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.

Four vacancies have occurred this month-Judge Elena Duarte was appointed to the Sacramento Superior Court May 16, Judge Francis Hourigan III retired May 15, Judge David Mintz died May 12, and Judge Patricia Collins retired May 6 and is now a private judge with ADR Services, Inc.

Earlier vacancies resulted 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, Judge Stanley Weisberg April 11, and Judge Wendell Mortimer Jr. April 30. Judge S. Patricia Spear will retire Tuesday and Judge Jack Hunt, whose last scheduled workday is June 20, will retire July 31.

Judge Suzanne Person has been on leave following back surgery and is expected to retire. Judge Michael Duggan's last scheduled workday is June 6 and his retirement will be effective July 22. Additional vacancies will occur if Judges Tricia Bigelow and Frank Jackson are confirmed to the Court of Appeal Wednesday.

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.

Among those whose names have gone to the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as possible appointees to the court are former Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn, now with private conflict resolution provider Alternative Resolution Centers LLC; former Deputy District Attorney Christopher Darden, now in private practice; former Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Vaughn, now a managing director of the litigation and consulting firm FTI Consulting, Inc.; criminal defense specialist Steven Cron of Santa Monica; Los Angeles Deputy City Attorneys Richard Kraft and Edward J. Perez; state Deputy Attorneys General Steven D. Matthews, E. Eugene Varanini IV, Victoria Wilson, Paul Roadarmel Jr., Robert S. Henry and Kenneth Byrnel; Administrative Law Judge Robert Helfand; Deputy District Attorneys Alison S. Matsumoto, Thomas Rubinson, Shellie Samuels, Jeffrey Gootman, Karla Kerlin, Ricardo Ocampo, and Laura Laesecke; Commissioners Rocky L. Crabb, Michael Convey, Victor Greenberg, Amy Pellman, Maren Nelson, Dennis Mulcahy, Harvey Silberman, Ronald Rose, Marilyn Kading Martinez, Mary Lou Katz Byrne, and Loren DiFrank; Referees Jacqueline Lewis and Steven Berman; U.S. District Court attorney Amy L. Lew; Irvine attorney Raymond Earl Brown; Deputy Federal Public Defender Angel Navarro; Deputy Alternate Public Defender Jerome J. Haig; Los Angeles attorneys Shan K. Thever, John L. Carlton, Adrienne Krikorian, Mark A. Borenstein, Eulanda Matthews and Lawrence P. Brennan Jr.; Century City attorney Howard S. Fredman, Pasadena attorney Warren Gilbert, Glendale attorney Mark J. MacCarley, and Westlake Village attorney Michael Nebenzahl.

Commissioner Tamila Ipema resigned last month to become a San Diego Superior Court commissioner.

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

Commissioner Kevil Martin is retiring Aug. 4.

Commissioner Martin L. Goestch is on long-term sick leave.

The following bills of interest to the legal community were acted upon in May:

•AB 171, by Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, which, as amended, would add wards and conservatees to the categories of persons protected by domestic violence laws. A May 15 committee hearing was cancelled at the author's request.

•AB 268, by Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Industry, which would expand the circumstances under which a witness is deemed unavailable for purposes of establishing an exception to the hearsay rule. The bill, which passed the Assembly June 5 of last year by a vote of 77-0, was scheduled for a Senate committee hearing this month, but it was cancelled at the author's request.

•AB 926, by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, which, as amended, would adopt a number of provisions of the Uniform Rules Relating to Discovery of Electronically Stored Information. The bill, which is backed by the Judicial Council, Consumer Attorneys of California and California Defense Counsel, passed the Assembly May 3 by a vote of 70-0 and was amended in the Senate May 14.

•AB 1158, by Assemblyman John Benoit, R-Riverside, which, as amended, provides for videoconferencing so that sick or infirm witnesses may testify at conditional examinations of witnesses in criminal cases. The bill, which passed the Assembly last year, passed the Senate May 1 by a vote of 35-0 and was sent to the Assembly, which concurred in the Senate amendments the same day. It was signed by the governor May 16 and will take effect Jan. 1.

•AB 1820, by Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, which would revise the formula by which counties are reimbursed for the cost of homicide trials. The bill passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee May 7 by a vote of 17-0, passed the Assembly May 19 by a vote of 76-0, and was referred to the Senate Rules Committee.

•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 passed the Assembly May 8 by a vote of 65-4 and was referred to the Senate Committee on Public Safety. As amended in the Senate May 23, the change would not apply where the amount of the pool is more than $2,500.

•AB 2095, by Assemblyman Mike Davis, D-Los Angeles, 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 Appropriations Committee May 8 by a vote of 12-5, passed the Assembly May 19 by a vote of 46-27, and was referred to the Senate Rules Committee.

•AB 2448, by Assemblyman Michael Feuer, D-West Hollywood, which, as amended, would revise standards and procedures for granting fee waivers in civil cases, providing among other things, for a lien against a plaintiff's recovery for waived fees, if the amount of the settlement or judgment exceeds $10,000. The bill passed the Assembly May 8 by a vote of 50-25 and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

•SB 1407, by Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, which would authorize a major court facilities capital outlay program for the improvement, renovation and replacement of court facilities. Under SB 1407, up to $5 billion in lease revenue bonds would be issued to finance approximately 40 court facilities projects. The projects would be selected by the Judicial Council, and the state bonds would be financed by revenues that would be generated by raising certain civil and criminal fees and assessments. The bill passed the Senate Public Safety Committee May 6 by a vote of 4-1, the Judiciary Committee May 14 by a vote of 3-0, and the Appropriations Committee May 27 by a vote of 10-0. As amended May 27, the bill would exempt such facilities from existing law requiring that plans for the construction or renovation of facilities where persons are detained be submitted to the Corrections Standards Authority for its recommendations.