Alumni in the News

September 2003

Gov. Davis Appoints 1 Judge in S.F., 2 in Santa Clara
The Recorder, 9/26/03

Gov. Gray Davis has appointed three new Bay Area judges, two of them affiliated with the La Raza Lawyers Association.

The governor named Aaron Persky ['90] and Carrie Zepeda to the Santa Clara County Superior Court on Wednesday, and Thursday nominated Suzanne Ramos to the San Francisco Superior Court.

Persky, 41, of Santa Clara, prosecutes juvenile offenders for the Santa Clara County district attorney's office. Since joining the office in 1997, he has prosecuted a range of misdemeanor and felony offenses, served in the hate crimes unit and handled sexually violent predator cases.

He ran for election to an open seat on the bench last year, but lost to Ron Del Pozzo, a fellow prosecutor.

A former civil litigator with Morrison & Foerster, Persky has won awards for his work on hate crimes and for his pro bono services for low-income clients. He got his bachelor and master of arts degrees from Stanford University and his law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law. …

On Tuesday, Davis also appointed Drew Edwards ['87], of Altadena, and Frederick Shaller, of San Marino, to the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Edwards, 44, a deputy alternate public defender, graduated from Boalt Hall, while Shaller, 50, a partner at Shaller, McMillan & Wright, is an alumnus of Loyola Law School. …

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Two Pasadena Lawyers Named to Los Angeles Superior Court
Metropolitan News-Enterprise, 9/24/03

Two attorneys from Pasadena, one a plaintiff’s lawyer and the other a criminal defense attorney, were named to the Los Angeles Superior Court yesterday by Gov. Gray Davis.

Deputy Alternate Public Defender Drew E. Edwards ['87] will succeed Judge James Sutton, while Frederick C. Shaller, a partner in Shaller, McMillan & Wright, replaces Judge Marilyn Hoffman. …

Edwards told the MetNews he was “very honored that the governor has put his faith in me,” acknowledging that Davis has appointed few criminal defense lawyers to the bench. He said he does not know when he is going to be sworn in, but plans to meet with court officials today.

He added that he would be content with either a criminal or civil assignment, having done civil work in the past. …

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Man who Looks the Part: S.F. Attorney's Campaign Platform: Jobs, Education
San Francisco Chronicle, 9/23/03

If ever a candidate looked like a governor of California it is Lingel H. Winters ['65], who lives in Berkeley, practices law in San Francisco, and looks like he belongs on Mount Rushmore.

He is 65, a Yale man with silver hair and the unlined face of a statesman. On dress-down Friday, he wears a pin-striped suit. He is a lifelong Democrat, and he quotes Franklin D. Roosevelt: "This generation has a rendezvous with destiny."

Winters' message is clear and simple to understand: California's greatest needs are jobs and keeping higher education affordable. …

Winters thinks the big tuition and fee increases at California's public colleges are "a betrayal of the California dream of higher education."…

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Markets; New York Stock Exchange in Turmoil; Sonsini Declines an Offer to Lead Exchange
Los Angeles Times, 9/19/03

Larry W. Sonsini ['66], widely considered the most powerful lawyer in Silicon Valley, is paid millions of dollars a year to make tough decisions. Perhaps one of his toughest came this week, as he pondered—and ultimately rejected—an offer to lead the New York Stock Exchange after Chairman Richard Grasso abruptly resigned.

Several factors convinced him to say no, according to people familiar with his deliberations. They included Sonsini's preference for working away from the limelight and his reluctance to hand off the stewardship of his elite Palo Alto law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

The offer came in Wednesday afternoon. Sonsini gathered a handful of the firm's senior partners around the oval mahogany table in his understated corner office and conferred for a couple of hours. The partners said the firm would suffer if he went to New York, but left the decision to him. …

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Governor Names Two to Alameda Superior Court
Metropolitan News-Enterprise, 9/19/03

Gov. Gray Davis yesterday named an assistant U.S. attorney and a plaintiffs’ employment litigator to the Alameda Superior Court.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Don Clay of the Northern District of California was named to fill the vacancy created by the death of Judge Richard Inglehart. John M. True ['75] of Leonard Carder was named to replace Judge David Lee, who retired. …

True, 59, has largely represented plaintiffs in wrongful termination, discrimination and sexual harassment litigation for the past decade. Before joining Leonard Carder in 2000 he was a partner with Rudy, Exelrod, Zieff & True.

From 1985 to 1993 he served as a senior staff attorney with the Employment Law Center of the San Francisco Legal Aid Society, where he specialized in class action litigation on behalf of low-income workers. Earlier in his career he was an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board. …

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Sonsini Rejects Iffer to Head NYSE
Reuters, 9/18/03

Los Angeles—Larry Sonsini ['66], the California lawyer who became a legend in Silicon Valley during the late 1990s market boom, declined an offer on Wednesday to run the New York Stock Exchange on an interim basis following the sudden resignation of Richard Grasso, a person familiar with the situation said.

NYSE board members called together an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss whether Grasso should resign because of growing public controversy over his $140 million compensation package.

The board met a second time Wednesday evening to discuss who would become interim chairman and CEO. Sonsini, a board member, was offered the position but turned it down, the source said.

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Larry Sonsini, Trustee of Santa Clara University, is Appointed Interim Chair of NYSE; Larry Sonsini is CEO of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Business Wire, 9/17/03

Larry Sonsini ['66], chairman and chief executive officer of the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and member of Santa Clara University's Board of Trustees, was today appointed interim chair of the New York Stock Exchange.

Sonsini is also the honorary chair of the High Technology Law Institute at Santa Clara University. He received an A.B. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1963 and a J.D. from the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, in 1966. …

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Candidate Leal's Mayoral Quest
San Francisco Chronicle, 9/15/03

City treasurer and mayoral candidate Susan Leal ['75] was squinting into the hot morning sunshine and talking with conviction about her family safety plan. Afterward, pausing to soak up the warmth, she said, "We should really be heading to the Ramp, have a Bloody Mary, get a little heat on."

The libation fantasy quickly dissolved. With 56 days left before election day, Leal—whose dry wit and thirst for fun is matched by a flinty determination—knew she had hands to shake and policy positions to make. She had countless stops, at senior centers, youth programs, community forums. She had questions to answer, grillings to smile through: About taxes and trees, street lights and schools, homeless and home prices. …

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Proposition 54 Would Make Race Discrimination, Not Race, Private
The Recorder, 9/12/03

With only a month to go before the next election, lawyers need to tell the public about the true impact of California's Proposition 54: It will allow the state to perpetrate racial discrimination without detection. Although those who write about California initiatives often try to portray initiatives as being much better or much worse than they truly are, for those who understand Prop 54, no hyperbole is necessary—its purpose and effect is to allow discrimination.

For this reason, at its annual meeting last month, the American Bar Association unanimously called upon all lawyers to oppose California's Proposition 54—the so-called "Racial Privacy Initiative"—because it would devastate efforts to detect, stop and remedy race discrimination in this state. …

Written by Jeff Bleich ['89]

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Sept. 11 Victims can Sue Airlines, Boeing and Landlord
Wall Street Journal, 9/10/03

By Jess Bravin ['97] and Kara Scannell

US District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein has ruled that victims of the September 11 hijackings can sue the airlines, the landlord and the aircraft maker involved, brushing aside arguments that the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were so extraordinary as to absolve the defendants of negligence; the decision sets the stage for an exhaustive public airing of what could have been done to prevent the deaths; separately, a group of large insurers plan to file suit ag ainst Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Sudan and dozens of individuals and organizations (L)

Davis Legal Team Loses Another Top Lawyer
The Recorder, 9/4/03

Sacramento—If he survives the recall, Gov. Gray Davis could be left to craft a new legal team: Not only are some of his top people trying to get out, but now one of his key energy lawyers has left the building.

William Kissinger ['87], who served about two years with Davis and led the renegotiations of the state's long-term energy contracts, has returned to private practice at Bingham McCutchen in San Francisco.

Kissinger is the first high-profile departure in the weeks before the recall, but he might not be the last. His boss, legal affairs secretary Barry Goode, has applied to be a judge, as has judicial appointments secretary Burt Pines. …

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