Page 1
Retirement Party Set for Nora M. Manella, Court of Appeal Presiding Justice
By a MetNews Staff Writer
|
|
|
NORA MANELLA Court of Appeal Presiding Justice |
Nora M. Manella has quietly retired as a presiding justice of the Court of Appeal for this district, it was learned yesterday.
Alanna Cowan, recruiting administrator for the law firm of Irell & Manella LLP (a founder of which was the presiding justice’s late father, Arthur Manella) dispatched emails telling of a retirement party at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Feb. 22.
Manella confirmed that her last day on the bench was Jan. 31.
In a judicial career spanning 28 years, Manella, 72, has served on both state and federal trial courts, as well as an appellate court jurist, and was chosen by both Republican and Democratic appointing authorities.
Her service on the bench—which began in 1990 when Gov. George Deukmejian, now deceased, placed her on the Los Angeles Municipal Court—was interrupted for four years while she served as U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.
Her Plans
As to what she will be doing, she said:
“Traveling more, hopefully doing some board work for public interest and/or arts organizations, taking more ballet classes, regaining my college era fluency in Italian and perhaps even improving my opera-libretto-level French. And of course, reading material other than legal briefs, trial court proceedings and opinions.”
Among her fondest memories, she reflected, is “the experience of working with my talented law clerks and judicial attorneys, some of whom have themselves become judges, managing partners in major offices of national law firms, public servants and, in one instance counsel to the stars.”
Manella added:
“And I have loved the interaction with lawyers in the courtroom. Whether in lengthy summary judgment motions in federal court or during oral arguments at the court of appeal, I have loved the give-and take. And frankly, I’ve loved gnawing on lawyers’ ankles—they were delicious. I’m told there are alternative sources of animal protein—I guess I’ll have to find out. Finally, I was blessed with the best of colleagues in Division Four; ever worked with a more capable or congenial group of fellow justices.”
Legal Career
Manella, who earned her law degree at USC in 1975, clerked for a U.S. District Court judge of the Eastern District of Louisiana from 1975-76, served as legal counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee from 1976-78, was an associate at the the District of Columbia office of O’Melveny & Myers from 1978-82, and worked an assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California from 1982 until her appointment to the Municipal Court.
Then-Gov. Pete Wilson elevated Manella to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 1992.
She departed from the bench in 1994 after the Senate confirmed her appointment by President Bill Clinton as U.S. attorney. In that capacity, Manella gained an indictment of the governor of Arizona on 21 counts, including bank fraud.
‘Knows Her Stuff’
A June 16, 1996 article in the Arizona Republic said:
“In U.S. Attorney Nora Manella, Arizona Gov. Fife Symington has an adversary every bit as cultured and sophisticated as he. Symington hails from Maryland’s hunt-club set, and majored in 18th century Dutch painting at Harvard. The woman responsible for his indictment Thursday is a product of Wellesley College, an Italian major, and an opera singer whose fondest desire is to become ‘the ultimate dilettante.’ But that doesn’t mean she’s not an aggressive prosecutor who knows her stuff.”
Symington was convicted on seven counts of bank fraud; the conviction was reversed based on the judge’s dismissal of a juror; Clinton pardoned the former office-holder.
Manella also gained convictions of former Rep. Walter R. Tucker III, D-Compton; Rep. Jay C. Kim, R-Diamond Bar; and former Compton City Councilmember Patricia Moore.
Returns to Bench
She went back on the bench in 1998 after Clinton nominated her as a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and she was unanimously confirmed by the Senate.
In 2006, she returned to the state-court system. Then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger nominated her as an associate justice of Div. Four of the Court of Appeal for this district; the Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission rated her “exceptionally well qualified”; and the Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed her.
Schwarzenegger was the third Republican governor to confer a judicial post on Manella, a Democrat.
When Norman Epstein retired as the division’s presiding justice in 2018, then-Gov. Jerry Brown nominated her as his replacement; she was again found “exceptionally well qualified by the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation; she was confirmed.
She has received numerous awards from bar associations.
Manella commented yesterday:
“After six presidential and/or gubernatorial appointments to judicial or executive positions over a period of three decades, and having sat (permanently or by assignment) on every level of every state and federal court in California, my principal sentiment is one of gratitude for the cornucopia of professional opportunities afforded me. I have been proud to be a public servant and hope I have made a contribution. Certainly the rewards have been inestimable.”
Copyright 2023, Metropolitan News Company