Today's DJ profiles 4/2's Justice Raphael in Committed to Getting it Right: Court watchers praise the work of 4th District Court of Appeal Justice Michael J. Raphael.
- Raphael, a former federal prosecutor, was appointed to Division 2 of the 4th District Court of Appeal in 2018 by Gov. Jerry Brown after several years overseeing civil cases as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. Before taking the bench, he served 12 years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Central District, including as chief of the criminal appeals section from 2007 to 2012.
- As someone who enjoys "the process of writing, whether it's a brief or an opinion ... this is the job I would most want to do," he said. "The writing is important. I want to get it right and clear and help the clarity of the law."
- Raphael said his main goal in every case is clarity--for the parties and the bar at large, but also for his colleagues in "pink sheet" comments during the opinion-writing process. "If I see something that is unclear or might be confusing or cause problems, I want to try to get it changed," he said.
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