End of the Month

Carney, Selna Join U.S. District Court Today...Judge Dale Fischer Among Those Seeking Appointment to New Federal Court Seat...Bill to Bar Making Employment Contingent on Arbitration Agreement Advances

Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Patrick B. Murphy
Attorney and former Superior Court judge

Murphy, who resigned from the Los Angeles Superior Court in May 2001 while on the verge of being removed from office, responded in pro per Jan. 7 to disciplinary charges filed in November.

The proceeding largely tracks the action taken against Murphy by the Commission on Judicial Performance, which censured him and barred him "from receiving any assignment, appointment, or reference of work from any California state court."

Murphy denied "committing acts involving moral turpitude, dishonesty or corruption," in violation of Business & Professions Code Sec. 6106, as charged by the State Bar.

The charges parallel those which were found by the commission to be true: excessive absenteeism over a four-year period, engaging in outside activities when he should have been on the bench, lack of candor with the presiding judge of the Citrus Municipal Court (on which he sat prior to unification), creating administrative problems by virtue of his absences, and malingering.

The notice recites that Murphy was absent from Sept. 20, 1999, until April 3, 2000; stopped working as of June 8, 2000; and resigned on May 4, 2001. Largely drawn from the commission's May 10 decision, the notice chronicles Murphy's activities during the time he was supposedly too sick to work: teaching one or two night law classes a week, completing pre-med physics and chemistry courses at Cleveland Chiropractic College in Los Angeles, and attending classes at a school of medicine on the island of Dominica in the West Indies from January to April of 2000.

Murphy does not deny those allegations, but claimed in his response that he was indeed ill, suffering from various maladies including a "phobia" regarding judicial service. His outside activities were a diversion he hoped would eventually enable him to return to the bench, he said.

Murphy also denied lying about his state of health to Rolf Treu, the presiding judge of the Citrus court.

Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

There are three vacancies on the 28-judge court.

The president nominated San Francisco Superior Court Judge Carlos Bea April 11 for the seat left vacant when the late Judge Charles Wiggins took senior status on Dec. 31, 1996. Sen. Barbara Boxer last week singed a "blue slip" requesting a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination.

Third District Court of Appeal Justice Consuelo M. Callahan was nominated Feb. 12 to succeed Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez, who took senior status June 1 of last year.

She was rated "well qualified" by a "substantial majority"-at least two-thirds-of the American Bar Association's evaluation committee and "qualified" by the remaining members. Boxer and Sen. Dianne Feinstein signed blue slips last month.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl had a confirmation hearing April 1. Kuhl was tapped by Bush in 2001 to succeed Judge James Browning, who took senior status Sept. 1, 2000.

There will be another vacancy when Judge Thomas G. Nelson of Idaho takes senior status Nov. 14.

Judges Cormac J. Carney and James V. Selna, both of whom come to the federal bench from the Orange Superior Court, are being sworn in today.

Carney was confirmed April 7 to fill the vacancy resulting from Carlos Moreno's confirmation as a California Supreme Court justice on Oct. 17, 2001. Selna was confirmed last month to a vacancy resulting from Judge J. Spencer Letts taking senior status Dec. 19, 2000.

Both were confirmed by unanimous votes in the U.S. Senate.

There are no vacancies remaining, although a new judgeship created by the Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act signed into law last year will come into existence July 15. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dale Fischer is among those who have applied for the seat.

There are no vacancies.

This District (Second District)

There is a vacancy in Div. Seven as a result of Justice Dennis Perluss' elevation to presiding justice, and a seat in Div. Eight that has been vacant since the division's creation in 2001.

Fourth District

Presiding Justice Daniel Kremer of Div. One will retire July 31.

Sixth District

There is a vacancy resulting from the elevation of Justice Conrad Rushing to presiding justice Jan. 21.

Seats in other districts are filled.

Los Angeles Superior Court

There are four vacancies on the court.

Judge J. Michael Byrne retired March 8, Judge S. James Otero took the federal bench Feb. 28, and Judge Robert Mackey retired Feb. 25, and Judge Raymond Mireles retired April 1.

Judge Marilyn Hoffman is retiring July 6.

The court is also without the services of Judge Aurelio Munoz, on assignment to Div. Seven of this district's Court of Appeal through May. Also, Judge David Workman has scheduled back surgery and will be out for the next two months, and Commissioner Robert Axel will be out until June 23rd due to hip surgery.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

The following legislation related to the legal profession was acted upon in April:

•AB 69, by Assemblyman Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, which would put a number of restrictions on attorneys and others who file unfair competition suits under Business and Professions Code Sec. 17200. The bill was amended April 3 and April 21 and is pending in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

•AB 782, by Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, which would transfer authority in trial court employee issues to the California Public Employment Relations Board. The bill was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a 10-4 vote April 22, and was referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

•AB 862, by Assemblyman Marco Firebaugh, D-Los Angeles, which would require the state to notify a state employees' union whenever contracts are planned to be issued for legal services from outside counsel. The bill was approved by the Assembly Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee on an 8-0 vote April 23, and was referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

•AB 865, by Assemblywoman Barbara Matthews, D-Tracy, which would require the court to instruct the jury in a criminal trial that "if any juror refuses to deliberate, or expresses an intention to disregard the law or to decide the case based on penalty, punishment, or any other improper basis, the other jurors shall immediately advise the court of that fact." The bill failed passage from the Assembly Public Safety Committee on a 2-5 vote April 1, but was granted a motion to be reconsidered on a 6-0 vote April 22.

•AB 883, by Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, which would clarify and expand the current law which generally bans witnesses of a crime from being paid for testifying in court. The bill was approved by the Assembly Public Safety Committee on a 7-0 vote April 8, and was referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

•AB 1095, by Assemblywoman Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, which would require the Judicial Council to create a task force on county law libraries, to makes recommendations to the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2005. The bill was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a unanimous vote April 22, and was referred to the Assembly floor.

•AB 1101, by Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, which would create an exception to an attorney's duty to maintain a client's confidence if the lawyer reasonably believes the disclosure of a confidence or secret is necessary to prevent the commission of a criminal act likely to result in death or substantial bodily harm to an individual. The bill was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a unanimous vote April 22, and was referred to the Assembly floor.

•AB 1712, by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which would authorize the court to hold certain arbitration hearings earlier to expedite the resolution of disputes. The bill was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a 14-0 vote April 22, and was referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

•AB 1713, by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which would prohibit an arbitrator or private arbitration company from conducting or administering further arbitration of a dispute if a court vacates the award, unless the consumer party elects otherwise in writing. The bill was amended April 10 and is pending in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

•AB 1715, by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which would invalidate arbitration agreements between employers and employees that relate to employment practices covered by the Fair Employment and Housing Act that are required as a condition of employment. The bill was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a 10-4 vote April 22, and was referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

•ACR 44, by Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton, which requests that bronze bas relief memorials be installed in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., in the memory of Chief Justice Earl Warren. The resolution underwent a one-word amendment to correct an error April 23 and was referred to the Assembly Rules Committee.

•SB 307, by Sen. Dick Ackerman, R-Irvine, which would relocate provisions relating to grand juries to the Government Code. The bill was amended April 21 and is pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

•SB 328, by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would correct erroneous references in the provisions for the Court Facilities Trust Fund. The bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 6-0 vote April 2, and was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

•SB 337, by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, which would extend the statute of limitations for filing complaints relating to unlawful practice of law and to unlawful immigration consulting. The bill was approved by the Senate Public Safety Committee on a 6-0 vote April 8, and was placed on the Senate Appropriations Committee's "suspense file" on April 28.

•SB 655, by Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Whittier, which would put a measure on the statewide ballot for $4.1 billion in bonds for court facilities construction. The bill was amended April 21 to increase the bond amount from the original $1.85 billion, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 4-0 vote April 23, and was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

•SB 660, by Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Francisco, which would require that a court record be kept in a confidential file if it contains the Social Security number of any person, the bank account numbers of any person, or information revealing the disposition of any deceased person's estate. The bill was amended April 21 and is pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

•SB 663, by Speier, which would prohibit a title company from posting or displaying the Social Security number of any person on any public record, and would prohibit county assessors from displaying names on any public records- parcel numbers and addresses could be used instead. The bill failed passage in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee on a 2-2 vote April 23, and was amended April 28 to address a new subject.