Wednesday, April 7, 2004
Page 3
Raye, Grossman Elected to Top Judicial Performance Panel Posts
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Third District Court of Appeal Justice Vance W. Raye is the new chairman of the Commission on Judicial Performance, the CJP has announced.
The commission, in a release Monday, said Raye, 57, was elected at a closed-door meeting last Tuesday to succeed Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Rise Jones Pichon and that prominent Los Angeles attorney Marshall B. Grossman was chosen to replace Raye as vice chairman.
Pichon chaired the commission the last two years.
Raye, a member of the commission since January 2001, was appointed to the Court of Appeal by then-Gov. George Deukmejian in 1991, after having served on the Sacramento Superior Court for three years.
The justice is a former judge advocate for the Air Force, where he reached the rank of captain. He served as chief prosecutor at Beale Air Force Base in Northern California during the Vietnam War, largely overseeing cases of desertion, absence without leave, and drug possession.
He was appointed a California deputy attorney general in 1974 and was elevated to senior assistant attorney general by Deukmejian in 1980. Deukmejian selected Raye as legal affairs secretary in 1983, and he held the post for seven years.
Raye has served on the Judicial Council Committee on the Future of the Courts, the Appellate Courts Advisory Committee, and the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Standards Committee. He is the co-author of a three-volume set, Family Litigation Practice (1994) and California Public Contract Law (1978).
Grossman 65, was named an attorney member of the commission by then-Gov. Gray Davis in April 2001. The 11-member commission includes three judges chosen by the Supreme Court, two lawyers appointed by the governor, and six laypersons. The lay members are chosen by the governor, Assembly speaker, and Senate Rules Committee, each getting two appointments.
A founder of the Century City firm now known as Alschuler, Grossman, Stein & Kahan, Grossman has developed a reputation as one of the city’s toughest and most tenacious litigators. His clients in high-profile litigation have included Arthur Andersen, Tommy Hilfiger, and DreamWorks SKG.
In a May 2000 article, Los Angeles Magazine said that in a courtroom “no L.A. lawyer presently conjures up more dread-and respect-than Marshall Grossman.” A graduate of USC law school, Grossman began his legal career in 1965.
He co-founded Alschuler & Grossman, which steadily developed a solid commercial practice and had enough clout to attract Burt Pines, now a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. Pines joined his old high school friend Grossman at the firm when he left office as city attorney in 1981.
Alschuler, Grossman & Pines grew rapidly and became one of the most respected firms in Southern California. Pines left soon after Davis’ 1998 election to become judicial appointments secretary and was appointed to the bench just before the recalled governor left office.
Besides Pichon, Raye, and Grossman, the CJP’s membership consists of Orange Superior Court Judge Frederick P. Horn, San Francisco attorney Michael A. Kahn, and public members Crystal Lui, Patricia Miller, Jose C. Miramontes, Penny Perez, and Barbara Schraeger.
One public member slot is vacant, giving Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger the opportunity to make his first CJP appointment.
Copyright 2004, Metropolitan News Company