Thursday, June 16, 2005
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Judge McCoy, Tom Girardi Named to Judicial Council
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles W. McCoy Jr. and prominent civil litigator Thomas V. Girardi, as well as immediate past State Bar President Anthony Capozzi, have been named to the California Judicial Council for terms beginning Sept. 15, officials said yesterday.
The council is the policymaking body of the state courts. It has 21 voting members and six advisory members and is chaired by Chief Justice Ronald George.
The State Bar appoints four voting members, who serve staggered three-year terms. Capozzi fills the seat left vacant by another former State Bar president, James Herman, who was appointed last year but had to resign after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently tapped him for a seat on the Santa Barbara Superior Court.
Girardi’s appointment is for a full three-year term. He succeeds another local attorney, David J. Pasternak. Also named as an attorney member was Oakland Chief Assistant City Attorney Barbara Parker, who succeeds Ann Ravel.
Girardi has tried over 100 jury cases to conclusion and received numerous awards, including last year’s Ted Horn Memorial Award from the Consumer Attorney Association of Los Angeles.
The council has a total of 15 judicial members. In addition to the chief justice, there is an associate justice of the Supreme Court, along with three Court of Appeal justices and 10 superior court judges.
The chief justice names the other judicial members, who, like the attorney members, serve staggered three-year terms.
In addition to McCoy, George appointed Fourth District Court of Appeal Justice Eileen C. Moore, Alameda Superior Court Judge Barbara J. Miller, and Tehama Superior Court Judge Dennis E. Murray.
McCoy was appointed to the Superior Court in 1992 and is supervising judge of the civil departments in the Central District’s Stanley Mosk Courthouse.
Before his appointment, McCoy was a partner in the Los Angeles office of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, where he practiced for 17 years, and chief of staff for Matt Fong when Fong was a member of the State Board of Equalization.
Named as advisory members were San Francisco Superior Court Commissioner Ronald E. Albers, a former State Bar Board of Governors member; Third District Court of Appeal Clerk/Administrator Deena C. Fawcett, and Butte Superior Court Executive Officer Sharol H. Strickland.
One member of the council is appointed by each house of the state Legislature. By tradition those appointments go to the chairs of the Assembly and Senate Judiciary committees.
Copyright 2005, Metropolitan News Company