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Presiding Justice Laurence D. Kay to Retire From First District Court of Appeal Next Month
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Presiding Justice Laurence D. Kay of the First District Court of Appeal will retire Aug. 31, the MetNews has learned.
The retirement of Kay, 68, will cap a 24-year judicial career, which began with a San Francisco Municipal Court appointment by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in August 1981. Brown elevated Kay to the San Francisco Superior Court just prior to leaving office in January 1983.
Then-Gov. Gray Davis appointed Kay to the Court of Appeal in 2001. He was elevated to presiding justice the following year, succeeding Daniel Hanlon.
Kay had previously been presiding judge and assistant presiding judge of the San Francisco Superior Court and at various times headed its mental health division, appellate department and criminal division. He is also a member of the Judicial Council of California, to which he was appointed in August 2002 for a three-year term.
He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from UC Berkeley, working in the construction business before law school.
He was admitted to practice in 1964 and joined a San Francisco law firm, which then became known as Livingston, Grant, Stone & Kay. He remained there until Brown appointed him to the bench.
Copyright 2005, Metropolitan News Company