There are four vacancies on the 28-judge court.

The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday approved by a 12-6 vote the nomination of Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee for the seat left vacant when Judge Procter Hug Jr. took senior status Jan. 1 of last year.

Bybee, a former law professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, was nominated on May 23 of last year. He did not receive a hearing in the 107th Congress, and the nomination was resubmitted on Jan. 7 of this year.

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.

The nomination of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl was also resubmitted on Jan. 7. Kuhl was tapped by Bush in 2001 to succeed Judge James Browning, who took senior status Sept. 1, 2000. She has not had a confirmation hearing.

The president is reportedly considering San Francisco Superior Court Judge Carlos Bea for the seat left vacant when the late Judge Charles Wiggins took senior status on Dec. 31, 1996.

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

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge S. James Otero was confirmed Feb. 10 by a Senate vote of 94-0 and is to be sworn in today. Otero was nominated by President Bush on July 18 of last year to succeed Judge Richard Paez, elevated to the Ninth Circuit in March 2000. His nomination was resubmitted on Jan. 7 of this year.

There are no vacancies.

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.

The names of Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Charles Lee, Richard Rico, Aurelio Munoz and Thomas Willhite Jr. have been sent to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as potential appointees. Among those whose names were sent to the commission earlier were Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Laurie Zelon, Ralph Dau, Madeline Flier and Gregory Alarcón.

Fourth District

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

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.

Judge S. James Otero will take the federal bench today, leaving six vacancies on the Superior Court.

Three were created in December when Judges Pamela Rogers and Reginald Yates had their disability retirements approved and Judge R. Gary Klausner took the oath as a U.S. district judge for the Central District of California.

Judge Keith Groneman retired at the end of last month and Judge Robert Mackey Feb. 25.

Judge J. Michael Byrne is due to retire March 8 and Judge Raymond Mireles April 1.

Judge David W. Perkins is due to return Monday following a successful liver transplant.

H. Don Christian is the court's newest commissioner. Officials are scheduled to announce today whether Stuart Rice of Long Beach or Dennis Mulcahy of Woodland Hills won a runoff election for another seat.

The new commissioners replace David Sotelo and Robert Schnider, who were appointed judges.

The following legislation relating to the legal community was acted upon in February:

•AB 688, by Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi, R-Sacramento, which would require Amador County to transfer title to its courthouse and hospital to the state on Jan. 1, 2004. The bill was introduced Feb. 19.

•AB 759, by Nakanishi, which would require the Judicial Council to adopt rules providing for the public to attend any meeting of any board of committee on matters related to administrative functions of the trial courts. The bill was introduced Feb. 19.

•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 introduced Feb. 20.

•AB 819, by Nakanishi, which would delcare the Legislature's intent that residents of southern Sacramento County have access to local court facilities, which have been closed by county court officials as a money-saving measure. The bill was introduced Feb. 20.

•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 introduced Feb. 20.

•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 was introduced Feb. 20.

•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 introduced Feb. 20.

•AB 903 , by Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, which would require the California Law Revision Commission to determine whether state law on the right of homeowners to sue for construction defects has resulted in "a more fair and prompt resolution process." The bill was introduced Feb. 20.

•AB 955, by Assemblywoman Patricia Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, which would require county auditors to certify the accuracy of records of fines and forfeitures submitted by the courts. The bill was introduced Feb. 20.

•AB 957, by Assemblyman Jay La Suer, R-La Mesa, which would alter evidence rules in obscenity cases to state: "Evidence ... that is offered as comparable to material alleged to be obscene may not be introduced without a foundational determination by the court that the proffered evidence is similar to the material alleged to be obscene and enjoys a reasonable degree of community acceptance." The bill was introduced Feb. 20.

•AB 1055, by Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Anaheim, which would limit the use of special appropriations by district attorneys to expenses that are "necessarily incurred." The bill was introduced Feb. 20.

•AB 1088, by Assemblyman Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach, which would alter laws governing liability in contract actions in which multiple defendants are liable, by declaring legislative intent to address the application of those laws to complex civil actions. The bill was introduced Feb. 20.

•AB 1095, by Assemblywoman Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, which would amend laws relating to the location of county law libraries, to allow branches to be more distant from the principal office of the court. The bill was introduced Feb. 20.

•AB 1101, by Steinberg, which would create an exception to an attorney's duty to maintain a client's confidence "when the attorney 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 introduced Feb. 20.

•AB 1708, by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which would authorize the State Bar to collect base dues of $310 per active member through Jan. 1, 2005. The bill was introduced Feb. 26.

•AB 1711, by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which would change the name of the State Bar Act to the State Bar Act of California. The bill was introduced Feb. 26.

•AB 1712, by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which would make minor changes to laws relating to arbitration proceedings, guardian ad litems, jury lists, service of process, small claims court and witness fees. The bill was introduced Feb. 26.

•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 introduced Feb. 26.

•AB 1714, by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which would give consumers the ability to choose an arbitrator not specified on a consumer arbitration agreement. The bill also would prohibit private arbitration companies from making certain representations, including any promised or implied results or favoritism toward any prospective disputant or industry. The bill was introduced Feb. 26.

•AB 1715, by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which would invalidate predispute arbitration agreements between employers and employees that related to employment practices covered by the Fair Employment and Housing Act. The bill was introduced Feb. 26.

•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 was introduced Feb. 20.

•SB 307 , by Sen. Dick Ackerman, R-Irvine, which would relocate provisions relating to the civil grand jury to the Government Code. The bill was introduced Feb. 19.

•SB 328, by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would correct erroneous references in the provisions for the Court Facilities Trust Fund. The bill was introduced Feb. 19.

•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 introduced Feb. 19.

•SB 638, by Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, which would allow juries in criminal cases to return a verdict of "not proven," which would have the same legal effect as a "not guilty" verdict. The bill was introduced Feb. 21.

•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, or information revealing the disposition of any deceased person's estate. The bill was introduced Feb. 21.

•SB 655, by Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Whittier, which would put a measure on the statewide ballot for $1.85 billion in bonds for court facilities construction. The bill was introduced Feb. 21.

•SB 663, by Sen. 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 was introduced Feb. 21.

•AB 69 , AB 95, AB 102, AB 599, AB 754, SB 122, SB 723, SB 889, SB 890, SB 910 and SB 912, a package of bills which would put a number of restrictions on parties filing unfair competition suits under Business and Professions Code 17200. Changes would include a requirement that the person bringing the action has suffered harm, a limit on private attorneys' ability to sue a business with 50 or fewer employees, and a limit on private attorneys' ability to file representative actions after a regulatory agency has acted on the matter at issue.