End of the Month

Attorney Mervyn Wolf Faces Trial for Stealing From Clients...Immigration Lawyer Daniel Korenberg Gets Prison Term for Visa Fraud...Senate Amendment Would Give Parties and Lawyers Access to Paternity Files

Judicial Elections

Nominations closed March 7 with 11 judicial contests going on the June 3 primary ballot. Candidates, with ballot designations in parentheses, are:

• Office No. 4-Ralph W. Dau (Judge of the Superior Court) and Sydnee Singer (Trial Attorney) are running for Dau's seat. Dau has retained Fred Huebscher as his campaign consultant.

• Office No. 69-Serena R. Murillo (Criminal Prosecutor) and Harvey A. Silberman (Superior Court Commissioner) are running for the seat now held by Judge Tracy Grant. Murillo has retained Cerrell Associates Inc. as her consulting firm; Silberman's consultants are Evelyn Jerome Alexander and Randy Steinberg of SJA Strategies.

• Office No. 72-Marc Alain Chomel (Supervising Criminal Prosecutor), Hilleri Grossman Merritt (Criminal Trial Prosecutor) and Steven A. Simons (Consumer Rights Attorney) are seeking the seat now held by Judge Francis A. Gately Jr. Merritt has retained the Cerrell firm; Simons is represented by Torrance consultant James Freeman.

• Office No. 82- Deputy District Attorneys Thomas Rubinson (Criminal Prosecutor), Mark Lee (Criminal Prosecutor), and Cynthia Loo (Superior Court Referee) are running for the seat now held by Judge Wendell Mortimer Jr., who is retiring April 30. Rubinson has retained the Cerrell firm, while Loo has SJA Strategies as consultant.

• Office No. 84-Pat Connolly (Criminal Gang Prosecutor), Bob Henry (Prosecutor Deputy Attorney-General), John "Johnny" Gutierrez (Administrative Law Judge), and Lori-Ann C. Jones (Superior Court Commissioner) are candidates for the seat now held by Judge Gibson W. Lee. Jones has retained SJA Strategies.

• Office No. 94-Eduard R. Abele (Criminal Prosecutor), C. Edward Mack (Criminal Trial Attorney), and Michael J. O'Gara (Criminal Prosecutor) have filed for the seat now held by Judge Michael Duggan. Abele has retained David Gould as his campaign strategist and treasurer.

• Office No. 95-Patricia D. Nieto (Superior Court Commissioner) and Lance E. Winters (Criminal Prosecutor) are running for the seat previously held by Judge Alan Kalkin, who retired Feb. 19. Carlos Leon is Nieto's consultant.

• Office No. 119-Jared D. Moses (Criminal Prosecutor), Douglas W. Weitzman (Consumer Law Attorney), and Robert Davenport (Lieutenant Colonel/Pilot) are seeking the seat now held by Judge Dzintra Janavs, retired March 20. Moses has retained the Cerrell firm.

• Office No. 123-Kathleen Blanchard (Gang Murder Prosecutor), Alan A. Nadir (Criminal Gang Prosecutor), and Richard A. Nixon (Attorney at Law), are seeking the seat now of Judge Michael Luros, who retired March xx.

• Office No. 125-James Bianco (Superior Court Commissioner) and Bill Johnson (International Corporate Lawyer) are running for the seat last held by Judge Daniel S. Pratt, who retired March 2. Bianco's consultant is Parke Skelton.

• Office No. 154-Rocky L. Crabb (Superior Court Commissioner), Paul (Pablo) Bruguera (Deputy Attorney General), and Michael V. Jesic (Criminal Gang Prosecutor) are running for the seat held by Judge Jack P. Hunt, who is retiring July 31. Crabb's consultant is Huebscher.

Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Mervyn H. Wolf
Encino Attorney

Wolf, a lawyer for 40 years, faces a June 3 jury trial on five felony embezzlement counts.

Wolf is accused of having taken settlement funds from his clients in multiple personal injury, workers' compensation, and wrongful termination cases between June 2003 and June 2004. He allegedly deposited settlement checks into his clients' trust accounts, and then embezzled the funds.

Wolf was placed on involuntary inactive status by the State Bar Court July 10 of last year and faces discipline in connection with several matters. He has had extensive contacts with the disciplinary system, having been placed on three years' probation in 1995 for misconduct in three matters, suspended 45 days in 1998 for failing to comply with a condition of the earlier probation, placed on inactive status for a month in 2002 for failure to comply with MCLE requirements, and served a month on suspension in 2004 for nonpayment of bar dues.

Daniel E. Korenberg, Steven James Rodriguez, and Philip Abramowitz
Immigration Lawyers

Korenberg, 58, who was a partner at the large immigration law firm formerly known as Korenberg, Abramowitz & Feldun, was sentenced March 10 to two years in prison plus three years of supervised release, including six months of electronically monitored house arrest. Korenberg pled guilty Oct. 4 to two counts of visa fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud.

The charges arose from a federal investigation into the filing of fraudulent employment visa applications on behalf of foreign nationals, including at least 14 of the law firm's own workers.

Rodriguez, 40, a senior associate at the firm, was sentenced March 10 to three years probation, including six months of house arrest and 200 hours of community service. He pled guilty Oct. 5 to one count of making false statements to federal agents.

Both Korenberg, who was fined $750,000, and Rodriguez have been placed on interim suspension by the State Bar.

The firm, which is now known as ASK Law Group, is based in Sherman Oaks, with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Las Vegas.

In a 33-count indictment, the government said the attorneys, along with a paralegal, hired undocumented workers for various jobs at the firm, then filed fraudulent employment-based visa petitions for temporary work authorization or permanent residency in the United States and paid them "off the books" in cash until the visas were approved. The paralegal and four other non-lawyers have entered guilty pleas in the case.

Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

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.

First District

Justice Joanne C. Parrilli retired July 31. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's nominee for her seat on Div. Three, U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins, faces an April 4 confirmation hearing.

Justice Linda Gemello of Div. Five retired Jan. 4.

Second District

Presiding Justice Vaino Spencer of Div. One retired Sept. 1 after 27 years on the court and a total of 46 years on the bench; Justice Robert Mallano is serving as acting presiding justice. Justice Paul Boland of Div. Eight died Sept. 5 after more than 25 years of judicial service. Justice Earl Johnson Jr. retired from Div. Seven Oct. 17 after nearly 25 years on the court.

Los Angeles Superior Court

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named four new judges on Jan. 25-Deputy District Attorneys Kathleen O. Diesman and Rogelio G. Delgado, Deputy Public Defender Mark E. Windham, and entertainment lawyer Louis M. Meisinger.

Delgado took up his first permanent assignment March 26 in El Monte. Diesman is going to West Covina April 14.

There are vacancies on the court resulting from the retirements of Judge Alan Kalkin Feb. 19, Judge Barry Taylor Feb. 20, Judge Daniel S. Pratt March 2, Judge Michael Luros March 17, and Judge Dzintra Janavs March 20. Judge Stanley Weisberg is retiring April 11, Judge Wendell Mortimer Jr. April 30, Judge S. Patricia Spear June 3, and Judge Jack Hunt July 31.

A newly created position on the court was to have been funded as of June 1, but legislation signed last month 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 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 Byrne, Administrative Law Judge Robert Helfand, Deputy District Attorneys Alison S. Matsumoto, Thomas Rubinson, Shellie Samuels, Jeffrey Gootman, Karla Kerlin, Ricardo Ocampo, and Laura Laesecke; Commissioners Rocky L. Crabb, Michael Convey, Tamila Ipema, Victor Greenberg, Amy Pellman, Maren Nelson, Dennis Mulcahy, Harvey Silberman, Ronald Rose, Marilyn Kading Martinez, Mary Lou Katz Byrne, and Loren DiFrank; Referees Jacqueline Lewis 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.

Commissioners Richard Curtis and Albert Garcia are retiring today. Commissioner Gary Polinsky retired Feb. 20.

The seats held by Garcia and Polinsky are being converted to judgeships under SB 56. A new commissioner will be elected by the court's judges to succeed Curtis.

Commissioners Martin L. Goestch and Gerald Richardson are on long-term medical leave.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

The following bills of interest to the legal community were introduced in March:

•AB 1491, by Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, would allow counties that did not transfer their court facilities to the state by last year's deadline until Dec. 31, 2009 to do so. The bill, which passed the Assembly last year, was amended in the Senate March 3 and sent to the Appropriations Committee, which approved it March 6 by a vote of 10-0. The full Senate approved it as an urgency measure March 24 by a vote of 34-0, and the bill was sent to the Assembly for concurrence in Senate amendments.

•AB 1679, by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, which, as amended, would open court files in paternity actions to the parties and their attorneys or agents without the necessity of a court order, although judgments would remain sealed. The bill would, with respect to all others, retain the requirement of a court order, granted only in "exceptional circumstances," before any part of a court file in a paternity case could be made public. The bill was amended in the Senate March 3.

•AB 1828, by Assemblyman Robert Huff, R-Diamond Bar, which would excuse poll workers from jury service for a period of one year. The bill was rejected March 25 by the Assembly Judiciary Committee by a vote of 7-3.