Commissioner Slabach's Dedication to Family Law 'A Gift' The Recorder, 3/22/05
COURT: San Francisco Superior APPOINTED: May 1, 1997 DATE OF BIRTH: Aug. 8, 1943 LAW SCHOOL: Boalt Hall School of Law, 1982 PREVIOUS JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE: Pro tem judge, Sonoma County Superior Court
Don't come to Commissioner Marjorie Slabach's '82 courtroom for a family law hearing without trying to settle. If the lawyers and clients haven't all met face-to-face, she'll send both sides into the hall for an impromptu meeting before their hearing.
And if they return with the magic words - "full stipulation" - the San Francisco Superior Court commissioner lets themjump to the head of the line, to reward them and hold them up as good role models.
"My mantra is 'talk to each other, listen to each other, settle, settle, settle,'" said Slabach, who spent 14 years as a family law attorney before the court hired her in 1997. Though she concedes some people can't agree without a jurist's intervention, Slabach thinks family members know best where they can afford to bend.
During hearings and trials in Department 404, Slabach sets child and spousal support, decides custody and visitation rights and divvies up property. One day a week, she hears requests for domestic-violence and elder-abuse restraining orders. ...
Monopoly Masters; Practice Focus; These 12 Antitrust Lawyers Knock Out the Competition Legal Times, 3/21/05
George Cary '76 had 72 hours to accomplish the seemingly impossible.
First, the Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton partner needed to get the Federal Trade Commission to approve a merger before the paperwork had even been filed. Then, he had to get the commissioners to authorize intervention in a bankruptcy proceeding to derail a rival bid. All in the space of three days.
Against all odds, Cary made it happen, and his client, the hard-disk-drive maker Western Digital Corp., won the fight in July 2003 to acquire the Read-Rite Corp.
One of the least-public victories in a career marked by high-profile triumphs, this win is the one he's "most proud of," says Cary, 53.
"He really pulled a rabbit out of the hat for us," says Raymond Bukaty, general counsel of Western Digital. "We were elated. . . . Somehow, he was able by force of argument, and his good reputation, to persuade the FTC that the matter was worth looking into on an urgent basis." ...
Judge Finds No Room For Activism On the Bench The Recorder, 3/15/05
COURT: U.S. District Court, Eastern District (Sacramento) APPOINTED: 1996 by President George H.W. Bush DATE OF BIRTH: May 28, 1938 LAW SCHOOL: Boalt Hall School of Law, 1963 PREVIOUS JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE: None
T o the uninitiated, a political map of Eastern District Judge William Shubb's '63 decisions might look like the World's-Crookedest-Street stretch of San Francisco's Lombard Street.
A George H.W. Bush appointee, Shubb in 1997 overturned the death penalty conviction of Anthony Bean, convicted of two murders,on the basis of ineffectual defense. In 2000's Silveira v. Lockyer, Shubb ruled in favor of California's assault weapon ban. In 2002, Shubb held in United States v. Miles that compulsory DNA testing of probationers constituted a violation of the Fourth Amendment. And in 2003, Shubb ruled that the state's Holocaust Victim Insurance Relief Act of 1999 was preempted by the president's ability to conduct national foreign policy.
Shubb says his record is easy to understand - if politics are eliminated from the picture.
"To me, judicial activism is wrong, no matter which side of the political spectrum it's on," Shubb said. "To me, the role of the judge, especially the role of the district court judge, is to determine the law and follow the law. ...
Palmdale—In a surprise ceremony arranged by judges, Ross Amspoker '49 was honored Monday for his many years of service and leadership in Antelope Valley legal and civic affairs.
In 1950, he was the first attorney to open a full-time office in Palmdale. In 1993, Amspoker was hired as a Superior Court referee, acting as a judge in civil cases. In 2002, he was one of four Antelope Valley referees who were laid off as part of a cost-cutting move by Los Angeles County Superior Court.
He continued to work as a court referee - but for free. Now he volunteers his time in court, hearing probate matters one to two days a week. ...
Aguirre Takes Pride in Latest Crime-Fighter Role San Diego Union-Tribune, 3/14/05
I was washing a car on the street when Jim, my newspaper-reading neighbor, walked up and asked, "What do you make of Mike Aguirre '74?"
Later in the evening, I was hitting tennis balls up the alley, running the retriever, when Leonard, another neighbor, opened his back door and let his shepherd out to join the chase.
Right off the bat, he asked: "What's going on with Mike Aguirre?"
As if I should know.
San Diegans first started asking the Aguirre question a quarter-century ago. That is when the ambitious young attorney exercised a political death wish by declaring war against powerful Sheriff John Duffy for alleged mob ties. ...
Farella in Market For a New Chair New York Lawyer, 3/11/05
After nine years at the helm, Farella Braun & Martel Chairman William Schlinkert '78 is stepping down.
The 62-member partnership will elect a new chair at the end of April. Schlinkert will retain his post through June to help with the transition and then return to his tax and business practice full time.
Schlinkert, 51, said there are a number of strong candidates that could succeed him, and it will be up to the partnership to chose someone from its ranks.
"Succession is natural and healthy, and after nine years it's time to get some new blood into the position," Schlinkert said. ...
Judge Brick fulfilling promise with high-profile rulings The Recorder, 3/8/05
COURT: Alameda County Superior APPOINTED: Jan. 4, 2001 DATE OF BIRTH: April 1947 LAW SCHOOL: Boalt Hall School of Law, 1972 PREVIOUS JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE: Judge Pro Tem, 1990-2000
Ralph Baxter Jr. saw it coming, 33 years ago.
The CEO of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe remembered Steven Brick '72 as an early bloomer who had "a stature, a temperament that set him apart. ... He always seemed to be ahead of the curve."
Mark Levie, an Orrick corporate partner who worked with Brick for 24 years, had a similar impression.
"I knew that he had a real interest in going on the judiciary, and he made no secret of that," Levie said. "I was expecting that one way or another, he would get picked."
Gov. Gray Davis fulfilled everyone's expectations when he chose Brick, a well-rounded corporate litigator and former president of the Bar Association of San Francisco, to become an Alameda County Superior Court Judge four years ago.
But it's only been over the past two years that Brick, 57, began leaving his mark with a swath of rulings that have attracted the public's attention far beyond the tiny Oakland courtroom where he handles law and motion. ...
Public Health Institute Appoints Lawyer to Lead Litigation Settlement Management Program; New Director to Manage $21 Million Settlement Involving Prescription Drug Marketing Ascribe Newswire, 3/8/2005
OAKLAND, Calif., March 9 [AScribe Newswire]—The Public Health Institute today announced the appointment of attorney Brenda Drake '75 as the director of the Public Health Trust, a program that manages funds generated through lawsuits dealing with a wide variety of public health issues.
Drake's first challenge involves a $21 million settlement with Warner-Lambert [now part of Pfizer] for the alleged illegal off-label promotion of its anti-epileptic drug, Neurontin.
A committee of attorneys general representing 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government selected the Public Health Trust [ www.publichealthtrust.org ] to administer the settlement funds by developing a program that provides consumers and health care professionals with information on prescription drugs, including the way in which drugs are marketed.
"The Public Health Trust has helped create and support dozens of innovative projects to improve the public's health," says Drake. "I plan to expand this work nationally, starting with the Neurontin settlement." ...
