End of the Month

Final Status Conference Set for Today in Suit by Ex-Partner Who Claims Nixon Peabody ‘Through Him Under the Bus’ During SEC Probe...Ninth Circuit Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain to Take Senior Status at End of Year...Brown Vetoes Bill on Arbitrator Conflicts of Interest, Says It Is Unnecessary

Judicial Elections

There will be four contests for open seats on the Los Angeles Superior Court in the Nov. 8 general election.
•Office No. 11—Debra R. Archuleta (Violent Crimes Prosecutor) faces Steven Schreiner (Gang Murder Prosecutor) for the seat being vacated by Judge Michelle Rosenblatt.
•Office No. 42—Alicia Molina (Domestic Violence Attorney) faces E. Matthew Aceves (Child Molestation Prosecutor) for the seat being vacated by Judge Alan Rosenfield.
•Office No. 84—Susan Jung Townsend (Criminal Fraud Prosecutor) and Javier Perez (Supervising Criminal Prosecutor) are in the runoff for the seat being vacated by Judge Kathleen Diesman.
•Office No. 158—Kim L. Nguyen (Deputy Attorney General) and David A. Berger (Violent Crimes Prosecutor) will square off 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

A final status conference is scheduled for today in Tamman’s suit against Nixon Peabody LLP, where he used to be a partner.
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 Securities and Exchange Commission. He left the firm while under investigation by the SEC, and contends in his Los Angeles Superior Court complaint 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. The case is presently scheduled for trial on Oct. 11, although the firm has moved for terminating sanctions.
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, 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

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. President Obama on Feb. 25 nominated Koh to fill the vacancy created when Judge Harry Pregerson took senior status on Dec. 11, the day he completed 44 years of active service on the federal courts.
Further vacancies will occur when Judge Barry Silverman takes senior status Oct. 11 and Judges Richard Clifton and Diarmuid O’Scannlain do so Dec. 31.

Judge Christina A. Snyder will take senior status Nov. 23.
The nomination of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Young was reported favorably by the Senate Judiciary Committee Nov. 5. 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 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.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maria Stratton’s assignment to Div. Three has been extended through November. Judge Sanjay T. Kumar began an assignment to Div. Five Aug. 22, and it has been extended through Nov. 20.
Retired Superior Court Judge Allan Goodman has been assigned to Div. Two through November. Judge Virginia Keeny has been assigned to Div. Seven, also through November.

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 John Henning retired Sept. 8.
Vacancies were created earlier this year when 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 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; Los Angeles attorneys Angel Navarro and Lisa Mattern; Superior Court counsel Brett Bianco; Beverly Hills attorney Edward Tabash; South Pasadena attorney Mark S. Priver; Deputy District Attorneys 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 Legislature took the following action on bills of interest to the legal community in September.

•AB 1682 by Assemblymember Mark Stone, D-Santa Cruz, which would bar confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements regarding claims for childhood sexual abuse. The bill was enrolled Aug. 30 and was awaiting action by the governor at press time.

•AB 1708 by Assemblymember Christina Gonzalez, D-San Diego. As amended, the bill would make a number of changes in laws related to prostitution. The governor vetoed the bill Sept. 27, objecting to the inclusion of mandatory jail terms for solicitation.

•AB 1779 by Assemblymember Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, which would follow up on last year’s legislation authorizing nonprobate transfers of real property via a revocable transfer-on-death deed. As amended, the bill would expand a mandated study of TOD deeds by the California Law Revision Commission to include other forms of nonprobate transfers, including transfers to a trust. The bill was signed into law by the governor Aug. 25.

•SB 1065 by Sen. Bill Monning, D-Santa Cruz, which, as amended, would establish an expedited appeals process in actions brought under the Elder and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act if the plaintiff was granted a trial preference based on age or terminal illness. The governor signed the bill into law Sept. 25.

•SB 1078 by Sen. Hannah Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, which would, among other things, require the disclosure, in a consumer arbitration case, of any solicitation made by a private arbitration company of business from a party or an attorney for a party in the previous two years. The governor vetoed the bill Sept. 25, saying the existing ethics standards for arbitrators appear adequate, and that if changes are necessary, they can be made through the Judicial Council’s “deliberative process.

•SB 1241 by Sen. Bob Wieckowski- D-Fremont, which, as amended, would prohibit the inclusion, in any employment agreement entered into on or after Jan. 1, 2017, of any clause that would require a California resident to submit to a suit or arbitration in an out-of-state venue. The governor signed the bill into law Sept. 25.