There has been a vacancy on the court since Judge Stephen Trott took senior status Dec. 31, 2004. Another vacancy, in a newly created position, will be created on Jan. 21 of next year.

There is one vacancy on the court.

Orange Superior Court Judge James E. Rogan, a former congressman and Commerce Department official, was nominated Nov. 15, 2006, and renominated in January of last year, to succeed Judge Nora Manella, who resigned to become a justice of this district's Court of Appeal.

Rogan has been unable to secure a confirmation hearing because Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has a "blue slip" policy under which a hearing will be held only if both of the nominee's home state senators approve. Sen. Barbara Boxer, who has previously supported all candidates recommended by a bipartisan advisory committee, opposes Rogan's nomination, in part because of his role as one of the prosecutors at the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.

There are no vacancies.

Newly appointed Judge Kathleen Blanchard was sworn in Aug. 1 and is sitting in the Antelope Valley. Another new appointee, Jared Moses, will take up his first permanent assignment, also in the Antelope Valley, on Sept. 22.

Blanchard and Moses, both of whom were elected to the court in June for terms that will begin in January, replaced retired Judges Michael Luros and Dzintra Janavs, respectively

Judge Deanne Smith Myers died Aug. 20, bringing the number of judicial vacancies to 25.

Judge Leon Kaplan retired Aug. 1. Eight judges retired in July-Thomas Townsend July 1, Michael T. Sauer July 6, S. Patricia Spear and Charles Lee July 15, David M. Horwitz July 18, Michael Duggan July 22, Xenophon F. Lang Jr. July 29, and Michael R. Hoff and Jack Hunt July 31.

Previous vacancies resulted from the retirements of Judge Stanley Weisberg April 11, Judge Wendell Mortimer Jr. April 30, and Judge Patricia Collins May 6; the death of Judge David Mintz May 12; the retirement of Judge Francis Hourigan III May 15; the appointment of Judge Elena Duarte to the Sacramento Superior Court May 16; the disability retirement of Judge Irving Feffer May 22; the retirement of Judge Barry Taylor June 2, and the elevation of Judges Tricia Bigelow and Frank Jackson to the Court of Appeal June 4.

In addition, four commissioner positions are being converted to judgeships following the retirements of Victor Reichman, Richard Curtis and Albert Garcia March 31 and Gerald Richardson May 31.

Judge Coleman Swart is retiring Sept. 15, as is Judge Alexander Williams III, whose last day on the bench was Aug. 27. Judge Suzanne Person has been on leave following back surgery and will also retire Sept. 15.

Judge Darlene Schempp is retiring Sept. 30.
Judge Rodney Forneret has been undergoing treatment for cancer.

A newly created position on the court was to have been funded as of June 1, but legislation designed to ease the state budget crisis postponed the effective date to June 1 of next year.

Among those whose names have gone to the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as possible appointees to the court are former Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn, former Deputy District Attorney Christopher Darden, now in private practice; former Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Vaughn, now a managing director of the litigation and consulting firm FTI Consulting, Inc.; criminal defense specialist Steven Cron of Santa Monica; Los Angeles Deputy City Attorneys Richard Kraft and Edward J. Perez; state Deputy Attorneys General Steven D. Matthews, E. Eugene Varanini IV, Victoria Wilson, Paul Roadarmel Jr., Robert S. Henry and Kenneth Byrnel Administrative Law Judge Robert Helfand, Deputy District Attorneys Steven I. Katz, Alison S. Matsumoto, Thomas Rubinson, Shellie Samuels, Jeffrey Gootman, Karla Kerlin, Ricardo Ocampo, and Laura Laesecke; Commissioners Rocky L. Crabb, Michael Convey, Victor Greenberg, Amy Pellman, Maren Nelson, Dennis Mulcahy, Ronald Rose, Marilyn Kading Martinez, Mary Lou Katz Byrne, Loren DiFrank and Steven Berman; U.S. District Court attorney Amy L. Lew; Irvine attorney Raymond Earl Brown; Deputy Federal Public Defender Angel Navarro; Deputy Alternate Public Defender Jerome J. Haig; Los Angeles attorneys Shan K. Thever, John L. Carlton, Adrienne Krikorian, Mark A. Borenstein, Eulanda Matthews and Lawrence P. Brennan Jr.; Century City attorney Howard S. Fredman, Pasadena attorney Warren Gilbert, Glendale attorney Mark J. MacCarley, and Westlake Village attorney Michael Nebenzahl..

Berman, previously a referee, and Robert Wada, a probate clearing attorney for the court, were elected this month as commissioners, succeeding Kevil Martin, who retired Aug. 4, and Martin Wegman, who retired Aug. 11.

The following bills of interest to the legal community were acted upon in August:

�AB 171, by Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, which, as amended, would implement the Court of Appeal decision in In re Estate of Claeyssens, 161 C.A. 4th 465, by eliminating graduated probate filing fees and establishing a uniform fee of $320, payable upon filing of a party's first petition or objections. The bill, which passed the Assembly last year in a different form, passed the Senate July 10 by a vote of 35-0, passed the Assembly as amended Aug. 7 by a vote of 76-0, and was sent to the governor.

�AB 360, by Assemblyman Wilmer Carter, D-Rialto, which, as amended, would make changes relating to the juvenile justice system, authorizing counties to establish "restorative" programs. The bill, which passed the Assembly earlier this year, was amended in the Senate Aug. 6 to prohibit the use of state General Fund monies for such programs and require counties that wish to establish the programs to first obtain funding from other sources. The bill as amended passed the Senate Aug. 12 and the Assembly Aug. 13 and was sent to the governor.

�AB 926, by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, which, as amended, would adopt a number of provisions of the Uniform Rules Relating to Discovery of Electronically Stored Information. The bill, which is backed by the Judicial Council, Consumer Attorneys of California and California Defense Counsel, passed the Assembly in May 3, passed the Senate with amendments July 10, passed the Assembly as amended Aug. 7 by a vote of 76-0, and was sent to the governor.

�AB 1405, by Assemblyman Bill Maze, R-Visalia, which, as amended, would provide for the confidentiality of statements made by juveniles in the course of assessments under Welfare and Institutions Sec. 241.1. The bill, which passed the Assembly last year, and was amended in the Senate June 24 to eliminate a provision allowing the minor's counsel to waive confidentiality, passed the Assembly as amended Aug. 7 by a vote of 76-0 and was sent to the governor.

�AB 1769, by Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, which would add community college and school district police to the list of peace officers exempt from jury duty. The governor vetoed the bill Aug. 1, saying that he did not want to make it harder to fill jury pools and that the legislation is unnecessary because the affected officers can ask for hardship exemptions if they need to.

�AB 1820, by Galgiani, which will revise the formula by which counties are reimbursed for the cost of homicide trials. The bill, which passed the Assembly May 19 by a vote of 76-0, passed the Senate July 3 by a vote of 37-0 with amendments, which were approved by the Assembly July 15 by a vote of 77-0. The bill was signed by the governor Aug. 1.

�AB 1852, by Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Murrieta, which would make it an infraction, rather than a crime, to participate in a sports betting pool, as long as no one is being paid to "book" bets. The bill, which passed the Assembly in May and passed the Senate in July with amendments, passed the Assembly Aug. 7 by a vote of 74-2 and was sent to the governor.

�AB 1873, by Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, which, as amended in the Senate Aug. 6 and Aug. 13, would make various changes in court procedure, including a provision making a person responsible for the support of a minor liable for the costs of providing the minor with counsel in dependency court. The bill, as passed by the Assembly in April, would have permitted a party or witness, with the permission of the court, to appear by telephone in small claims court, but that provision was deleted by an earlier Senate amendment.

�AB 1949 , by Evans, which would require public entities to pay jury fees in civil cases; require that new local rules be filed with the Judicial Council at least 45 days in advance of taking effect, rather than the current 30; and make various other changes with regard to court operations. The bill was signed by the governor Aug. 1.

�AB 2095, by Assemblyman Mike Davis, D-Los Angeles, which would require disclosure of the identities of persons who advise the governor with respect to judicial appointments and require members of the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation to complete two hours of training each year "in the areas of fairness and bias in the judicial appointments process." The bill, which passed the Assembly May 19 by a vote of 46-27, was passed by the Senate Aug. 14, with amendments, 22-14; passed the Assembly, with the Senate amendments, Aug. 18 by a vote of 48-28; and was sent to the governor.

�AB 2448, by Assemblyman Michael Feuer, D-West Hollywood, which, as amended, would revise standards and procedures for granting fee waivers in civil cases, providing among other things, for a lien against a plaintiff's recovery for waived fees, if the amount of the settlement or judgment exceeds $10,000. The bill, which passed the Assembly May 8 by a vote of 50-25, passed the Senate Aug. 7 by a vote of 23-15, was approved by the Assembly Aug. 12 by a vote of 54-24 with the Senate amendments, and was sent to the governor.

�SB 1407, by Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, which would authorize a major court facilities capital outlay program for the improvement, renovation and replacement of court facilities. Under SB 1407, up to $5 billion in lease revenue bonds would be issued to finance approximately 40 court facilities projects. The projects would be selected by the Judicial Council, and the state bonds would be financed by revenues that would be generated by raising certain civil and criminal fees and assessments. The bill, which passed the Senate as an urgency measure May 29 by a vote of 28-8, was amended in the Assembly Aug. 8, Aug. 15, and Aug. 22.