Alumni in the News

July 2003

Avoid Boilerplate in Commissioner's Courtroom
The Recorder, 7/29/03

You can take a hit to your wallet if you don't tailor your discovery motions before Commissioner Loretta Norris ['78].

"I really feel very strongly about boilerplate objections and general objections," said the San Francisco Superior Court jurist. "They are not allowed under the law, and you're very likely to be sanctioned if you use them."

Her propensity for such sanctions is one example attorneys give when they describe Norris as a tough, no-nonsense commissioner who doesn't tolerate lawyers' games.

"I do think she tries very hard to be fair," said Paul Perdue, a San Francisco trial lawyer who has appeared before Norris several times, though not in discovery. "On the other hand, I don't think she suffers fools very gladly.". …

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Fresno Attorney Appointed as Judge
Fresno Bee, 7/22/03

Adolfo M. Corona ['85] was appointed Monday as Fresno County Superior Court judge and expects to take the bench by September.

Gov. Davis made the appointment, which fills the county allotment of 36 judges. Corona, 44, has about five weeks to make the transition from an attorney for private Fresno firm Dowling, Aaron & Keeler Inc., where he has worked since 1986.

The appointment came about nine months after he applied, a short period that is a testament to his value to the courts, firm partner Richard Aaron said. Appointments take six months to two years to make, passing through the Fresno County Bar Association and the State Bar of California for evaluation before the governor makes an appointment. …

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15 Under 30: These Bay Area 20-somethings are Movin' and Shakin'
San Francisco Chronicle, 7/20/03

Lisa Tenorio ['99], Special Assistant U.S. Attorney

Four days into her job as a special assistant United States attorney, Lisa Tenorio was in federal court prosecuting six cases in the major crime section.

She was 26 and 5 feet 2 inches, the height she's been since she was 14, but it's her voice that gets your attention. It seems stuck at 14, too.

"Some people think it's very weak, and others think it's very high," Tenorio says.

They all think it's persuasive. She won all six cases, and she was just on loan from the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Before long she was recruited to the California Energy Manipulation Task Force. Technically she is still on loan, but it's a long-term loan, for the duration. …

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Brown Forecast: Partly Cloudy, Chance of Storm
The Recorder, 7/18/03

Senate Democrats might want to keep Janice Rogers Brown out of the nation's capital and far from a U.S. Supreme Court post down the road, experts say, but they could be shooting themselves in the feet if they press too hard.

It might even be wise, some say, if Democrats go all out to expedite Brown's likely appointment to the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Doing so could ensure that Gov. Gray Davis gets to replace her on the California Supreme Court long before facing a recall vote that could wind up letting a Republican make that decision.

On Thursday, after both The Recorder and The Washington Post reported that Brown could be President Bush's nominee for one of three vacancies on the D.C. court, pundits around the nation were buzzing about what might transpire if the 54-year-old conservative black woman had to face confirmation hearings - especially when Bush's recent nominees have faced so much heat. …

Eva Paterson ['75], a longtime San Francisco civil rights lawyer, said anti-Brown forces are gathering.

"From what I understand, she's a very nice person personally," Paterson said, "but to me she is ideologically aligned with [Antonin] Scalia, Thomas and [William] Rehnquist. We're one vote away from overturning Roe v. Wade perhaps and certainly one vote away from overturning affirmative action - and she would be that vote."…

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Executive Profile: R. Michael Scarno JR; Unethical Lawyers
San Diego Business Journal, 7/16/03

The one thing Michael Scarano ['84] finds annoying is unethical lawyers.

But when it comes to representing a client whose ethical conduct is questionable, Scarano, a partner in the Health Law Department of Foley & Lardner in Del Mar, is strictly business:

"I would advise him about the best role of action in doing what's necessary to fix the problem," Scarano said. "People make mistakes and they need lawyers to help deal with the consequences of their mistakes."

BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY:

Essential Business Philosophy: Creative thinking, effective communication, and access to the right decision-makers will solve almost every problem. Collaboration is usually more effective than confrontation.

Best way to keep a competitive edge: Stay ahead of the curve. Anticipate changes in the law and business environment before they happen.

Guiding principles: Balance is key. Never lose sight of the things in life that matter most.

Yardstick of success: Respect of clients and colleagues. …

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An Uncommon Judicial System in Kosovo
Southeasat European Times, 7/15/03

With two sets of judges and prosecutors, neither accountable to the other, Kosovo's judicial system is an uncommon one. Local and international judicial authorities have differing views of their roles, and often regard each other more as competitors than as colleagues.

Local judges believe the system is geared towards parallelism. The international authorities see their ability to intervene in any phase of the judicial process as support for the inexperienced Kosovars. In some cases, the nature of the system has made it possible for those convicted of crimes to question their verdicts, based on the source.

When international judges sentenced Luan Haradinaj to five years in prison, his brother -- who heads Kosovo's 3rd largest political party -- questioned their fairness and impartiality. He charged that the verdict was politically motivated.

Typically, international judges are accused of being arrogant, whereas local ones have the reputation of being reluctant to take on serious crimes.

Whenever UNMIK prosecutor Michael Hartmann ['79] hears criticism of his colleagues, he replies by urging local authorities to be tougher on organised crime. Hartman has brought many "untouchables" and war commanders before the courts. …

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Lawsuit Halts Plans to Log Near BWCA
Star Tribune, 7/12/03

Superior National Forest officials have temporarily halted a timber sale after two environmental groups charged that the logging would be too close to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness (BWCA) and might harm Canada lynx habitat.

Forest officials opened bids on the sale Tuesday but did not award a contract because of a lawsuit filed on July 3 by the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife.

"We're not going to award the sale until we move further into understanding the lawsuit," said Paul Momper, deputy forest supervisor for the Superior National Forest. He declined to say how long that might take.

At issue is logging on nearly 1,700 acres of forest and the construction or reopening of nearly 38 miles of roads, some of which would extend to the borders of the BWCA. Most of the acreage would be clear-cut in different segments during the next six years.

"The real issue with the timber sale is where it's happening," said Anne Mahle ['01], a Minneapolis attorney who filed the suit. She said the proposed logging, known as the Big Grass project area, is in a narrow corridor less than 2 miles wide in places that separates two large portions of wilderness. …

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IRS Names Babers Chief Human Capital Officer
Government Computer News, 7/10/03

The IRS today selected Beverly Ortega Babers ['89] to be its chief human capital officer, a new position under John Dalrymple, deputy commissioner for operations support.

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 required that executive departments and agencies appoint a chief human capital officer.

“The chief human capital officer serves as an integral part of senior leadership,” an IRS spokesman said.

The CHCO advises the IRS commissioner on work force development policy and ways to find the most productive employees for the right job in their agency based on merit system principles, the spokesman said.

Babers, who joined the IRS in 1999, is now the director of technical services in the IRS Appeal Division, overseeing tax policy and procedure, technical guidance and processing services functions within the division. …

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Thinking Small: Search for Flexibility Leads Some Women to Start Their Own Firms
The Recorder, 7/7/03

Michele Ballard Miller was tired of seeing the mommy track treated like a case of the mumps.

By the time she quit big-firm life in 1998, she'd become an equity partner at then-Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May.

But even as a partner, she couldn't square the conflicting demands of her children and the firm's clients. Something had to give. So Miller left Crosby and started the Miller Law Group in Larkspur with another woman wanting out of big-firm life. …

Angela Bradstreet ['80], a former president of the Bar Association of San Francisco and a partner at 76-lawyer Carroll, Burdick & McDonough, wants to see big firms put up more of a fight for women like Lakey.

In her "No Glass Ceiling" initiative, Bradstreet has called on Bay Area firms to offer lawyers greater flexibility. She wants to see part-time programs "with some teeth," adding that the option makes financial sense. "Statistics show that part-time attorneys are equally if not more profitable than full-time attorneys. These days, people are always accessible by cell phone," Bradstreet says. "How is a mother at a playground less accessible than an attorney in depositions for a week?"…

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Court Says Intel Can't Stop Email with Trespass Law
The Recorder, 7/1/03

Companies besieged by unwanted e-mail can only invoke the state's trespass-to-chattels law if the messages cause actual damage to equipment or property, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday.

Ruling 4-3 in a case that's been closely monitored in free speech and technology law circles, the justices said it's not enough if the unwanted messages just take time and attention away from employees

But the majority ruling, by Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar ['62] , said the law could still be used against senders of spam that overloads company servers. …

The court drew precisely the right line, Boalt Hall School of Law Professor Mark Lemley ['91] wrote in an e-mail. "By drawing the line it did, the court makes it clear that [Internet service providers] can stop spam that shuts down their systems, while forbidding companies from using the tort of trespass to chattels as a competitive weapon or a way to stop speech." …

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Leading with Librarians
California Legal Pro (The Recorder), Summer 2003

You don't miss your water 'til your well runs dry. —Otis Redding

When Otis Redding sang those words, he was referring to lost love, But they currently ring true for me when I think about librarianship. I would like to believe that I always recognized what good fortune came my way when I decided to be a law librarian. Still, it was only once I set aside working as a librarian that I saw just how good I had it. …

Robert Berring ['74] is a law professor and director of the law library at Boalt Hall School of Law in Berkeley. He is also the interim dean of the law school. This article first appeared in the March/April 2003 issue of Law Librarians in the New Millennium, a publication of Thomson/West, and is reprinted with permission.

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