End of the Month

Former Immigration Lawyer to Surrender to Serve Prison Term...Judicial Candidate to Be Listed as 'Retired Lieutenant Colonel'...Governor Signs Bill on Courthouse Transfers

Judicial Elections

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled April 3 that Robert Davenport, a non-practicing Los Angeles attorney, may be listed as "Retired Lieutenant Colonel" on the June 3 primary ballot. Davenport's request to be listed as "Retired Lieutenant-Colonel/Attorney" was rejected on the ground that he was an inactive member of the State Bar at the March 11 filing deadline.

All other candidates will be listed on the June 3 ballot according to their requested designations

Candidates, with ballot designations in parentheses, are:

• Office No. 4-Ralph W. Dau (Judge of the Superior Court) and Sydnee Singer (Trial Attorney) are running for Dau's seat. Dau has retained Fred Huebscher as his campaign consultant.

• Office No. 69-Serena R. Murillo (Criminal Prosecutor) and Harvey A. Silberman (Superior Court Commissioner) are running for the seat now held by Judge Tracy Grant. Murillo has retained Cerrell Associates Inc. as her consulting firm; Silberman's consultants are Evelyn Jerome Alexander and Randy Steinberg of SJA Strategies.

• Office No. 72-Marc Alain Chomel (Supervising Criminal Prosecutor), Hilleri Grossman Merritt (Criminal Trial Prosecutor) and Steven A. Simons (Consumer Rights Attorney) are seeking the seat now held by Judge Francis A. Gately Jr. Merritt has retained the Cerrell firm; Simons is represented by Torrance consultant James Freeman.

• Office No. 82- Deputy District Attorneys Thomas Rubinson (Criminal Prosecutor), Mark Lee (Criminal Prosecutor), and Cynthia Loo (Superior Court Referee) are running for the seat of Judge Wendell Mortimer Jr., who is retiring today. Loo has SJA Strategies as consultant.

• Office No. 84-Pat Connolly (Criminal Gang Prosecutor), Bob Henry (Prosecutor Deputy Attorney-General), John "Johnny" Gutierrez (Administrative Law Judge), and Lori-Ann C. Jones (Superior Court Commissioner) are candidates for the seat now held by Judge Gibson W. Lee. Jones has retained SJA Strategies.

• Office No. 94-Eduard R. Abele (Criminal Prosecutor), C. Edward Mack (Criminal Trial Attorney), and Michael J. O'Gara (Criminal Prosecutor) have filed for the seat now held by Judge Michael Duggan. Abele has retained David Gould as his campaign strategist and treasurer.

• Office No. 95-Patricia D. Nieto (Superior Court Commissioner) and Lance E. Winters (Criminal Prosecutor) are running for the seat previously held by Judge Alan Kalkin, who retired Feb. 19. Carlos Leon is Nieto's consultant.

• Office No. 119-Jared D. Moses (Criminal Prosecutor), Douglas W. Weitzman (Consumer Law Attorney), and Robert Davenport (Retired Lieutenant Colonel) are seeking the seat now held by Judge Dzintra Janavs, who retired March 20. Moses has retained the Cerrell firm.

• Office No. 123-Kathleen Blanchard (Gang Murder Prosecutor), Alan A. Nadir (Criminal Gang Prosecutor), and Richard A. Nixon (Attorney at Law), are seeking the seat of Judge Michael Luros, who retired March 17.

• Office No. 125-James Bianco (Superior Court Commissioner) and Bill Johnson (International Corporate Lawyer) are running for the seat last held by Judge Daniel S. Pratt, who retired March 2. Bianco's consultant is Parke Skelton.

• Office No. 154-Rocky L. Crabb (Superior Court Commissioner), Paul "Pablo" Bruguera (Deputy Attorney General), and Michael V. Jesic (Criminal Gang Prosecutor) are running for the seat held by Judge Jack P. Hunt, who is retiring July 31. Crabb's consultant is Huebscher.

Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Mervyn H. Wolf
Encino Attorney

Wolf, a lawyer for 40 years, faces a June 3 jury trial on five felony embezzlement counts.

Wolf is accused of having taken settlement funds from his clients in multiple personal injury, workers' compensation, and wrongful termination cases between June 2003 and June 2004. He allegedly deposited settlement checks into his clients' trust accounts, and then embezzled the funds.

Wolf was placed on involuntary inactive status by the State Bar Court July 10 of last year and faces discipline in connection with several matters. He has had extensive contacts with the disciplinary system, having been placed on three years' probation in 1995 for misconduct in three matters, suspended 45 days in 1998 for failing to comply with a condition of the earlier probation, placed on inactive status for a month in 2002 for failure to comply with MCLE requirements, and served a month on suspension in 2004 for nonpayment of bar dues.

Philip Abramowitz
Former Immigration Lawyer

Abramowitz, 54, who was a partner at the large immigration law firm formerly known as Korenberg, Abramowitz & Feldun, is scheduled to surrender May 8 to begin serving a 21-month prison term following his plea of guilty to charges of conspiracy and visa fraud.

He was also sentenced to pay a $100,000 fine and serve three years of supervised release, including three months of electronically monitored home detention.

He tendered his resignation from the State Bar Sept. 28 of last year rather than contest disciplinary charges.
Two other attorneys at the firm were sentenced last month after pleading guilty to charges arising from a federal investigation into the filing of fraudulent employment visa applications on behalf of foreign nationals, including at least 14 of the law firm's own workers.

The firm, which is now known as ASK Law Group, is based in Sherman Oaks, with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Las Vegas.

In a 33-count indictment, the government said the attorneys, along with a paralegal, hired undocumented workers for various jobs at the firm, then filed fraudulent employment-based visa petitions for temporary work authorization or permanent residency in the United States and paid them "off the books" in cash until the visas were approved.

Judiciary: Vacancies, Appointments

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

There has been a vacancy on the court since Judge Stephen Trott took senior status Dec. 31, 2004. Another vacancy, in a newly created position, will be created on Jan. 21 of next year.

There is one vacancy on the court.

Orange Superior Court Judge James E. Rogan a former congressman and Commerce Department official, was nominated Nov. 15, 2006, and renominated in January of last year, to succeed Judge Nora Manella, who resigned to become a justice of this district's Court of Appeal.

Rogan has been unable to secure a confirmation hearing because Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has a "blue slip" policy under which a hearing will be held only if both of the nominee's home state senators approve. Sen. Barbara Boxer, who has previously supported all candidates recommended by a bipartisan advisory committee, opposes Rogan's nomination, in part because of his role as one of the prosecutors at the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.

There are no vacancies.

First District

U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins was confirmed April 4 to succeed Justice Joanne C. Parrilli, who retired July 31 from Div. Three. Justice Linda Gemello of Div. Five retired Jan. 4.

Second District

Presiding Justice Vaino Spencer of Div. One retired Sept. 1 after 27 years on the court and a total of 46 years on the bench; Justice Robert Mallano is serving as acting presiding justice. Justice Paul Boland of Div. Eight died Sept. 5 after more than 25 years of judicial service. Justice Earl Johnson Jr. retired from Div. Seven Oct. 17 after nearly 25 years on the court.

Los Angeles Superior Court

Judge Kathleen O. Diesman, who was named to the court in January, took up her first permanent assignment, in West Covina, April 14.

There are vacancies on the court resulting from the retirements of Judge Alan Kalkin Feb. 19, Judge Barry Taylor Feb. 20, Judge Daniel S. Pratt March 2, Judge Michael Luros March 17, Judge Dzintra Janavs March 20, and Judge Stanley Weisberg April 11. Judge Wendell Mortimer Jr. is retiring today, Judge Francis Hourigan III May 15, Judge S.

Patricia Spear June 3, and Judge Jack Hunt July 31.
A newly created position on the court was to have been funded as of June 1, but legislation designed to ease the state budget crisis postponed the effective date to June 1 of next year.

Judge David M. Mintz is on medical leave.
Judges John Shepard Wiley Jr. and Anne H. Egerton are on assignment to the Court of Appeal.

Commissioner Tamila Ipema resigned last week to become a San Diego Superior Court commissioner. Alan Ira Rubin, a criminal defense attorney, was elected April 17 to succeed Commissioner Ron Slick, who retired at the end of last month.
Sharon Lewis Miller, formerly a deputy alternate public defender, was elected April 4 to succeed Commissioner Gary Polinsky, who retired Feb. 20. She took the oath of office April 9 and is sitting in Compton.

Commissioners Victor Reichman, Richard Curtis and Albert Garcia retired March 31.

Commissioners Martin L. Goestch and Gerald Richardson are on long-term medical leave.

Legislation of Interest to the Legal Community

The following bills of interest to the legal community were introduced in April:

•AB 1405, by Assemblyman Bill Maze, R-Visalia, which, as amended, would provide for the confidentiality of statements made by juveniles in the course of assessments under Welfare and Institutions Sec. 241.1. The bill, which passed the Assembly last year, was amended in the Senate April 28.

•AB 1491, by Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, would allow counties that did not transfer their court facilities to the state by last year's deadline until Dec. 31, 2009 to do so. The bill, which passed the Assembly last year and the Senate last month, was signed into law as an urgency measure by the governor on April 22.

•AB 1679, by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, which, as amended, would open court files in paternity actions to the parties and their attorneys or agents without the necessity of a court order, although judgments would remain sealed. The bill would, with respect to all others, retain the requirement of a court order, granted only in "exceptional circumstances," before any part of a court file in a paternity case could be made public. The bill, which passed the Assembly last year, is set for hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee May 13.

•AB 1852, by Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Murrieta, which would make it an infraction, rather than a crime, to participate in a sports betting pool, as long as no one is being paid to "book" bets. The bill was approved April 9 by the Committee on Government Operations by a vote of 13-0 and passed the Committee on Public Safety April 15 by a vote of 5 to 1.

•AB 1873, by Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, which would permit a party or witness, with the permission of the court, to appear by telephone in small claims court. The bill passed the Assembly April 14 by a vote of 67-4 and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee April 24.

•AB 2095, by Jones, Lieu and others, which would require disclosure of the identities of persons who advise the governor with respect to judicial appointments and require members of the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation to complete two hours of training each year "in the areas of fairness and bias in the judicial appointments process." The bill passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee April 15 by a vote of 7-3.