Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

 

Page 1

 

Two Pasadena Lawyers Named to Los Angeles Superior Court

 

By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer/Appellate Courts

 

Two attorneys from Pasadena, one a plaintiff’s lawyer and the other a criminal defense attorney, were named to the Los Angeles Superior Court yesterday by Gov. Gray Davis.

Deputy Alternate Public Defender Drew E. Edwards will succeed Judge James Sutton, while Frederick C. Shaller, a partner in  Shaller, McMillan & Wright, replaces Judge Marilyn Hoffman.

Sutton and Hoffman both retired earlier this year.

‘Very Honored’

Edwards told the MetNews he was “very honored that the governor has put his faith in me,” acknowledging that Davis has appointed few criminal defense lawyers to the bench. He said he does not know when he is going to be sworn in, but plans to meet with court officials today.

He added that he would be content with either a criminal or civil assignment, having done civil work in the past.

Edwards said he first applied for an appointment in 1999, the year Davis took office. A Pasadena native who now lives in Altadena, he holds an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and a law degree from Boalt Hall, where he was on the Law Review.

Following graduation from Boalt in 1987, he clerked for Judge Robert McWilliams of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He then practiced civil law with Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco and with Davis, Graham & Stubbs in Denver before joining the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Los Angeles in 1990.

He then returned to Colorado, where he served as general counsel for USA Basketball—the umbrella organization for amateur and Olympic basketball in the United States—in 1994 and 1995 before joining the Alternate Public Defender’s Office.

“I really missed doing criminal work,” he commented yesterday.

Edwards has served on the executive board of the Los Angeles County Black Public Defenders Association.

Shaller, who was not available for comment yesterday, began his career handling insurance defense work with the firm of Kirtland & Packard from 1979 to 1982. He has been representing plaintiffs in medical malpractice and personal injury actions since 1982, when he joined the law firm that became Harney, Wolfe, Pagliuso, Shaller & Carr.

Solo Practice

In 1988, he and another partner formed the firm of Carr & Shaller, where he practiced until 1991. He was a sole practitioner in Pasadena from 1991 until the founding of his present firm in June of this year. 

The USC and Loyola Law School graduate is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Yesterday’s appointments reduce the number of vacancies on the court to one, although two more seats would open up if—as expected—Judges Laurie Zelon and Madeleine Flier are confirmed tomorrow as justices of the Court of Appeal.

 

Copyright 2003, Metropolitan News Company