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.

Judge George Schiavelli resigned effective Oct. 5, creating a second vacancy.

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.

Boxer wrote earlier this year to retired San Mateo Superior Court Judge Quentin L. Kopp, a supporter of Rogan's who made the senator's letter public, that "Judge Rogan's views are not consistent with the values of Californians." Rogan's supporters have pointed out that all other candidates recommended by the bipartisan committee that advises the White House and senators on California district court nominees have been confirmed, and that Rogan has drawn bipartisan praise for his judicial service, both on the Orange court and on the old Glendale Municipal Court, where he served before entering partisan politics.

There are no vacancies.

Presiding Judge-Elect Charles W. McCoy this month made known his selections of supervising judges and assistant supervising judges for various districts and branches of the court, effective Jan. 1.

Judge Elihu Berle will be supervising judge of the civil departments in the Central District, assisted by Judge Ann Jones; Judge Mary Thornton House, who will oversee limited jurisdiction cases; and Judge Peter Lichtman, who will oversee complex litigation.

Judge Marjorie Steinberg will continue as supervising judge in family law, assisted by Judge Mark Juhas. Judge Aviva Bobb remains in charge of probate court.

Judge Peter Espinoza takes over as criminal law supervising judge. Assistant supervising judges will be Patricia Schnegg; Stuart Rice, who will oversee the misdemeanor courts, and Maria Stratton, who will oversee the mental health courts.

Judge Thomas White remains in charge in the North District, assisted by Judge Lisa Chung. Judge Robert J. Schuit continues to supervise the North Valley District, assisted by Judge Barbara Scheper.

Judge John Cheroske will be retained as supervising judge in the South Central District, with Judge Allen Webster the assistant supervising judge. Judge Brian F. Gasdia remains supervising judge in the Southeast District, with Judge Raul Sahagun as his assistant.

Judge Mark S. Arnold remains supervising judge in the Southwest District, assisted by Judge Alan Honeycutt. Continuing as supervising judge in the West District is Judge Gerald Rosenberg, with Judge Joseph Biderman as his assistant.

Judge Candace J. Beason, who took over as supervising judge for the North Central and Northeast districts following the recent retirement of Coleman Swart, will keep those posts, with Judge Lisa Lench as assistant supervising judge.

Presiding Juvenile Court Judge Michael Nash and Dependency Courts Supervising Judge Margaret Henry will also retain their positions.

New supervising judges include Daniel Buckley in the East District, where Judge Dan Oki will be the assistant; Richard Kirschner in the Northwest District, assisted by Judge David Latin; and Arthur Jean in the South District, where Judge Gary Ferrari will be the assistant supervising judge.

There are 29 vacant judgeships on the court, the most recent occurring Sept. 30 with the retirement of Judge Darlene Schempp.

Previous vacancies were created by the deaths of Judge Deanne Smith Myers Aug. 20 and Judge David Mintz May 12; by the retirements of Judges Coleman Swart, Alexander Williams III, and Suzanne Person on Sept. 15; Leon Kaplan Aug. 1; Michael R. Hoff and Jack Hunt July 31; Xenophon F. Lang Jr. July 29; Michael Duggan July 22: David M. Horwitz July 18; S. Patricia Spear and Charles Lee July 15; Michael T. Sauer July 6: Thomas Townsend July 1; Barry Taylor June 2: Irving Feffer May 22; Francis Hourigan III May 15; Patricia Collins May 6; Wendell Mortimer Jr. April 30 and Stanley Weisberg April 11; by the appointment of Judge Elena Duarte to the Sacramento Superior Court May 16; by the elevation of Judges Tricia Bigelow and Frank Jackson to the Court of Appeal June 4; and by the conversion of four commissioner positions to judgeships following the retirements of Victor Reichman, Richard Curtis and Albert Garcia March 31 and Gerald Richardson May 31.

Judge Kenneth Black, whose last day on the bench was Oct. 17, is retiring Nov. 5. Judge Francis Gately's last day on the bench was Oct. 21 and his retirement is effective Nov. 30.

Judge Rodney Forneret has been undergoing treatment for cancer.

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, 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 Assistant City Attorney Gary Geuss, 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 Byrne; Administrative Law Judge Robert Helfand, Deputy District Attorneys Steven I. Katz, Alison S. Matsumoto, Thomas Rubinson, Shellie Samuels, Jeffrey Gootman, Karla Kerlin, Ricardo Ocampo, John D. Harlan II and Laura Laesecke; Commissioners John Slawson, Rocky L. Crabb, Michael Convey, Victor Greenberg, Amy Pellman, Maren Nelson, Dennis Mulcahy, Ronald Rose, Marilyn Kading Martinez, Mary Lou Katz Byrne, Steven Berman, and Loren DiFrank; 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 Michael Wilner, 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.

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

•AB 171, by Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, which, as amended, would implement the Court of Appeal decision in In re Estate of Claeyssens, 161 C.A. 4th 465, by eliminating graduated probate filing fees and establishing a uniform fee of $320, payable upon filing of a party's first petition or objections. The bill, which passed the Assembly last year in a different form, passed the Senate July 10 by a vote of 35-0, passed the Assembly as amended Aug. 7 by a vote of 76-0, and was signed by the governor Sept. 26.

•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, backed by the Judicial Council, Consumer Attorneys of California and California Defense Counsel, passed the Assembly in May 3, passed the Senate with amendments July 10, and passed the Assembly as amended Aug. 7 by a vote of 76-0. The bill was vetoed Sept. 27 by the governor, who wrote:

"The historic delay in passing the 2008-2009 State Budget has forced me to prioritize the bills sent to my desk at the end of the year's legislative session. Given the delay, I am only signing bills that are the highest priority for California. This bill does not meet that standard and I cannot sign it at this time."

•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, and was amended in the Senate June 24 to eliminate a provision allowing the minor's counsel to waive confidentiality, passed the Assembly as amended Aug. 7 by a vote of 76-0 but was vetoed Sept. 28 by the governor, who said it "would discourage complete and honest testimony in judicial proceedings by forbidding a prosecutor from using a minor's prior statements to demonstrate that he or she is misleading the court."

•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, which passed the Assembly in May and passed the Senate in July with amendments, passed the Assembly Aug. 7 by a vote of 74-2 but was vetoed by the governor Sept. 28 for the same reasons as AB 926.

•AB 1873, by Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, which, as amended, would make various changes in court procedure, including a provision making a person responsible for the support of a minor liable for the costs of providing the minor with counsel in dependency court. The bill, which passed both houses in August, was vetoed Sept. 27 by the governor, who objected to a provision increasing fees for the filing of small claims.

•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-which passed the Assembly May 19 by a vote of 46-27, passed the Senate Aug. 14, with amendments, 22-14; and passed the Assembly, with the Senate amendments, Aug. 18 by a vote of 48-28-was vetoed Sept. 30 by the governor, who said it "would impair the availability of impartial information about prospective judicial candidates, have a chilling effect upon people willing to provide candid information, and would subject individuals to political lobbying from various sources."

•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, passed the Senate Aug. 7 by a vote of 23-15, and was approved by the Assembly Aug. 12 by a vote of 54-24. It was signed by the governor Sept. 27.

•AB 2619 by Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Montebello, which would correct an erroneous cross-reference in the civil discovery statutes. The bill was signed by the governor Sept. 25.

•AB 3050 by Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, which would prohibit the use of the term "legal aid" by organizations that do not provide pro bono legal services, require the Judicial Council to enter into contracts with providers of telephone hearing services, and establish a pilot project to provide court interpreters in civil litigation. The bill passed both houses in August, but was vetoed by the governor Sept. 27 for the same reasons as AB 926.

•AB 3052, by Jones, which would have authorized the use of alternative procedures to those in current law regarding transfer of court facilities to the state. The governor vetoed the bill Sept. 28 for the same reasons as AB 926.

•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 and increase court fees. As amended, the bill does not make appropriations, thereby avoiding the requirement of a two-thirds majority vote. The bill was signed by the governor Sept. 26.

•SB 1589, by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, which would bar prosecutors from using the uncorroborated testimony of in-custody informants. The bill was vetoed Sept. 28 by the governor, who said that adequate safeguards already exist to avoid the abuse of such testimony.