There is one vacancy on the court, created when Judge Stephen S. Trott took senior status Dec. 31, 2004.

Otis D. Wright II and George H. Wu are the court's newest judges. Wright was nominated Sept. 5 of last year to succeed Judge Gary Taylor, who took senior status Dec. 8, 2004 and retired to become a private judge with JAMS on June 30, 2005. Wu was nominated to the court the same day as Wright, in anticipation of Judge Ronald S.W. Lew taking senior status, which he did on September 19.

One vacancy remains to be filled.

Orange Superior Court Judge James E. Rogan, a former congressman and Commerce Department official, was nominated Nov. 15 to succeed Judge Nora Manella, who resigned to become a justice of this district's Court of Appeal May 22.

There are no vacancies.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named six judges on May 23.

Mitchell Beckloff, who was a commissioner, replaced Judge Judson Morris Jr., who retired Feb. 20; South Bay attorney Edmund W. Clarke Jr. was named to replace Judge David M. Schacter, who also retired Feb. 20; Commissioner Graciela Freixes was named to replace Judge Philip Gutierrez, who recently joined the federal bench; David Gelfound, a 13-year veteran of the District Atorney's Office, was tapped to succeed Judge Victor H. Person, who retired May 1; Commissioner John Ing was named the successor to Judge Otis D. Wright II, who was sworn in on April 16 as a U.S. district judge; and Judge Kathryn A. Solorzano was named to succeed Judge George Wu, who joined the federal bench April 17.

There are three remaining vacancies. Judge Bernard Kamins retired May 15, Judge Richard Neidorf May 16, and Judge Jon Mayeda May 30.

Among those whose names have gone to the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as possible appointees to the court are Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Vaughn, criminal defense specialist Steven Cron of Santa Monica; Los Angeles Deputy City Attorneys Richard Kraft and Edward J. Perez; state Deputy Attorney General E. Eugene Varanini IV; Deputy District Attorneys Jeffrey Gootman, Karla Kerlin, Ricardo Ocampo, and Laura Laesecke; Commissioners Victor Greenberg, Amy Pellman, Maren Nelson, Dennis Mulcahy, Harvey Silberman, Ronald Rose, Marilyn Kading Martinez, Mary Lou Katz Byrne, Melissa Widdifield, and Loren DiFrank; Referee 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 John L. Carlton, Adrienne Krikorian, Mark A. Borenstein, Eulanda Matthews and Lawrence P. Brennan Jr.; Century City attorney Howard S. Fredman, and Westlake Village attorney Michael Nebenzahl.

Commissioners Martin L. Goestch and James Copelan are on long-term medical leave, and Com­missioner Gerald Richardson is out following an illness as well.

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

•AB 104, by Assemblyman Jose Solorio, D-Anaheim, which, as amended, would require the Department of Justice and local law enforcement agencies to supply criminal history information to city attorneys for the purpose of assisting them in obtaining injunctions against gang activity or drug activity. The bill, which passed the Assembly last month by a vote of 73-0, was referred to the Senate Public Safety Committee May 2.

•AB 159 , by Assemblyman David Jones, D-Sacramento, which, as amended, would create 50 new superior court judgeships and an unspecified number of Court of Appeal judgeships, subject to appropriations, and convert a maximum of 162 commissioner and referee positions into judgeships over time. The bill is set for hearing today in the Appropriations Committee.

•AB 171, by Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, which, as amended, would create an expanded Loan Assumption Program for public interest lawyers to replace the Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Program, under which the state makes 3,000 grants each year to assist lawyers with repayment of their student loans. The current program is limited to attorneys who work for a prosecutor's office, child support agency, or public defender's office; the expanded program would add those working for a legal services agency or a county counsel's office. The bill, which passed the Assembly last month by a vote of 44-30, was referred to the Senate Education Committee May 9.

•AB 289, by Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, which would allow a judge, when imposing sentence, to grant a protective order, valid for up to 10 years, barring a defendant from harassing the victims of the crime or their families. The bill is set for hearing today in the Appropriations Committee.

•AB 357, by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Norwalk, which would allow candidates to use donated funds, not subject to campaign contribution limits, to pay attorney fees for recounts and related litigation. The bill, which passed the Assembly April 26 by a vote of 74-0, was referred on May 9 to the Senate Committee on Elections, Reapportionment, and Constitutional Amend­ments.

•AB 367, by Assemblyman Kevin De Leon, D-Los Angeles, which, as amended, would require the Judicial Council to establish standards for the collection of court-ordered fines, fees, costs, and penalties, including public defender costs and jail booking fees. The bill passed the Assembly May 21 by a vote of 76-0.

•AB 403, by Assemblyman Van Tran, R-Costa Mesa, which would specify that an attorney cannot claim attorney-client privilege where the privilege has been waived by the holder, or by a person authorized by the holder to waive the privilege, and would provide for the appointment of a new personal representative for an estate if the previous personal representative was discharged and disclosure is sought of a communication deemed privileged in the absence of a waiver by a personal representative. After the bill was amended to provide that its provisions are inapplicable to criminal proceedings, it was approved by the Assembly May 21 by a vote of 72-0.

•AB 406, by Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, which would require the state to reimburse all of Merced County's costs for the prosecution of Cuitlahuac Tahua Rivera, a reputed gang member charged with the murder of a Merced police officer. The bill is set for hearing today in the Appropriations Committee.

•AB 475, by Assemblyman Bill Emmerson, R-Rancho Cucamonga, which would give the arresting agency the right to notice and to present evidence at the hearing on a motion to destroy an arrest record. The bill passed the Assembly May 10 by a vote of 73-1 and was referred to the Senate Public Safety Committee May 17.

•AB 500, by Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, which would establish procedures by which attorneys could appear by telephone or teleconference at any proceeding at which witnesses are not expected to testify. The bill passed the Assembly May 3 by a vote of 73-0 and was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee May 9.

•AB 692, by Assemblyman Gene Mullin, D-South San Francisco, which would require an Internet lawyer referral service that refers clients to California lawyers to register with the State Bar. A hearing on the bills, which passed the Assembly April 26 by a vote of 74-0, was postponed May 15 by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

•AB 737, by Assemblyman Rick Keene, R-Chico, which, as amended, would leave the existing limits on small claims jurisdiction in place pending the outcome of a Judicial Council study, to be completed by Jan. 1, 2009. As introduced, the bill would have raised the jurisdictional limits for suits by corporations from $5,000 to $7,500, the same as for individuals, and would have allowed both individuals and corporations to file an unlimited number of claims of up to $5,000, plus two claims per year over that amount. A hearing is set today before the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

•AB 859, by Assemblyman George Plescia, R-San Diego, which, as amended April 16, would permit substituted service at a defendant's residence between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The bill, which passed the Assembly April 19 by a vote of 73-0, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee May 22 by a vote of 5-0.

•AB 860, by Assemblywoman Mary Salas, D-Chula Vista, which, as amended, would eliminate the right to trial by jury on prior-conviction allegations in some criminal cases. The bill passed the Assembly May 24 by a vote of 41-26.

•AB 985,, by Assemblyman Lori Saldana, D-San Diego, which would grant the Court of Appeal concurrent jurisdiction to hear certain writ matters in environmental cases as to which the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is now exclusive. The bill was approved by a 7-3 vote of the Judiciary Committee May 1.

•AB 1043, by Assemblywoman Sandre Swanson, D-Oakland, which would make void and unenforceable as against public policy any provision in an employment contract that requires an employee, as a condition of obtaining or continuing employment, to use a forum other than California, or to agree to a choice of law other than California law, in any dispute with an employer regarding employment-related issues that arise in California. The bill passed the Assembly May 17 by a vote of 44-32.

•AB 1090, by Spitzer, which, as amended, would require that candidates, including judicial candidates, seeking to use a ballot designation support that designation by filling out a worksheet prescribed by the secretary of state. The bill passed the Assembly May 29.

•AB 1126, by Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-El Monte, which would expedite discovery in unlawful detainer cases. The bill passed the Assembly May 3 by a vote of 70-0 and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee May 9.

•AB 1210, by Assemblywoman Shirley Horton, R-Lemon Grove, which, as amended, would amend the special provisions for admission of hearsay evidence in a prosecution under the Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act to delete the requirement that a declarant have died of other than natural causes. A hearing scheduled in the Public Safety Committee May 8 was cancelled at the request of the author.

•AB 1211, by Assemblyman Curren Price Jr., D-Inglewood, which would clarify responsibility for the payment of deposition costs in civil actions. The bill, which was approved in the Assembly by April 26 by a vote of 74-0, was approved May 25 by a 5-0 vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

•AB 1248, by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, which would make various changes with regard to civil procedure, court fees, and funding. An amended version of the bill was set for hearing yesterday in the Appropriations Committee.

•AB 1264, by Eng, which as amended April 10, would make certain changes with regard to delay reduction rules. The amendments eliminated the original provision that would have prohibited courts from requiring, as part of local "fast-track" rules, that a summons and complaint be served in less than 90 days. The amended version of the bill passed the Assembly May 10 by a vote of 72-0 and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee May 17.

•AB 1557, by Assemblyman Michael Feuer, which would limit peremptory challenges to six per side in all misdemeanor cases. Current law allows 10 peremptory challenges per side in trials for offenses punishable by more than 90 days in jail. The bill was sent to the Assembly inactive file May 17.

•AB 1660, by Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, R-Redding, which, as amended, would allow a victim or a designated victim's representative to be present at all criminal proceedings open to the general public. The bill was referred to the Committee on Public Safety, which approved it May 8 by a vote of 5-2..

•AB 1723,, by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, a State Bar proposal that would establish specific requirements for attorneys establishing accounts under the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts program and for banks offering such accounts. The bill passed the Assembly May 14 by a vote of 65-7.

•SB 110, by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, which, as amended, would establish a 20-member sentencing commission chaired by the chief justice, with power to determine the sentences for infractions and crimes, subject to rejection by a two-thirds majority vote of the Legislature. The bill was sent to the Appropriations Committee, where a hearing is scheduled for today.

•SB 271, by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, which, as amended, would permit district attorneys and city attorneys, regardless of city's population, to sue for damages where a nuisance is created by gang activity. The bill, which passed the Senate April 16 by a vote of 36-0, was referred to the Assembly Public Safety Committee May 17.

•SB 353, by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Encino, which would allow a court, when issuing a domestic violence restraining order, to determine the right to custody of household pets. The bill passed the Senate May 10 by a vote of 31-7 and was sent to the Assembly, where it was referred to the Judiciary Committee May 17.

•SB 559, by Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, which would protect property from full value reassessment due to the death of the surviving owner's domestic partner prior to 2006. Such protection already exists where the partner died on or after Jan. 1, 2006. The bill is set for hearing today in the Judiciary Committee.

•SB 686, by Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, which, as amended, would authorize the State Bar to levy dues for 2008 at the current rate, and would authorize an additional fee of $10 per member per year from 2008 through 2010 to upgrade the State Bar's computers, while deleting the authorization for a $10 annual fee for construction or leasing of the State Bar headquarters. The bill passed the Senate May 24 by a vote of 31-4.