeanor appeals. Commit to adhering to the PACE policies and protocols. Consent to electronically receiving criminal appeals and appellate documents, including the Record on Appeal, in an electronic format. APPLICATION MATERIALS: Attorneys who meet the prerequisites should prepare the following: A cover letter detailing their education, training and experience in handling criminal law cases, including jury and court trials, and appeals; A current resume with references; and Two recent writing samples. Please electronically send the above application materials to: Patti Jo McKay, Presiding Judge, Appellate Division Care of Lynette Brooks at LBrooks@lacourt.org.

Shatz joins Duane Morris

 Law360 has Manatt Appellate Star Leaves To Join Duane Morris In LA, about a certain certified appellate specialist, which begins:

Benjamin G. Shatz

Benjamin G. Shatz has joined Duane Morris LLP as a partner at the firm's appellate division of the trial practice group in Los Angeles, after spending more than two decades at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, according to an announcement issued Monday.

[The DJ's story is Duane Morris taps appellate veteran Benjamin Shatz to lead West Coast practice]

Also on Law360 today, the latest edition of Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

RIP Raoul Kennedy (1944-2026)

The SF Chronicle has an obituary for Raoul Kennedy, a past president of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, among many other accomplishments. The obit begins:

Long time Bay Area Trial and Appel­late attor­ney, Raoul D. Kennedy, died fol­low­ing an over 20-year battle with Par­kin­son’s Dis­ease. A hugely suc­cess­ful trial law­yer, Kennedy was known for enter­tain­ing judges and jur­ies as he con­vinced them of his cli­ents’ pos­i­tions. Once after a very long trial, he was the last of dozens of law­yers to present their clos­ing argu­ment, Kennedy began with, “I feel like Zsa Zsa Gabor’s sixth hus­band. I know what I’m sup­posed to do, but I don’t know how to make it inter­est­ing.” ...

• The pub­lic­a­tion “Best Law­yers in Amer­ica” lis­ted him in five cat­egor­ies: Appel­late Prac­tice, Bet the Com­pany Lit­ig­a­tion, Com­mer­cial Lit­ig­a­tion, Insur­ance Law and Mass Tort Lit­ig­a­tion. 
• Raoul was a mem­ber of the by-invit­a­tion-only Amer­ican Col­lege of Trial Law­yers, The Amer­ican Board of Trial Advoc­ates, and was a past Pres­id­ent of the Cali­for­nia Academy of Appel­late Law­yers. In 2005, he was chosen as the Cali­for­nia Trial Law­yer of the year and induc­ted into the Cali­for­nia Trial Law­yers Hall of Fame. He was act­ive in law related activ­it­ies and was a Ninth Cir­cuit Law­yer Rep­res­ent­at­ive, a mem­ber of the Com­mis­sion on Judi­cial Nom­in­ees Eval­u­ation (JNE) and was the co-author of the Cali­for­nia treat­ise, The Expert Wit­ness Guide.

Columns & more

Today's DJ has retired PJ Gilbert's column, February, the shortest month--in praise of the short judicial opinion -- In an age of constant change and technological excess, judicial opinions--and our thinking more broadly--benefit from clarity, restraint and the enduring virtue of brevity.

... and Myron Moskovitz's column What makes a great brief? Part 2: Making the most of what you've got

And Congrats to former H&L associate Christopher Hu who has been appointed the SF superior court. He previously clerked at the 9th Circuit and the Cal Supreme Court. See (also in the DJ) Newsom appoints 10 superior court judges.