Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Wednesday, May 15, 2002

 

Page 3

 

Sacramento District Attorney, Civil Litigator Named to Bench

 

By KIMBERLY EDDS, Staff Writer

 

Sacramento Deputy District Attorney Timothy M. Frawley and civil litigator Raymond M. Cadei were appointed to the Sacramento Superior Court yesterday by Gov. Gray Davis.

A veteran prosecutor, Frawley, 53, has held a number of significant posts in the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office, including chief deputy district attorney and assistant district attorney

Currently a principal deputy assigned to the office’s major crimes section, Frawley has tried close to 50 murder trials in the 25 years he has been with the office.

He recently handled the multiple murder case of Ukrainian immigrant Nikolay Soltys, who was accused of killing seven family members last year, including his pregnant wife and his three-year-old son. The case came to an end when Soltys, who made the FBI’s “Most Wanted List,” hung himself in his jail cell in February.

Frawley received the Brian L. Hintz Memorial “Outstanding Prosecutor of the Year” award from his office last year.

Frawley did his undergraduate work at Dartmouth College, and he received his law degree from McGeorge School of Law.

Frawley will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge John Lewis.

Cadei, 54, heads the Business and Commercial Litigation group at the Sacramento law firm of Murphy, Osten, Adams & Schoenfeld.

He focuses his practice on complex business litigation, including commercial, intellectual property, real estate, corporate, unfair competition and insurance coverage disputes.

Cadei said he expects to take the bench in late June or early July so that he can help his clients make the transition to having their cases handled by other attorneys in his firm.

“I know the court could use the help instantaneously,” he said. “There are a lot of empty departments.”

In making the move from private practice, Cadei said he looks forward to being able to deal with different kinds of law, rather than the focused approach attorneys take.

“I have an intellectual curiosity,” he said. “It’s challenging to move into new areas of law.”

Before joining his current firm, Cadei was an associate and partner with the Sacramento law firm of Diepenbrock, Wulff, Plant & Hannegian, where he worked for seven years.

Cadei represented the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development in its claims against Goldman Sachs for conflicts of interest and breach of fiduciary duty. The state was awarded $62 million in the case, which was settled before it went to trial.

Cadei has served as a settlement judge for the Sacramento Superior Court and as an early neutral evaluator for the federal court. He has been actively involved with the Sacramento County Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He is also a past President of the Sacramento County Young Lawyers’ Association and a delegate to the State Bar Convention.

Cadei received his undergraduate degree from UC Santa Cruz and his law degree from McGeorge School of Law. He also holds a master of public administration degree from UCLA.

He will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Faith Geoghegan.

Superior Court judges receive a salary of $136,224.

 

Copyright 2002, Metropolitan News Company