Monday, June 8, 2015
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Chief Justice Names Carin Fujisaki New Principal Attorney
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said Friday she has selected longtime state Supreme Court staff lawyer Carin T. Fujisaki as her new principal attorney.
“Carin is a prime example of the wealth of legal talent and the dedicated public servants who staff our Supreme Court,” the chief justice said in a release. “Carin brings 25 years of high court experience to her new role, as well as years of experience in the legal community at large. I am very grateful to Carin for taking on this new challenge. I look forward to the benefit of her wise counsel and keen intellect as we address the issues facing both our own court and the judicial branch as a whole.”
Fujisaki, an accomplished student-athlete at UCLA before entering Hastings College of the Law, where she currently chairs the Board of Directors, replaces Beth J. Jay. Jay retired after serving as principal attorney to four chief justices over more than 30 years.
Fujisaki joined the high court in 1990 as a Central Civil Staff attorney. She went on to serve as staff attorney for Justice Marvin Baxter for more than 20 years, and has been a managing attorney, working directly with the clerk/administrator, since Baxter retired in January.
“It is a great honor and privilege to have been selected by Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye as her Principal Attorney, to provide her with counsel and advice on administrative and policy issues, and to serve as the Supreme Court’s liaison to bodies such as the State Bar of California, the State Bar Court, and the Commission on Judicial Performance,” Fujisaki said in a statement. “I look forward to supporting the Chief Justice’s Access 3D and civic engagement initiatives, contributing to improvements in the administration of justice in the judicial branch, and increasing access to justice for all Californians.”
Fujisaki was admitted to the State Bar in 1985. She worked as a research attorney for two San Francisco Superior Court judges before joining Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Robertson & Falk as an associate, working on complex litigation and ACLU pro bono cases.
She has also served on the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation and on bar association judicial candidate review committees, and joined the Hastings board in 2003.
As a coxswain for UCLA’s varsity women’s crew team, she received the Outstanding Athlete Award in 1981, and later that year coxed the gold medal winning women’s rowing team at the United States National Sports Festival.
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