Friday, December 28, 2001
Page 1
Davis Nominates Santa Clara Judge to Sixth District Court of Appeal
By NICK YULICO, Staff Writer
Gov. Gray Davis yesterday nominated Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Conrad L. Rushing as an associate justice of the Sixth District Court of Appeal.
Rushing, 64, has served as a Superior Court judge in Santa Clara County since his appointment by then-Governor Jerry Brown in 1978.
He will fill a new position created last January, if his appointment is confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. For purposes of his nomination, the commission will be made up of Chief Justice Ronald M. George, Attorney General Bill Lockyer and acting Presiding Justice Patricia Bamattre-Manoukian.
The Sixth District has been without a presiding justice since Christopher Cottle retired last summer.
Rushing’s confirmation hearing has been set for Jan. 25 at 4 p.m. in the Supreme Court’s San Francisco courtroom. Six hearings for First District nominees will take place earlier in the day.
Written Comment
The deadline for written comment on the nomination, or to notify the commission that one wishes to speak at the hearing, is Jan. 17 at 5 p.m.
The commission requested that communications be addressed to the chief justice at 350 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, Attention: Ms. Gale Tunnell, Secretary to the Commission on Judicial Appointments.
Requests to speak must include a summary of the facts on which any testimony or opinion will be based, under the commission’s guidelines.
According to a press release from Davis’s office, Rushing is “one of the most respected judges in the County.”
As to why this might be the case, Rushing told the MetNews:
“I have tried to take on interesting cases to me. I suppose that when you step up again and again on hard cases, people tend to respect you.”
Avant! Case
Rushing oversaw the case of Avant! Corporation and a number of its executives for conspiracy to steal trade secrets, securities fraud and related crimes. Rushing ordered Avant! to pay $195 million in restitution and $38 million in fines after the Santa Clara district attorney entered into a plea agreement with the defendants.
He also presided over People v. Hwang and Chan, in which two workers were accused of stealing secrets for the Intel 386 processor chip.
Rushing previously served in Santa Clara County as presiding judge of the Superior Court and of the Civil Division and Appellate Division, and was supervising judge of the Criminal Division.
He also served as a justice pro tempore on the First District Court of Appeal for two months in 1984 and two months in 1987.
Rushing said he was looking forward to the new position. “I have done appellate work before, and it is sometimes extremely difficult. I hope that I’ll be lucky enough to get interesting cases where I can make good contributions,” Rushing said.
Before his appointment to the bench, Rushing engaged in a corporate finance, merger and acquisition practice with the firms of Rushing, Ames & Norman from 1974 to 1978, and Berliner, Cohen Flaherty & Rushing from 1971 to 1974. He also handled civil litigation, particularly the defense of construction industry cases.
He taught a seminar in law and literature at the University of Santa Clara Law School and was a guest lecturer at the Stanford and Boalt Hall Law Schools. He served as president of the Santa Clara County Bar Association in 1974 and as chair of the City of San Jose Charter Review Commission in 1977. He received the Judge of the Year award from the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers in 1994 and 1999.
He earned a bachelors degree from San Jose State University and a law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law. He will receive a salary of $155,914.
Davis yesterday also appointed a San Francisco attorney as a judge of the Alameda County Superior Court.
Jon S. Tigar, 39, has largely worked on the defense side of complex civil litigation, including antitrust, unfair competition, False Claims Act, RICO and intellectual property cases. He is currently partner with the San Francisco law firm Keker & Van Nest, where he has been since 1994.
He represented American Honda Motor Company and its president in connection with more than 70 individual cases and a nationwide class action involving claims for RICO, fraud and commercial bribery.
He previously worked as a deputy public defender in San Francisco and from 1990 to 1992, he worked with the firm Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco.
Tigar earned his bachelors degree from Williams College and his law degree from Boalt Hall Law School, where he was an editor on the Law Review. He is the son of Michael Tigar, one of the country’s most prominent criminal defense lawyers, whose clients have included accused Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols and a host of public officials, including U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas.
Jon Tigar will receive a salary of $136,224 by filling the new position on the Superior Court.
Copyright 2001, Metropolitan News Company