End of the Month

Entertainment Attorney Accused of Sex With Teenager Faces Preliminary Hearing in January...Superior Court Judge Throws Out Suit Against Nixon Peabody Firm by Imprisoned Ex-Partner...Superior Court Judges Goswami and Kin Draw Temporary Assignments to Court of Appeal

Judicial Elections

There were four contests for open seats on the Los Angeles Superior Court in the Nov. 8 general election. Final ballot designations are in parentheses.
•Office No. 11—Debra R. Archuleta (Violent Crimes Prosecutor) defeated Steven Schreiner (Gang Homicide Prosecutor) for the seat vacated by Judge Michelle Rosenblatt, who retired in June.
•Office No. 42—Efrain Matthew Aceves (Child Molestation Prosecutor) defeated Alicia Molina (Attorney at Law) for the seat being vacated by Judge Alan Rosenfield.
•Office No. 84—Susan Jung Townsend (Criminal Fraud Prosecutor) defeated Javier Perez (Supervising Criminal Prosecutor) for the seat being vacated by Judge Kathleen Diesman.
•Office No. 158—Kim L. Nguyen (Deputy Attorney General) defeated David A. Berger (Violent Crimes Prosecutor) for the seat being vacated by Judge Elden Fox.

Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Edmund W. Clarke Jr.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge

Clarke was publicly admonished by the Commission on Judicial Performance Sept. 29. His attorney said he would seek review in the California Supreme Court.

David Tamman.
Suspended Attorney

The Court of Appeal for this district, earlier this month, reversed an order that Nixon Peabody LLP, pay $26,320 in attorney fees to Tamman, a former partner at the firm.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis ordered the payment as a sanction under Code of Civil Procedure § 128.5 for frivolous conduct. But the appellate panel, in an unpublished opinion, said the trial judge failed to point to any specific conduct that was frivolous, and that it could not identify any such conduct itself.
The order came in Tamman’s suit against the firm. He left Nixon Peabody while under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and contends that he was “thrown under the bus” so that his partners could get their hands on his $1.5 million book of business. The firm contends it acted properly in cooperating with the agency’s investigation, and Duffy-Lewis dismissed the suit on Nov. 17, a week after the Court of Appeal ruling.
Tamman is serving a seven-year sentence at Lompoc federal prison, according to Bureau of Prisons records. He was convicted of one count of conspiring to obstruct justice, five counts of altering documents, one count of being an accessory after the fact to his client’s mail and securities fraud crimes, and three counts of aiding and abetting his client’s false testimony before the SEC.
The State Bar Court Review Department on Aug. 3 recommended that Tamman, who is currently on interim suspension, be summarily disbarred based upon his conviction of crimes involving moral turpitude. The court said in its order that Tamman did not contest disbarment.
Tamman’s client, former fund manager and radio personality John Farahi, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for running an investment scheme, which involved false promises that investors’ money—more than $24 million was collected, prosecutors said—would be invested in corporate bonds backed by the Troubled Assets Relief Program. The scheme largely targeted members of Los Angeles’ Iranian-American Jewish community.

Benjamin Lawson Adams.
Entertainment Attorney

Adams, 31, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Jan. 10 in Dept. 4 in Torrance. Adams pled not guilty Aug. 26 to having sex with a 14-year-old boy.
He faces three counts each of lewd acts upon a child, oral copulation of a person under 16, two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object and one count of sodomy of a person under 16.

Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

A vacancy occurred when Judge Barry Silverman took senior status Oct. 11.
The Senate Judiciary Committee on July 13 held a confirmation hearing for U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh of the Northern District of California, but did not vote on the nomination prior to the presidential election. President Obama on Feb. 25 nominated Koh to fill the vacancy created when Judge Harry Pregerson took senior status on Dec. 11 of last year, the day he completed 44 years of active service on the federal courts.
Further vacancies will occur when Judges Richard Clifton and Diarmuid O’Scannlain take senior status Dec. 31.

Judge Christina A. Snyder took senior status Nov. 23.
The nomination of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Young was reported favorably by the Senate Judiciary Committee Nov. 5 but not considered by the full Senate. He was nominated by President Obama on July 16 to succeed Judge Audrey B. Collins, who retired Aug. 1, 2014 to join the state Court of Appeal.
Judge Margaret Morrow took senior status Oct. 29 and subsequently left the bench to become president and chief executive of Public Counsel. Judge Dean Pregerson took senior status Jan. 28.
Magistrate Judge Paul Abrams was nominated Dec. 16 of last year for Pregerson’s seat.

There are no vacancies.

Second District

There are vacancies in Div. Three, due to the Oct. 5 retirement of Justice Patti S. Kitching; Div. Five, due to the retirement of Justice Richard Mosk, who left the court March 30 and died 18 days later; and Div. Seven, due to the retirement of Justice Fred Woods on March 31 of last year.
Among those whose names have been sent to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as possible appointees to the court are Los Angeles attorneys Kent Richland and Bradley Phillips; Ventura Superior Court Judge Tari Cody; Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Gail Ruderman Feuer, Ann H. Egerton, Rita Miller, Richard Rico, Helen Bendix, Ann Jones, and Sanjay Kumar; and Southwestern Law School professor Christopher Cameron.
The assignments of retired Superior Court Judge Allan Goodman to Div. Two, and Superior Court Judge Virginia Keeny to Div. Seven, have been extended through January. Superior Court Judge Rupa Goswami has been assigned to Div. Three, and Judge Curtis Kin to Div. Five, also through January.

Fourth District

Justice James McIntyre retired June 30 from Div. One. Justice Alex McDonald died Sept. 8.

Seats in other districts are filled.

Los Angeles Superior Court

Judge Soussan Bruguera is retiring Dec. 15.
Judge Steven Van Sicklen retired Nov. 1. Vacancies were created earlier this year when Judge John Henning retired Sept. 8, Judge Michelle Rosenblatt retired June 2, Judge Peter Espinoza retired May 31, Judge Jane Johnson retired May 23, Judge Emilie Elias retired May 9, Judge Robert Willett retired March 9, Judge Daniel Brenner died Feb. 15, and Judge Russell Kussman retired Feb. 18.
Vacancies remaining to be filled from last year occurred as a result of the retirements of Judges Alan Goodman July 30, Thomas McKnew July 31, Tia Fisher Aug. 1, Richard Stone Aug. 28, and Reva Goetz Sept. 21, as well as the resignation of Judge Jeffrey Winikow Dec. 4 and the death of Judge Ellen DeShazer Nov. 22.
Among those whose names have been sent to the JNE Commission as possible appointees to judgeships are Los Angeles attorneys Firdaus Dordi, Angel Navarro and Lisa Mattern; Deputy Alternate Public Defender Tracee May-Brewster; Altadena attorney Cynthia Cannady; Deputy Public Defenders Jose Colon, Ruben Garcia, and Lisa Brackelmanns; Bakersfield attorney Bernard Barrman Jr.; Century City attorney Jonathan Rosenbloom; Deputy District Attorneys Kerry White, Candace Foy Smith, Leonard Torrealba, and Kathleen Tuttle; retired Deputy District Attorney Brentford Ferreira; Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney—and former city attorney candidate—Michael Amerian; attorney/mediator Michael Diliberto; former Superior Court Referee Stephanie Davis; Superior Court counsel Brett Bianco; Beverly Hills attorney Edward Tabash; South Pasadena attorney Mark S. Priver; Court of Appeal staff attorney Kenneth E. Roberson; Deputy Attorney General Kim Nguyen; Superior Court Commissioners Karin Borzakian, Timothy Martella, Pamela Davis, Collette Serio, Marilyn Kading Martinez, Robert Kawahara, Alan Rubin, Emma Castro, Jane Godfrey, Sharon Lewis Miller, Mark Zuckman, Dennis Mulcahy, Terry Truong and Kenneth Taylor; State Bar Court Judge Richard Honn; Deputy County Counsel Julie Ann Silva; Glendale attorney Kenneth Wright; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Wesley Hsu.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

The Legistature is out of session until next week.