Sacramento Lawyer Magazine

March/April 2013

Pacific McGeorge School of Law

Dean Francis J. Mootz III

www.sacbar.org

Cover photo by Mary Burroughs

Bench-Bar Reception Sets Sponsor and Attendance Records Law and Public Policy Academy Thriving at C.K. McClatchy High School

• Employment • Real Estate • Personal Injury

• Class Actions • Banking • Corporate and Partnership Dissolutions

Joe has opened his own practice to concentrate on mediation and arbitration.

His lifetime of experience as a successful trial lawyer has also made him into a highly effective mediator and an insightful and practical arbitrator.

Joe@GenshleaLaw.com O/ (916) 525-8444 C/ (916) 825-9952 400 Capitol Mall / Suite 1750 / Sacramento, CA 95814

F/ (916) 525-8446

www.genshlealaw.com

MARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

3

Editor’s Message

Give a Kid a Helping Hand

T

here are few things in life more rewarding than helping a kid – especially one that might not have grown up with all the advantages we sometimes take for granted. Now is your opportunity to help.

The C.K. McClatchy Law and Public Policy Academy is looking for attorney and law-firm volunteers to provide summer internships for students entering the 12th grade and their third and final year in the program. The academy, which was previewed last year by former SCBA President Mike Levy and is the subject of a Spring update in this issue of the Sacramento Lawyer, is part of a joint State Bar and Department of Education program designed to increase interest among at-risk students in pursuing a career in the legal profession.

One of only six such law-related academies in the state, the program

hopes to stimulate interest by incorporating the law into the students’ regular curriculum and exposing them to positive role-models through the use of mentors, special guest speakers, and field trips. In only its second year of operation, sophomore enrollment (the first year students can enter) is already up 40% and test scores show the vast majority of students are on track to graduate.

But now the academy wants to provide students with summer internships in order to complete their realworld experience. The goal is not only to encourage them to become lawyers and judges, but to consider a wide variety of jobs within the legal profession. According to Levy, academy students can perform a variety of tasks, including filing, photocopying, and answering phones.

Sometimes all a kid needs to reach their potential is a little encourage-

ment -- someone to tell them they can do it and all things are possible if you’re willing to work. The kids aren’t looking for a handout; just someone to give them a chance.

If you’re interested in providing a summer internship this year or want more information, please contact Karen Maxwell at 916-874-5834 or maxwellk@sacda.org or Sonia Fernandes at 916-327-1114 or sfernandes@dmhc.ca.gov You never know. Maybe the kid you give a job this summer will turn out to become a supreme court justice.

It’s happened before.

SCBA Interim EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Mary J. Burroughs OFFICERS Bruce Timm - President Stacy Moak - 1st Vice President BJ Susich - 2nd Vice President Angela Lai - Secretary Treasurer EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jack Laufenberg - jclaufenberg@prodigy.net STAFF EDITOR Heather Cline Hoganson SACRAMENTO LAWYER POLICY COMMITTEE Samson R. Elsbernd Helene Friedman David Graulich Coral Henning Yoshinori H.T. Himel Jack Laufenberg COURTHOUSE STEPS steps@sacbar.org

4

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

DESIGN AND PUBLISHING Mary J. Burroughs (916) 564-3780 mburroughs@sacbar.org SURFING FROM RIVER CITY Coral Henning (916) 874-6013 chenning@saclaw.org ADVERTISING SALES Mary J. Burroughs (916) 564-3780 x206 mburroughs@sacbar.org EVENTS - MEMBER CLASSIFIED ADS (916) 564-3780 x200 reception@sacbar.org

By Jack Laufenberg

BOARD OF DIRECTORS DIRECTORS AT LARGE Sonia Fernandes David Graulich Susan Hill Jason Jasmine Jeannie Lee Jones Katie Patterson William Schuetz Mark Slaughter Sabrina Thomas SACRAMENTO LAW FOUNDATION Stephen Duvernay, saclawfoundation.org

AFFILIATE REPRESENTATIVES Asian Bar Association (ABAS) Kara Ueda Barristers’ Club Monica Hans Capitol City Trial Lawyers Jack Vetter Federal Bar Association Breann Moebius LaRaza Michael Terhorst Leonard M. Friedman Bar Association Jeff Levine Saint Thomas More Society of Sacramento (STMS) Herb Bolz Sacramento Lawyers for the Equality of Gays and Lesbians (SacLegal) Jeff Edwards South Asian Bar Association Tej Grewal Wiley Manuel Bar Association Alana Mathews

SACRAMENTO COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE

Table of Contents

V O L U M E

1 1 4 ,

N U M B E R

2

•

M A R C H / A P R I L

2 0 1 3

LITIGATION 8 A View from the Civil Trial Bench: Computer Animation Evidence in Jury Trials COVER STORY 16 Francis J. Mootz III Takes Over as 9th Dean in History of Pacific McGeorge School of Law EVENTS 20 Bench-Bar Reception Sets Sponsor and Attendance Records SECTION & AFFILIATE NEWS 14 Promulgations from the Tax Section 26 Barristers’ Club Update 28 SCBA Welcomes New Civil Litigation Section 30 SacLEGAL Holiday Party Celebrates 2012 LGBT Election Victories

16

COMMUNITY SERVICE 22 VLSP Volunteers Fill Community Need LAW & PUBLIC POLICY 24 Law and Public Policy Academy Thriving at C.K. McClatchy High School

DEPARTMENTS 4 Editor’s Message 6 President’s Message 12 Law Library News 13 Surfing from River City

32 32 34 34

Calendar Courthouse Steps Classifieds Index to Advertisers

24

Sacramento Lawyer welcomes letters and article suggestions from readers. Please e-mail them to editor@sacbar.org. The Sacramento County Bar Association reserves the right to edit articles and letters sent in for publication. Please contact SCBA 916-564-3780 for deadline information, fax 916-564-3787, or e-mail mburroughs@sacbar.org. Web page: www.sacbar.org.

Caveat: Articles and other work submitted to Sacramento Lawyer become the copyrighted property of the Sacramento County Bar Association. Returns of tangible items such as photographs are by permission of the Executive Director only, by pickup at the SCBA office only.

Women Lawyers of Sacramento Nichole Rapier COMMITTEE / SECTION REPRESENTATIVES Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) Peter Kyung Conference of Delegates Andi Liebenbaum Indigent Defense Panel (IDP) Kevin Adamson Section Representative Daniel Yamshon Voluntary Legal Services Program (VLSP) Victoria Jacobs SECTIONS Administrative Law Heather Cline Hoganson Alternative Dispute Resolution Ken Malovos

Appellate Law Scott Cameron Bankruptcy & Commercial Law Jamie Dreher Business Law Sarra Ziari Children’s Counsel Diane Wasznicky Environmental Law Andrea P. Clark Family Law Russell Carlson Health Care Kristen Cerf/John Puente Labor & Employment Law Meredith Packer Garey Probate & Estate Planning Donna L. Courville Real Property Ian M. Hunter Tax Law Ciro Immordino

Worker’s Compensation Jason Marcus COMMITTEES Bylaws BJ Susich Continuing Education of the Bar Daniel Yamshon Diversity Hiring and Retention Linda Partmann Electronic Media Herb Bolz / Katie Patterson Fee Arbitration Ken Bacon Judicial Review Philip R. Birney Judiciary Diane W. Wasznicky Long Range Planning TBD Membership TBD

Pictorial Directory Herb Bolz Sacramento Lawyer Policy Jack Laufenberg Sacramento Lawyer (USPS 0981-300) is published bi-monthly by the Sacramento County Bar Association, 1329 Howe Avenue, #100,Sacramento, CA 95825. Issn 1087-8771.

Annual subscription rate: $6.00 included in membership dues, or $24.00 for nonmembers.

Periodicals postage paid at Sacramento, California. Postmaster: Send address changes to Sacramento Lawyer, 1329 Howe Avenue, #100, Sacramento, CA 95825. Copyright 2013 by the Sacramento County Bar Association.

Each author’s commentary reflects his/her individual opinion only and not that of his/her employer, organization with which he/she is affiliated, or Sacramento Lawyer magazine, unless otherwise stated.

MARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

5

President's Message

SCBA Board Kicks off Ambitious 2013 Agenda

W

By Bruce M. Timm

Photo credit: Brian Simeroth/AOC

ith great enthusiasm and energy, the SCBA Board members of this pilot program will analyze current mentorof Directors has wasted no time in launching ship programs, present a plan to our board, and then move new programs and laying the foundation necessary to reach forward to provide assistance to our newest colleagues strugits 2013 goals. gling to transition into the Sacramento legal community.

During its annual, all-day, January retreat, the Board The Board also wishes to thank Judge Morrison England, gathered at Mulvaney’s B&L Justice Vance Raye, Judge and commenced what Laurie Earl, and Judge promises to be a busy and Stacy Boulware-Eurie for productive year. Intent on attending our retreat and taking a leading role among presenting on the state of California bar associations their respective courts. on the issue of restoring The Board would also like adequate funding to our to thank attorney Nancy courts, the Board formed Lee for an informative the SCBA Court Funding presentation on the fiduciTask Force. It is to be coary obligations of SCBA chaired by the following board members. distinguished members of We are off to a great the Sacramento legal comstart, but we have much munity: Hon. Art Scotland work to do moving forSCBA 1st Vice President Stacy Moak, Chief Justice Tani (ret.), Ralph Ochoa, Bob Cantil-Sakauye, and SCBA President Bruce Timm ward. In an effort to Buccola, and Nancy Miller. engage our entire legal Given the caliber of these individuals and our proximity to community, we are evaluating many potential new member the State Legislature, it’s clear that the SCBA is now prepared benefits, including benefits relating to certain practice-speto engage in the court funding issue in a unique and meancific areas of the legal community, such as criminal law and ingful way. The Board wishes to thank all of the co-chairs federal practice. We are also working to engage the busifor agreeing to serve, and particularly Justice Scotland for ness community. To that end, we are planning an April taking the time to attend the retreat and answer questions event designed to bring the Sacramento legal and business from our directors. communities together.

As an example of how we can assist in efforts to restore Finally, as I write this article, an SCBA committee is court funding, the SCBA, along with the State Bar, the Open working diligently to plan a reception for former United Courts Coalition, the Consumer Attorneys of California, States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who and the California Defense Counsel, sponsored a reception will be in Sacramento on February 28, 2013 to promote for Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and the newly elected civic education. state senators and Assembly members. The reception, Because of the ambitious agenda we are pursuing for which was held at Spataro’s restaurant in downtown 2013, we are seeking help from members of the legal comSacramento in January, was held as a way to bring the parmunity who may have an interest or passion for some of the ties together in an informal setting to discuss judicial initiatives we have undertaken. If you would like to get branch funding issues. It was well attended by members of involved, please contact the bar office and we will put you the bench, bar and State Legislature. to work!

In an effort to address the challenges new lawyers face in the anemic job market, the Board created the SCBA Bar Mentorship Program. Working with local law schools,

6

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

For more information visit: www.sacbar.org

MARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

7

Litigation

A View from the Civil Trial Bench: Computer Animation Evidence in Jury Trials

By Judge Judy Holzer Hersher

This article represents the thoughts and opinions of the author and should not be considered court policy or the opinion of other trial judges. Comments should be addressed to HersherJ@saccourt.ca.gov

S

ometimes the best legal precedent available to civil litigators is found in criminal case law. With respect to the use of computer animation during trial, this is presently the case.

In August of 2012, the California Supreme Court published its decision in People v. Duenas (2012) 55 Cal. 4th 1 (hereinafter “Duenas”). The case involved a defendant who shot and killed a deputy sheriff. The jury that heard the evidence had to decide how the shooting happened, whether the defendant intentionally committed the murder to avoid a lawful arrest, and whether he knew or should have known that the victim was a peace officer performing his duties. If the answer to any of these questions was “yes,” the defendant was subject to a first degree murder conviction and the death penalty. The jury answered yes and the defendant was sentenced to death. One of the legal challenges made by the defense before the state high court in the appeal that followed was the admissibility of computer generated evidence used by the prosecution’s expert witnesses to support the theory that the murder was premeditated and deliberate.

During trial, two prosecution witnesses, Dr. Carley Ward, an expert in biomechanics, and her son, Parris Ward, a computer graphics expert, showed the jury a four-minute series of computer generated drawings depicting the scene of the crime. The animation consisted of a series of mostly still images “drawn to give the

8

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

impression of three-dimensional space.” It included a computer-generated street scene with various perspectives on where the shooter allegedly stood, how the body reacted after the officer was shot repeatedly over the relevant period of time, and where each of several stray bullets landed.

Importantly, all of the illustrations were based on testimony given by the persons who performed the autopsy, wrote the police reports, took photographs and measurements at the crime scene, examined the deceased officer’s bulletproof vest, and collected blood-spatter and other available evidence. (Duenas, at p.18.) Each drawing also allowed the viewer to visualize the scene from different angles.

The figures in the drawings were essentially stick figures, with no distinct facial features. Their faces showed no expression. The computer drawings had hyperlinks to statements from key witnesses, including the defendant, which appeared on screen next to the stick figures as the expert testified and gave her opinions. Some of the computer-generated drawings were superimposed with explanatory remarks, such as “bullet goes through hand here” or “impact point” there, followed by links which further imposed color crime-scene photos onto the drawings.

Animations “Akin to Charts or Diagrams”

Computer generated evidence generally falls into one of two categories: animation or simulation.

As explained in Duenas, computer animation is often used to illustrate an expert’s testimony and is more often than not designed to help the jury understand the expert’s testimony. It is therefore considered “akin to charts or diagrams.” (Duenas at p.20 [citations]; People v. Hood (1997) 53 Cal.App.4th 965, 969.) Although it may be presented to and discussed in front of the jury during a party’s case, computer animations are often not admitted into evidence, and thus may not be reshown to the jury during closing.

They typically are not available to the jury in the deliberation room.

Animations may be used during a party’s case because they are “evidence,” albeit not necessarily admissible evidence, as that term is defined in Evidence Code section 140 (“…writings, material objects, or other things presented to the senses that are offered to prove the existence or nonexistence of a fact.”), and because they are considered “writings” pursuant to Evidence Code section 250 (…“any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds or symbols or combination thereof…”), so long as they are otherwise supported by an adequate foundation. (See Evidence Code section 402(c): “A ruling on the admissibility of evidence implies whatever finding of fact is prerequisite thereto…”). Every animation must therefore be based on admitted evidence or the reasonable inferences therefrom as explained by the witness; otherwise it

is subject to objection if it does not.

Simulations, on the other hand, contain as part of their creation scientific assumptions or physical principles separate and apart from the admitted evidence. A computer, for example, may be programmed to use a novel or generally unaccepted scientific, mathematical or other principle as part of its analysis, or it may adopt a novel method of proof as part of its assumptions. In simulations, experts are relying on these built in novel theories or assumptions to render their opinions. As a result, simulations usually require a preliminary hearing and a showing that any new scientific or other utilized assumption or technique has gained general acceptance in the relevant expert community. In short, simulations must be tested against the rules for admission of new scientific or physical principles because they contain within them substantive evidence. (Duenas, at pg.

20-21 [citations]; People v. Kelly (1976) 17 Cal.3d 24, 30; see also People v. Hood, supra, (1997) 53 Cal.App.4th at pp. 969–970.)

into uncritically accepting the version of events depicted in the animation,” and thus should have been excluded under Evidence Code section 352 because its probative value was substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission would create a substantial danger of misleading the jury. The defense, borrowing from arguments generally made against simulations, asserted that the animation

tended to give the evidence “a posture of mystic infallibility in the eyes of a jury, gave the prosecution's case “an unwarranted aura of scientific certainty,” and was cumulative of other evidence. (See Duenas, at p. 18, discussing the holdings of People v. Hood, supra, 53 Cal.App.4th at p. 969, and People v. Kelly, supra, 17 Cal.3d at p.

32, which found that with respect to certain scientific processes -- particu-

Avoiding “Mystic Infallibility”

Animations —based on everything from photos to videos and computer re-creations—have the ability to significantly impact a juror’s assessment of the evidence. They make real, and thus more tangible to the senses, what can be an un-engaging or confusing narrative by a witness. As in all cases where they are proffered -- civil or criminal -- the opposing party often objects to animations because of their potential to not only highlight and illustrate in a more memorable way, but because of their potential persuasive power.

In Duenas the defendant agreed the computer presentation was an animation and not a simulation.

However, he argued that the animation was “likely to beguile the jurors MARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

9

Checklist for Admissibility of Computer Generated Evidence (Animation) as Demonstrative Aid, by Judge Judy Holzer Hersher.

Based on the decision in People v. Duenas (2012) 55 Cal.4th 1

cautioned, as part of their testimony, that the animation represented their best estimate of how the crime occurred, while at the same time acknowledging that they could not tell the jury “specifically [that] that’s exactly how they happened.” (Duenas, at pgs.22-23.) In her closing argument, the prosecutor herself acknowledged that the animation was for use only to explain the expert’s opinion. Upon this record, the court found that the presentation was not imbued with “mystic infallibility.”

The Question is Not Indisputable Accuracy, but Accurate Representation of the Witness’s Testimony

larly those experimental in nature -that “…‘[S]cientific proof may in some instances assume a posture of mystic infallibility in the eyes of a jury…’ [Citation.]”)

The Supreme Court rejected defendant’s argument that the animation gave the prosecution’s case an unwarranted aura of scientific certainty, finding that defendant’s real argument was with the conclusions the prosecution’s experts drew from the available evidence and their reliance on the scientific discipline, recognized and accepted by the courts, of human body biomechanics.

10

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

The court also pointed to a limiting instruction given by the trial judge. It cautioned the jury that: “What you’re going to see is an animation based on compilation of different expert opinions. This is similar to the expert using charts or diagrams to demonstrate their respective opinion. This is not a film of what actually occurred or an exact re-creation. It is only an aid to giving you a view as to the prosecution version of the events based upon particular viewpoints and based upon interpretation of the evidence.” (Duenas, at p.22.) The experts themselves also

The Supreme Court further held the animation was relevant, as it was concerned with the question of premeditation and deliberation, a key issue in the trial. It also agreed with the trial court that the animation was not speculative. Prior to presentation to the jury, the trial court held an Evidence Code section 402 hearing, considered the other admissible evidence, and determined that the animation was sufficiently grounded on this evidence. The question that needs to be asked, according to the high court, is “not whether the animation represents the underlying events of the crime with indisputable accuracy, but whether the animation accurately represents the expert’s opinion as to those events” and how they unfolded.

(Duenas, at p. 22.)

The Supreme Court found that the grounding of the animation on other admissible evidence, combined with the limiting instruction by the trial judge, the statements of the experts on the limitations of their presentation, and the prosecutor’s closing argument reminding the jurors of the same, mitigated against any potential that the probative value of the demonstrative aid was outweighed by the risk of undue prejudice to the defen-

dant. (Duenas, at p.24.)

Finally, the high court dispensed with the challenge that the animation was cumulative because it repeated the testimony of the prosecution witnesses, instead holding that the argument “misapprehends the animation's role” as a demonstrative aid, not as substantive evidence. Thus, it was properly admitted as “a tool to aid the jury in understanding the substantive evidence.” (Duenas, at p. 25.)

A checklist based on the Duenas holding and discussion accompanies this column for the use by counsel arguing for or against animations in civil and criminal jury trials. (See Checklist on previous page.)

1. See CACI 5020 “Demonstrative Evidence” which reads: “During the trial, materials have been shown to you to [help explain testimony or other evidence in the case/ [specify other purpose]]. [Some of these materials have been admitted into evidence, and you will be able to review

them during your deliberations.] Other materials have also been shown to you during the trial, but they have not been admitted into evidence. You will not be able to review them during your deliberations because they are not themselves evidence or proof of any facts. You may, however, consider the testimony given in connection with those materials.”

2. See Jefferson’s California Evidence Benchbook: Animation is based on already admitted foundational evidence and is used solely to illustrate the expert’s point; simulation involves expert opinion testimony arrived at or only based on or derived from the computer or models conclusions, thus becoming substantive evidence. (2 Jefferson, California Evidence Benchbook, (4th ed. March 2012 Update) Admissibility of Electronic Evidence, section 33.59, page 790.1.)

3. Biomechanical engineers and testimony by biomechanical engineers are not uncommon in civil or criminal jury trials. As explained by one of the experts in this case, biomechanics “entails the application of engineering principles and physics to “the human structure.” (Duenas, at p.18.)

For more information visit: www.sacbar.org

MARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

11

Law Library News

Spotlight on the Collection: MCLE with a Local Focus – Programs on the Sacramento Environment

D

By Kate Fitz, Public Services Librarian, Sacramento County Public Law Library

id you miss the State Bar Environmental Law Conference this October? The Law Library is no substitute for Yosemite, but we do have CD recordings of a number of the programs offered at the conference – both general updates and programs focusing on issues affecting Sacramento and the surrounding region. Come in and learn the latest on California environmental law!

Check with the law librarians if you are interested in any of these CDs.

CEQA Update: A Perennial Favorite

This annual program will bring you up-to-date on developments in the law surrounding the California Environmental Quality Act. A.B. 32: Climate, Commerce and the Constitution

As California’s “cap and trade” program finally gets underway, this program discusses the battle over California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the controversy over the

609 9th Street Sacramento, CA 95814 916-874-6011 www.saclaw.org www.facebook/saclawlib www.twitter/saclawlibrarian

NEW ACQUISITIONS California Basic Practice Handbook California CEB KFC80 .C3 Laying a Foundation to Introduce Evidence; Preparing and Using Evidence at Trial: Here's How and When To Do It California CEB KFC1030 .M55

12

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

state's authority to consider lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from out-ofstate producers when regulating the use of fuels in California, and the implementation of greenhouse gas allowance auctions.

Recent Environmental Law Developments: SCOTUS, 9th Circuit Court, California Supreme Court

This panel discussion covers 2012 environmental and land use decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit, and California Supreme Courts.

Will Delta DecisionMaking Go With the Flow?

California is working on the final version of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Plan for water outflow, in compliance with the State Water Resources Control Board’s criteria. The panel discusses two pivotal issues: selection of flow requirements and the method of water conveyance.

Obtaining Discovery: Initiating And Responding To Discovery Procedures: Here's How and When To Do It California CEB KFC1020 .G67 Working with Independent Contractors, Leased Workers, And Outsourcing: Here's How and When To Do It California CEB KFC228.Z9 Y68 Drug Injury: Liability, Analysis and Prevention Lawyers and Judges Publishing KF1297.D7 O36 The Public Domain: How to Find & Use Copyright-Free Writings, Music, Art & More Nolo Press KF3022 .F575

Can the Tahoe Regional Compact Be Saved?

Nevada has threatened to withdraw from the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact unless California loosens restrictions on development in the current update negotiations. This panel discusses the history of the compact, key issues in the update, and whether a balance between environmental protection and development can be reached to avoid Nevada's withdrawal.

Cry Me a Reservoir: Water Management and Climate Change Adaptation

Climate change is likely to affect the supply and timing of water throughout California, including flood risk, water quality, damage to protected species, and the generation of hydroelectric power. How should California’s infrastructure and political institutions prepare?

Central Valley Flood Protection

The Department of Water Resources’ 2011 draft Central Valley Flood Protection Plan (CVFPP) proposes additional buffers to aid aging levees in protecting the valley from floods while still restoring flood plain habitats. But agricultural interests question the plan. Can California agree on a way forward that satisfies all interests?

Food Law: How Will Food and Law Evolve to Feed 9 Billion People

How should agricultural practices change to create more food with less space and water? What environmental

Surfing From River City:

Use Screencasting Software to Create Online Tutorials Compiled by Robyn M. Moltzen, Public Services Librarian, Sacramento County Public Law Library Screencasting allows users to select any window or region of the computer screen and record and capture everything that happens in that area. Often these screencasts include narration that coincides with what users are seeing on the screen. Screencasts are frequently used to create online tutorials. For an example of an instructional screencast, check out the Sacramento County Public Law Library’s online tutorial How to Renew Library Books Online at http://www.saclaw.org/uploads/media/r enewal-screencast.htm .

Many options for recording screencasts are available in a variety of price ranges.

Here are a few different products to check out.

Camtasia Studio http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html

Users can record the computer screen to capture PowerPoint slides, software demos, and web pages. Once recorded, users can edit screen recordings and camera video by cutting, splicing, and combining clips with the powerful video editor. Pricing starts at $299.00.

impacts may result from yield-increase practices and genetically modified crops? This program sets out how the law currently regulates food and discusses how food law and policy may need to change to meet the challenges of the coming decades.

Jing www.techsmith.com/jing.html

Jing is a free service that allows users to create images and videos of what is seen on the computer screen, and then share them with others instantly on Twitter and Facebook. When using Jing to create screencasts, users can record up to five minutes of onscreen video.

Screencasting Tips and Tricks http://www.articulate.com/rapidelearning/how-to-create-screencastsyou-can-be-proud-of/

Before beginning your screencast you will want to read this great article that includes practical tips and advice for creating a great screencast. Tips include using a good microphone, recording in a comfortable space, and removing any distractions from the recording environment.

Screencast-O-Matic www.screencast-o-matic.com

Screencast-O-Matic is a free, webbased tool that allows for one-click screen capture recording on Windows or Mac computers without software

entire state. This panel explores the opportunities for renewable energy projects on tribal lands, discusses their

installation. The free version has a maximum record time of 15 minutes, but includes free hosting, YouTube publishing capability, MP4, AVI, and FLV movie. For $15.00 a year, go pro and get unlimited record time and other options.

Screenr www.screenr.com

Screenr is a free, web-based tool that lets users create screencasts without installing any software on their computers. Users just click the record button and all screen activity is recorded along with narration from a microphone. Users can share screencasts on Twitter, YouTube or anywhere else on the web. However, there is a maximum record time of 5 minutes.

Snagit http://www.techsmith.com/snagit.html

Snagit allows users to create step-bystep video tutorials or how-to documents that can be used for both internal and external training. Price is $49.95 and the software can be downloaded for both Windows and Mac.

potential environmental benefits and impacts, and summarizes the various applicable laws and regulations.

Energy Development on Tribal Lands

Federally-recognized Native American communities in California increasingly are exploring the benefits of modern renewable energy development on tribal lands. Tribal energy projects can potentially increase selfsufficiency, foster economic development, provide employment, and contribute to a low-carbon future for the MARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

13

Section & Affiliate News

Promulgations from the Tax Section

T

he Sacramento County Bar Association’s (SCBA) Tax Section brings together attorneys, CPAs, EAs and other tax professionals to network, discuss current issues, and liaise with federal and state taxation agencies. In addition, the Tax Section hosts regular monthly luncheon meetings featuring MCLE and CPE approved speakers on current taxation issues. Meetings are held at Mulvaney’s B&L, located at 1215 19th Street in midtown Sacramento, every fourth Monday of the month, except December and the summer months.

New Officers

The Tax Section began the new year in January by holding a meeting of the new and former officers to thank prior Chair B.J. Susich for his service and to plan for the upcoming year. This transitional meeting is a Tax Section tradition in which the former and new officers review all aspects of the section’s operation and discuss ways in which the section can improve its service to Sacramento’s tax-practitioner community. The Tax Section officers are hard at work

By Ciro M. Immordino

planning a number of events for the coming year, including an inaugural holiday social event, as well as continuing the tradition of finding intriguing speakers to cover a variety of issues important to tax practitioners. Please welcome the Tax Section's new officers for 2013: Chair: Ciro Immordino Vice Chair: Brooks Whitehead Treasurer: Ulises Pizano-Diaz Speaker Chair: Chris Parker The tax section has luncheon meetings set for Monday, March 25th, Monday, April 22nd, and Monday, May 27th.

Please contact Ciro Immordino at ciro.immordino@ftb.ca.gov for times and location and to make a reservation.

Ciro M. Immordino is a tax counsel at the California Franchise Tax Board and specializes in like-kind exchanges, partnerships and tax shelters. Ciro also teaches undergraduate and graduatelevel taxation and accounting at the University of Phoenix.

B.J. Susich (center) receiving a commemorative plaque from the new officers of the SCBA Tax Section as outgoing chair of the Tax Section From left: New Speaker Chair Chris Parker, new Chair Ciro Immordino, former chair B.J. Susich, new Treasurer Ulises Pizano-Diaz and new Vice Chair Brooks Whitehead.

14

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

MARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

15

Cover Story

F

rancis J. Mootz III wanted to be dean of Pacific McGeorge School of Law so badly that he cancelled his honeymoon in Paris to interview for the position. His wife Leticia, however, didn’t mind. If Mootz got the job, she’d be able to cut about 600 miles off her commute between their Las Vegas home and her job as a law professor and director of clinics at the University of California, Davis.

“We were in Sardinia [through mid-December] teaching courses to Italian students,” Mootz recalled, “and planned to come home through Paris, where we were going to enjoy a four-day honeymoon -- having been married in July.

“Before leaving Italy, I [heard] that I would be invited to [Pacific McGeorge] as a finalist for the dean position, but I

16

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

By Amanda Gimbel

absolutely had to be there by December 16th or I couldn’t be considered. Lety was very understanding, but she continues” to remind me “with some regularity that [I] still owe [her] a trip to Paris.”

With his wife’s blessing, Mootz made it back in time and in July took over for the retiring Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker to become the 9th dean in school history.

McGeorge, which is part of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, was founded in 1924 as the Sacramento College of Law. Originally located on the corner of L and 10th Streets in downtown Sacramento, it started out as a oneroom night school with a five-student graduating class in 1925. It was renamed the McGeorge College of Law in

Photography by Mary Burroughs

Francis J. Mootz III Takes Over as 9th Dean in the History of Pacific McGeorge School of Law

Cover Story 1929 by the Board of Trustees in honor of its founder, Verne Pathways (MAP), Mootz is also trying to help revitalize the Adrian McGeorge. Today, it is one of the largest law schools Career Development Office to better prepare students for in the country with more than 1,000 students and 124 full graduation. The program, which assists students from the and part-time faculty members. time they start at McGeorge until they graduate, acts as a Despite the benefit to his wife, Mootz, 51, didn’t seek the pathway of sorts, giving students a specified timeline for position out of any geographic convenience. Instead, he completing certain requirements and choosing certain researched the school thoroughly and came to appreciate its options, and then linking them up with a mentor while “proud, independent” tradition, complete with on-campus they’re still in school. Mootz strongly believes that living, a pool and groundskeepers.

“Before I applied…I knew I wanted to be at a small, liberal arts school,” Mootz explained. “I love [McGeorge’s] family spirit and that [it] has that capital connection.

Mootz, who was selected from a field of more than 100 applicants, is aware of the affect the down economy and the changing nature of the practice of law has had on legal education and the job opportunities for recent graduates.

Large firms are not hiring new associates at the same rate as before, he said, and are farming out more and more legal functions, such as document review and legal research. As a result, Mootz believes legal education needs to return to the basics of good lawyering: reasoning, writing, and speaking. A firm grasp of these skills, Mootz said, Pacific McGeorge School of Law Dean Francis J. Mootz III will better enable McGeorge students to McGeorge needs to help facilitate mentoring relationships earn jobs and practice law after graduation. between students and lawyers before the students graduate, In addition to the basics, Mootz also wants to place more not just afterwards. Mentors, he said, can help students emphasis on the entrepreneurial side of the law. He enviwith career choices, setting goals, and networking. He sions a course on the “business of lawyering” that would hopes to fill the role of mentors from the vast array of talfocus on the nuts and bolts of running your own law firm. ented and hardworking alumni in the area, he said, many of Conceptually, he said, the course would act as a tool to help whom have already expressed an eagerness to help. students learn how to tackle various administrative issues, According to Phillip R. Oppenheimer, dean of the including conflicts and ethical problems. The course would University of the Pacific’s Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy include substantive components as well, he said, but would and Health Sciences, and chair of the Pacific McGeorge search generally be designed to sensitize students to the practical committee, Mootz’ “unwavering commitment to legal educarealities of running a firm. Area law firms are very supporttion” and his passion for the law were among the many qualive of the idea, he said, since it would enable new associates ities that lead to his selection for the position. to be more mindful of unknown administrative concerns. “[Mootz] received glowing references as a teacher, a Mootz would like to add more clinical or experiential researcher, and as a spokesperson for legal education,” Dean learning courses, and classes that build on one another Oppenhemier said.

“Everyone was pleased with his other, in order to give students a more real-world experesponses, while his eloquence and advocacy for legal edurience. “This is going to be a lot of hard work,” Mootz said. But it’s something he’s eager to pursue since it will cation – especially in a liberal arts environment like we have better prepare graduates for the day-to-day realities of at UOP -- made the decision even easier.” the practice of law.

While some may think Mootz will have a hard time fillWith the recent addition of the McGeorge Academic ing Dean Parker’s shoes, who, by most accounts, was a MARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

17

Cover Story dynamo in her own right, Professor Larry Levine is not among of them. Levine, who was vice-chair of the search committee, thinks Mootz is more than equal to the task and believes his background as both an educator and as an administrator gives him a “wonderful balance of vision and passion” so that he can be both traditional and innovative at the same time.

“Dean Mootz is an extraordinarily inspirational person,” Professor Levine said. At a time when legal education is under attack for the high cost of tuition (currently about

$43,000 a year for the day program at McGeorge) and the struggling job market, Levine said that Mootz’ “passion” and “energy” for legal education has moved many at McGeorge, including students, faculty, and alumni alike, and make him uniquely qualified for the challenges a ahead.

“McGeorge is fortunate to have such a dynamic leader,” Levine said. “[H]is experience as both the ‘intellectual professor’ and the ‘practical dean’ made him a relatively easy choice among a field of very strong and talented candidates.”

Mootz, who grew up in the Midwest, was dean of academic affairs and faculty development at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas’ William S. Boyd School of Law, prior to his appointment at McGeorge. A self-proclaimed “Navy brat,” he was born in Long Beach, California, but raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, then attended Duke University School of Law, where he earned a joint juris doctor and masters in philosophy degree as part of a special program in 1986.

After earning his joint degrees, Mootz spent four years in civil practice before pursuing a career in teaching. Prior to

18

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

UNLV, Mootz taught at the Western New England College of Law in Massachusetts, the William and Mary MarshallWythe School of Law in Virginia, and Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, teaching a wide variety of subjects, including contracts, employment law, insurance and jurisprudence. In 2004, he was named Dickinson’s associate dean for academic affairs.

Mootz has two children from a prior marriage, Catherine, age 22, and Daniel, age 20. He met his current wife, Leticia Saucedo, while both were teaching law at UNLV. Since moving to Sacramento, Mootz finds California’s weather – especially the “mild” winters -- suits him just fine.

“I love the fact that my beard doesn’t freeze,” Mootz said, recalling the days when he had to survive the frigid Northeast.

McGeorge was the only school Mootz applied to prior to his appointment.

One of Mootz’ main focuses for the future is to strengthen the relationship between students, faculty, and alumni. For Mootz, this means having the faculty interacting more with the local bar and alumni. “We’re all in this together for ongoing education,” Mootz said.

“Attorneys have a huge responsibility in society. In addition to working really hard, it’s a constant challenge to remain professional.” Forming these relationships early, Mootz said, can help foster professionalism later.

For his part, Mootz strives to prepare McGeorge students for the challenges ahead. He can frequently be seen walking around campus and connecting with people on a personal level. He strives to be tenacious and hard-working, yet in a respectful way.

“He’s very down to earth, thoughtful and inspirational,” Levine said, “We’re very lucky to have him.”

Amanda Gimbel is the owner and founder of Gimbel Law, which provides litigation and support services on a wide variety of employment-related topics, including regulatory compliance, wrongful termination, and Workers’ Compensation issues. She is also vice president of programs for the Barristers’ Club of Sacramento and an occasional contributor to the Sacramento Lawyer.

MARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

19

Events

Bench-Bar Reception Sets Sponsor and Attendance Records

By Herb Bolz Photos by for Christina Elizabeth

E

ach fall, the Sacramento County Bar Association (SCBA) schedules an evening bench-bar reception designed to foster a good working relationship between Sacramento area lawyers and judges. The 2012 reception was held at the California Auto Museum in October.

Precedent setting in some ways, it also included traditional elements.

Precedent Setting Elements

First, the reception attracted a record number of financial sponsors 45, including not only leading law firms, but also for the first time all of the numerous organizations affiliated with the Bar Association, such as LaRaza Lawyers of Sacramento. This universal affiliate participation was facilitated by SCBA President June Coleman. All sponsors were

Judge David Brown (left) and Douglas Kraft

From left: Natalie Butcher, Latika Sharma, and Sonia Fernandes

2012 SCBA President June Coleman presents corsage to 2012 SCBA Judge of the Year Judy Holzer Hersher

20

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

included in a special honor roll listing in the November/December issue of the Sacramento Lawyer.

Second, a record number of lawyers, judges, and other members of the legal community attended the event, including the deans of UC Davis and Pacific McGeorge law schools. Over 500 people came.

Third, additional seating was provided in various locations, creating opportunities for comfortable conversations. Some participants commented that this was the most convivial and enjoyable bench-bar reception they had ever attended.

Fourth, food and beverage stations were spread out around the Museum for easy access, and gluten-free items were added to the menu, thanks to Rayna’s Gourmet Catering, which also provided colorful table

Judge Frank Damrell, creator of Operation Protect and Defend, accepting retirement award

From left: Elisa Levy, 2011 SCBA President Mike Levy, Sabrina Thomas, Jerilyn Paik, and Elisa Ungerman

Events centerpieces and beautiful floral arrangements.

Fifth, an outline of the program was provided to attendees in both poster and PowerPoint formats.

Sixth, we may have set a record for the youngest attendee; more on this below.

Recent judicial retirees were recognized and given a plaque, including U.S. District Judge Frank Damrell and Sacramento Superior Court Judges James Long and Brian Van Camp.

President June Coleman noted that Judge Damrell took the lead in creating the much-admired Operation Protect

Traditional Elements

Vocal and instrumental music was again provided by the talented Martini Crush Jazz Ensemble.

Honorees and speakers were driven up to the stage in grand Auto Museum style in classic cars. Classic cars were also available for informal viewing throughout the museum during the event.

The judge of year award was presented to the Honorable Judy Holzer Hersher of the Sacramento Superior Court by SCBA President June Coleman. Judge Hersher, who was featured in the September/October issue of the Sacramento Lawyer, accepted the award in characteristically gracious and articulate fashion. Three generations of Hershers were on hand, including Judge Hersher’s granddaughter, Addie, who may have set a record for the youngest attendee ever.

From left: Judges Frank Damrell, Judy Holzer Hersher and Laurie Earl being driven to the stage in a classic car

Justice Cole Blease reporting on the Court of Appeal; floral display by Rayna’s.

Continued on page 27

From left: Reception Committee members Herb Bolz, Sabrina Thomas, and Doug Rothschild. Not pictured are committee members Angela Lai, Michael Terhost, Shanae Buffington and Elise Ungerman

From left: Judges James Long, Kendall Newman, and Brian Van Camp

WLS Treasurer Rebecca Dietzen (right) presents scholarship award to law student Amy Carlson

Judge Stacy Boulware Eurie (left) and Lee Ann Whitmore

MARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

21

Community Service

VLSP Volunteers Fill Community Need

O

ne area of legal need that is often overlooked by lowincome individuals is estate planning.

Legal aid-eligible people frequently think that because they have few possessions, they do not need to make any plans. While they might under-

22

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

stand the concept of a will, they frequently do not consider what will happen in case of their incapacity. From our experience, most laypersons have little information (or are misinformed) about what happens when they are incapable of making their own health

By Vickie Jacobs, VLSP Managing Attorney

or financial decisions or what happens to their possessions upon their death.

All too often, VLSP is contacted by a relative or friend of an incapacitated adult who asks about how to get a power of attorney for a person who is no longer competent to sign such a document. These phone calls are frustrating. At this point, there may be no other choice to obtain decision-making authority to protect the disabled person other than a court-ordered conservatorship. Obtaining a conservatorship is a complex, time-consuming and expensive process for which there is little, if any, pro bono assistance. We want to help people make plans to avoid conservatorship and the passage of assets by intestacy.

If in your practice or community, you encounter low-income people who might benefit from a basic estate plan (will, advance health care directive, power of attorney for property management), please feel free to refer them to the Voluntary Legal Services Program. We can assist low-income people who own their own homes, but most of our clients rent their residence. If a low-income person has very limited income (usually Social Security only) and owns their own home (usually outright), we can assist them with a basic living trust to avoid probate and plan for their incapacity.

VLSP is fortunate to have volunteers who are willing to help clients with these types of legal matters. We also provide MCLE trainings each year on how to draft a basic estate plan. If you know of someone who could benefit from our help, please have them call us at (916) 551-2102. If you would like to help clients with estate planning issues, please fill out a volunteer application at www.vlsp.org. We would enjoy working with you.

Law & Public Policy

Law and Public Policy Academy Thriving at C.K. McClatchy High School

T

Over 60 Attorney Volunteers Offered a Strong Start for the LPPA Mentorship Program last Fall; Development of a 2013 Summer Internship Program is Underway

he Law and Public Policy Academy (LPPA) at C.K. McClatchy High School is a community of teachers, parents, and industry partners which focuses on providing students with a unique set of experiences designed to expose them to the broad range of careers available to

with a law curriculum augmented by an engaging and diverse set of guest speakers, hands-on field trips, and other events on and off campus.

Research has shown academy-style learning promotes academic success, produces more high school graduates, and leads more students to pursue

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye addressing a group of high school students from the C.K. McClatchy Law and Public Policy Academy in Sacramento. The students observed the Supreme Court in action during a recent field trip to San Francisco.

them in the field of law. Supported by the Sacramento County Bar Association, McClatchy’s LPPA is one of six pilot projects in the state which began the 2011-12 academic year with a contingent of approximately 50 sophomore students.

LPPA students attend core classes together in English, math, science, and the law, and then supplement their schedule with electives. The goal of the program is to provide students

24

By Hon. Larry Brown and Sonia R. Fernandes Photos by Penne Soltysik, Administrative Office of the Courts

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

2012 academic year: • 85.3% of the LPPA students passed both portions of the CAHSEE (English and math); • 92.6% of the LPPA students passed just the English portion of the CAHSEE test alone; • 75.6% of the LPPA students who

C.K. McClatchy Law and Public Policy Academy students posing outside the California Supreme Court building in San Francisco.

higher education. This year approximately 70 sophomore and 55 juniors are enrolled in the McClatchy program.

Increasing graduation rates is an important goal of the LPPA, and the McClatchy class is well on track. All students must pass the California High School Exit Examination (“CAHSEE”) to graduate from high school. The following is a breakdown of the McClatchy LPPA students’ CAHSEE test scores for the 2011-

took the English portion of the CAHSEE scored 380 or above (350 is passing, 380 is an improvement status number). One student had a perfect score of 450.

In the first year of the program, not only did LPPA students learn about law and public policy through their in-class curriculum, but they got to see and hear how it was actually practiced through the appearance of Continued on page 26

The Sacramento County Bar Association Recognizes and Thanks its Sponsors for their Support in Promoting Civic Education PLATINUM SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSORS

SCBA Past Presidents

SILVER SPONSORS Best Best & Kreiger LLP • Block/Gualco/Fields • Boutin Jones Inc. • Capital City Trial Lawyers Association DOWNEY BRAND LLP • Leonard M. Friedman Bar Association • Lincoln Law School of Sacramento Littler Mendelson, P.C. • Mennemeier, Glassman & Stroud LLP Randolph Cregger & Chalfant LLP • Somach Simmons & Dunn • Stoel Rives LLP • UC Davis School of Law University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law • Women Lawyers of Sacramento

BRONZE SPONSORS Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento • Beeson Terhorst LLP • Bez Law Firm • Bill Di Capo, Esq. Capitol Digital Document Solutions • Cook Brown LLP • Finnerty Law Office, Inc. • Goyette and Associates, Inc. Jacobsen & McElroy PC• Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai LLP | Public Law Group Sacramento Lawyers for the Equality of Gays and Lesbians (SacLEGAL) South Asian Bar Association of Sacramento • Wiley Manuel Bar Association

Section & Affiliate News

Barristers’ Club Update The Barristers’ Club 2013 Board Members

By Daniel C. Kim, Barristers’ Media Chair

As

we enter a new year, we would like to take this opportunity to introduce the Barristers’ Club of Sacramento’s 2013 President, Monica Hans.

Monica is counsel at Downey Brand LLP and has been on the Barristers’ board since 2007. Monica’s practice focuses on employment and labor law.

She represents and advices clients on a wide variety of workplace issues, including wrongful termination, employee discipline, and wage and hour requirements. She attended University of the Pacific McGeorge Law and Public Policy continued from page 24

ten distinguished guest speakers and organized field trips to the State Capitol, the California Third District Court of Appeal, and the Sacramento County Superior Court.

Students in the acedemy tend to be adolescents who need a leg up. As evidenced by their test scores, they have outstanding potential, but unfortunately, many lack the presence of positive role models in their lives.

With the overwhelming support of the Sacramento legal community and over 60 volunteer attorneys, an LPPA mentorship program was launched in the fall to help give these students a leg up. The main objective of the program is best summed up by the following quote from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall: “None of us has gotten where we are solely by pulling ourselves up from our bootstraps. We got here because somebody...bent down and helped us.”

According to organizers, the mentorship program has been a powerful way to expose students to successful,

26

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

2013 Barristers' Club President Monica Hans

School of Law and graduated Order of the Coif in 2003. She is a member of the California State Bar’s Labor and Employment Law Section and serves on the Sacramento Area Human Resources Association’s Legal and Legislative Committee. Monica enjoys Crossfit (an

professional role models who can encourage and help guide them in their future career paths. Students and mentors fill out profile forms and are paired for the academic year based on common interests and goals. They typically meet once a month at the McClatchy campus during the noon recess. Mentors are provided handbooks containing exercises on such topics as career and goal setting and professionalism and etiquette that they go over with the students. The exercises are designed to lead to meaningful discussions between the students and their mentors, organizers say, which hopefully gives the students the encouragement to aim high and succeed.

“We’re helping high school students understand the value of education and appreciate civics,” Mike Levy, chair of the LPPA Advisory Board and past president of the Sacramento County Bar Association, said. “We are fostering ambition and providing positive insight into the diverse corners of the legal profession and its many functions in our society. And, there are no better

elite fitness regimen), outdoor activities, and traveling with friends.

This year promises to be filled with a greater number of social activities and even more informative seminars.

The Barristers’ Club’s social calendar will include traditional events such as the judicial and summer associates receptions as well as some new ones aimed at creating informal marketing opportunities for all of its members.

On the educational side, the Barristers’ will continue to provide its trademark programs, such as the Federal Nuts and Bolts Seminar and the Sacramento

role models to exemplify the virtues of our profession than Sacramento’s volunteer legal community. The LPPA has been a fabulous experience, both for our students and for our mentors.”

According to Levy, the LPPA’s next undertaking is to provide summer internships to students entering the 12th grade and their third year of the program. Interns can perform various tasks such as answering phones, photocopying, filing, assisting with document management, etc. If anyone is interested in employing an intern at their office this summer, please contact Karen Maxwell at 916-874-5834 or maxwellk@sacda.org or Sonia Fernandes at 916-327-1114 or sfernandes@dmhc.ca.gov.

Hon. Larry Brown is a judge with the Sacramento County Superior Court. He currently presides in Dept. 9, where he manages the court’s daily criminal trial calendar. Sonia Fernandes is a senior counsel at the California Department of Managed Health Care, where she assists with the implementation of federal and state health care reform.

Section & Affiliate News Superior Court Law and Motion Seminar. It will also endeavor to add more new and useful MCLE programs to the calendar this year.

The Barristers’ Club of Sacramento provides new and young attorneys with unique ways to become involved in and to contribute to the Sacramento legal community. It provides young attorneys with exclusive MCLE, networking, and public serv-

ice opportunities. Any member of the Sacramento County Bar Association who is under thirty-six (36) years of age, or over thirty-six (36) years of age but has been admitted to practice in California for less than five (5) years, is automatically a member of the Barristers’ Club.

If you fall within these criteria and are interested in learning more information about the Barristers’ Club and

Bench-Bar Reception - continued from page 21 and Defend civics program for Sacramento high school students.

Women Lawyers of Sacramento Treasurer Rebecca Dietzen presented the Karen Pederson Stevens Scholarship Award to Amy Carlson, a first year student at Pacific McGeorge School of Law. Representatives of each of court situated in Sacramento presented a state of the court talk: Magistrate Judge Kendall Newman for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Justice Cole Blease for the California Court of Appeal for the Third District, and Presiding Judge Laurie Earl for the Sacramento Superior Court. The federal court is attempting to process a large number of cases despite having a remarkable number of judicial vacancies. Both the Court of Appeal and the Superior Court are struggling to cope with several years of severe budget cuts.

SCBA Past President Mike Levy reported on the State Bar’s Campaign for Justice program, in which lawyers are

Reach A Variety of Sacramento Area Professionals

its upcoming events, please send an email to the Club’s Membership Chair, Kurt Hendrickson, at sacbarristers@ gmail.com, or contact any of the Club’s board members. If you are interested in volunteering with the Barristers’ Club to support St. John’s Shelter for women and children, please contact Daniel Kim at dkim@matheny sears.com or Cameron Desmond at cdesmond@orrick.com.

working to restore adequate funding to the state courts.

SCBA is grateful for the noteworthy generosity of reception sponsors, appreciates those individuals who worked hard to make the event a success, thanks the 500 plus attendees for coming, and looks forward to another precedentsetting yet traditional event in 2013.

Herb Bolz is the founding president and a current board member of the St. Thomas More Society of Sacramento. He retired as a senior staff attorney and regulations coordinator for the California Gambling Control Commission in 2009.

Convenient Online Gallery with Password Protection

Photos Beautifully Retouched On Selected Poseblemishes, wrinkles etc.

Digital delivery, professional prints or archived onto disk.

Online Portfolio: www.charrcrail.com www.charrcrail.me/charrcrail.me/Head_Shots.htm Photos for reproduction sized to exact specifications. (social media, publications, business cards, prints)

ADVERTISE IN Sacramento Lawyer Magazine Call Mary Burroughs (916) 564-3780 or email: mburroughs@sacbar.org

MARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

27

Section & Affiliate News

SCBA Welcomes New Civil Litigation Section

F

or the first time in its history, the Sacramento County Bar Association has a Civil Litigation Section. The Civil Litigation Section was recently chartered by Steve Boutin and Dan Stouder of Boutin Jones Inc. The new section will focus on sponsoring and presenting civil and business litigation educational programs, providing mentoring and networking opportunities, and coordinating activities and communications with the local civil bench and

28

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

By Steve Boutin and Dan Stouder Photo by Cheri Blethen

law schools. The first meeting of section members is expected in March, with the goal of meeting about eight times a year.

The section is led by a board of directors. In a new twist, it will also receive direction and insights from an

Members of the SCBA's new Civil Litigation Section gather at Boutin Jones, Inc. for its inaugural board meeting in December. Back row from left: Rajiv Dharnidharka, Erin McDonough, Justice Fred Morrison (ret.) , Ron Scholar, Dean Francis Mootz, Joe Genshlea, Ben Webster, Dean Kevin Johnson, Judge Brian Van Camp (ret.), and Dan Stouder. Front row from left: Stacy Don, Judge Kim Mueller, Judge Judy Hersher, and Steve Boutin.

Section & Affiliate News advisory board comprised of an esteemed group of lawyers, judges and deans from UC Davis School of Law and Pacific McGeorge School of Law. The two boards are composed of the following individuals: Steve Boutin Boutin Jones Rajiv Dharnidharka DLA Piper Stacy Don Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe Scott Gassaway Wilke, Fleury, Hoffelt, Gould & Birney Joe Genshlea Joe Genshlea Law & Mediation Hon. Judy Holzer Hersher Sacramento County Superior Court Martin Jensen Porter Scott Dean Kevin R. Johnson UC Davis School of Law Erin McDonough Hanson Bridgett Hon. Kimberly J. Mueller United States District Court, Eastern District Dean Francis J. Mootz III McGeorge School of Law Hon. Fred K. Morrison (ret.)

JAMS Ron Scholar Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard Dan Stouder Boutin Jones Hon. Brian Van Camp (ret.)

ADR Services, Inc. Mike Vergara Somach Simmons & Dunn Bill Warne Downey Brand Ben Webster Littler Mendelson

enced practitioners.

Board members are excited about the many opportunities and benefits the section will bring to the Sacramento legal community and hope civil litigators will become charter members and participate in the section’s inaugural year. For membership

and section information, interested practitioners can contact Dan Stouder at dstouder@boutinjones.com.

Steve Boutin and Dan Stouder are shareholders at Boutin Jones Inc. and practice in the areas of business and real estate litigation.

www.ADRSERVICES.org

Civil litigation is the “bread and butter” of many practitioners, so organizers believe the section will help fill a longstanding void for both new and experiMARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

29

Section & Affiliate News

SacLEGAL Holiday Party Celebrates 2012 LGBT Election Victories

By Mallory Lass Photos by Christina Cortino

T

he Sacramento Lawyers for the Equality of Gays and Lesbians (SacLEGAL) hosted its annual meeting and holiday party at the Blue Prynt Restaurant in Sacramento in December. The annual meeting and holiday party is a time for the SacLEGAL membership and the community that supports it to come together and reflect on the events of the preceding year. This year was no exception.

The preceding year saw SacLEGAL grow as an organization by increasing its membership and strengthening its

voice for diversity within the legal community. The annual meeting was a culmination of those efforts and was well attended by members of both SacLEGAL and the greater legal community. Several members of the judiciary attended the event, as well as Sacramento District Attorney Jan Scully and newly elected City Council Member Steve Hansen. The Sacramento County Bar Association (SCBA) was well represented, with outgoing SCBA President June Coleman and immediate past Presidents Michael Levy

From left: Steve Muni, Justice Arthur G. Scotland (Ret.), Professor Julie Davies, Susan Silva Scotland, Justice Elena J. Duarte, and Katie Patterson

From left: Allison Cross, Kailey Hackbarth, Stephanie Dowdle, and Luke Hackbarth

30

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

From left: Jo Michael, Professor Larry Levine, Katie Patterson, Steve Hanson, and Pam Jones

Section & Affiliate News and Todd Vlaanderen also in attendance.

The SacLEGAL annual meeting and holiday party is always a fantastic way to end the year and inspire the membership for another great year ahead. A new 2013 Board of Directors was elected and SacLEGAL looks forward to continuing to serve its diverse community in the coming year and being a strong advocate for diversity within the SCBA. This past year was also one of the most exciting in the fight for LGBT equality. November brought marriage equality victories in Maine, Maryland, and Washington State.

More significantly, it was the first time that marriage equality was achieved through the ballot box. We also celebrated the election of the first openly gay member of the U.S. Senate, Tammy Baldwin. Ms. Baldwin, coincidentally enough, was also the first woman ever elected to the Senate from the State of Wisconsin. Kyrsten Sinema, of Arizona’s 9th Congressional District, was also elected as the first openly bisexual member of Congress.

Locally, Mark Takano was elected from California’s 41st Congressional District as the first openly gay AsianAmerican to serve in Congress, greatly contributing to the diversity of the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition,

Hansen won a hotly contested District 4 race to become the first openly gay member of the Sacramento City Council.

Despite the roller coaster that was the District 4 election, Hansen was able to attend the annual meeting just a few short days after being sworn in.

Looking to the year ahead, the U.S. Supreme Court will issue its ruling on the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, as well as the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

In February, SacLEGAL held a continuing legal education event featuring Professors Larry Levine and Courtney Joslin discussing the upcoming Supreme Court cases. This event provided an opportunity for the community to come together in this exciting yet trepidatious time. SacLEGAL looks forward to continuing to serve both the legal community and the broader Sacramento community in the years ahead.

Mallory Lass is an associate attorney with the Goff, ConwaySpatola Law Group, where she focuses on estate planning, probate, and tax issues, especially those affecting LGBT persons.

She currently serves as co-chair of SacLEGAL and treasurer of the SCBA’s Probate and Estate Planning Section.

From left: Katie Patterson, Judge Thadd A. Blizzard, Linda Dankman, and 2012 SCBA President June Coleman

From left: Jessica Warne, Leanne Carol, and Penny Brown

MARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

31

Courthouse Steps Somach Simmons and Dunn adds three new associates.

Richard Deitchman received his Juris Doctorate from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon in 2012. Prior to joining Somach Simmons & Dunn Deitchman was a law clerk at the firm. His practice will focus on water rights, water and air quality, and natural resources law.

Louinda Lacey received her Juris Doctorate from University of Pacific McGeorge School of Law in 2010.

Prior to joining Somach Simmons & Dunn Lacey clerked at the firm and was an associate in the Roseville office of Green & Hall. Her practice will focus on environmental litigation, water quality and natural resources law.

C

Brittany Lewis-Roberts received her Juris Doctorate from The George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC in 2011. Prior to joining Somach Simmons & Dunn LewisRoberts was a law clerk to Special Master Laura D. Millman in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Office of Special Brittany Masters, in Washington, DC. Her pracLewis-Roberts tice will focus on environmental litigation, federal court matters, and natural resources law.

Richard Deitchman

Felderstein Fitzgerald Willoughby & Pascuzzi LLP has moved up in the world. We are now located at Suite 1750 in the Wells Fargo Center, 400 Capitol Mall. Our telephone number and the extensions of our attorneys and staff remain the same.

Felderstein Fitzgerald Willoughby & Pascuzzi LLP spe-

Louinda Lacey

A

L

E

N

D

A

R

Second Wednesdays - SCBA Barristers serve at St. John’s Shelter for Women. Contact Daniel at dkim@mathenysears.com

32

March 2

Barristers’ “Bridging the Gap” New Lawyer Orientation Program, 9a.m. to 2:30p.m., McGeorge. Contact Kurt D. Hendrickson at khendrickson@klalawfirm.com

March 8

Submission deadline for May/June issue of Sacramento Lawyer

March 7

Joint Section Representatives' and MCLE Committee meeting, noon, SCBA Office.

March 20

St. Thomas More Society gathering. Mass & Lunch with Bishop Soto. Contact stms.sacramento@yahoo.com

March 25

Tax Section monthly meeting at Mulvaney’s, noon. Contact Ciro Immordino at ciro.immordino@ftb.ca.gov

March 26

SCBA Section Leadership Institute, 9:30-11:30, Law Library Training Center. Contact the SCBA Office for more information

April 4

Joint Section Representatives' and MCLE Committee meeting, noon, SCBA Office

April 10

Joint St. Thomas More Society MCLE event with J. Reuben Clark Law Society and the LDS Business Association.

Contact stms.sacramento@yahoo.com

April 22

Tax Section monthly meeting at Mulvaney’s, noon. Contact Ciro Immordino at ciro.immordino@ftb.ca.gov

May 2

Joint Section Representatives' and MCLE Committee meeting, noon, SCBA Office

May 3

Submission deadline for July/August issue of Sacramento Lawyer

May 8

St. Thomas More Society Mass & Lunch with Fr. Brendan O’Sullivan. Contact stms.sacramento@yahoo.com

May 9

ABAS Law Foundation’s 11th Annual Wine & Food Tasting at Pavilions Courtyard, 6-8:30pm.

Tickets at www.abaslawfoundation.org or contact chair Brian Lim at winetasting@abaslawfoundation.org

May 27

Tax Section monthly meeting at Mulvaney’s, noon. Contact Ciro Immordino at ciro.immordino@ftb.ca.gov

SACRAMENTO LAWYER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

cializes in bankruptcy and insolvency matters, representing companies in financial distress or their creditors.

Our experience sets us apart.

Our partners are nationally recognized as top lawyers by U.S. News & World Report, Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers of Northern California. We have represented clients in some of the most high-profile bankruptcy cases in the country. We also represent local and regional businesses from a variety of industries when they or their business partners are in financial trouble.

Our extensive experience gives us the perspective and creativity our clients need to reach their goals both in and out of court.

Reach A Variety of Sacramento Area Professionals

ADVERTISE IN Sacramento Lawyer Magazine Call Mary Burroughs (916) 564-3780 or email: mburroughs@sacbar.org

“This bar just seems to do everything a little better and friendlier than the rest.”

-Marty K., Sacramento, via Yelp

HAPPY HOUR

3-7pm Mon-Fri

$3 Domestic Drafts

$10 Pitchers $3.50 Well and Street Tacos Open: Monday-Friday 11am - 2am Saturday & Sunday 9am - 2am Food Served Sunday-Thursday until Midnight, Friday/Saturday until 1am Breakfast served Saturday/Sunday

We offer catering

Rent our private room for your next party!

Catch all the action at Sacramento’s

PREMIER

SPORTS LOUNGE

723 56th Street, Sacramento, CA 95819 • 916-454-5656 • Like us on Facebook! “Clubhouse 56” MARCH/APRIL 2013 SACRAMENTO LAWYER

33

Index of Advertisers ABAS Law Foundation Wine & Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 19 ADR Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 29 American Society of Appraisers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 13 Bell & Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 15 Berding Weil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 11 Buzz Wiesenfeld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 31 Clubhouse 56 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 33 Crowe Horwath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 2 Charr Crail Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 27 Darrel W. Lewis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 7 Embassy Suites Riverfront . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 9 Joe Genshlea Law and Mediation . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 3 Jams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 3 Jay-Allen Eisen Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 7 Ken Malovos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 34 Matheny Sears Linkert Jaime LLP . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 34 Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld LLP . . . . . . .Page 28 Northern CA Collection Service . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 23 Ramirez Arbitration & Mediation Services

. . . .Page 22

SCBA & OPD Annual Law Day Dinner . . . .Back Cover SCBA Support in Promoting Civic Education . . .Page 25 Sacramento Law Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 12 Seyfarth Shaw Attorneys LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 15 Legal Services Nor Cal Valentine Run . . . . . . . . .Back Cover

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION OF BUSINESS DISPUTES

Scorpion Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 35 Ueltzen & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 28 Wilner & O’Reilly Immigration Lawyers . . . . . . . . . .Page 15

Ken Malovos Mediator Arbitrator Referee

Classifieds

3620 American River Dr. Suite 260 Sacramento, CA 95864

Law Office for rent: Three office, 633 sq. ft., in Sacramento (ArdenArcade). Perfect for small firm. $750 mo. Can also rent furniture, phones, other services. larry@milesfirm.com /916-849-4273 .

(916) 974-8600 Business, Commercial, Construction Claims and Defects, Employment, Insurance, Intellectual Property, Malpractice,

Internship: Student internship opportunity at the Sacramento County Bar Association, contact Mary J. Burroughs, email: mburroughs@sacbar.org or call (916) 564-3780

Probate, Product Liability and Real Estate Disputes.

Calendar and further information online at: www.malovoslaw.com

34

SACRAMENTO LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 2013

SCBA Conference Room rental for members: Conference room table seats 16, $20 half day & $40 full day. Contact Sacramento County Bar Association, email: reception@sacbar.org or call (916) 564-3780

SACRAMENTO COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE

1329 Howe Ave., #100 • Sacramento, CA 95825

Sacramento County Bar Association, Federal Bar Association Sacramento Chapter and Operation Protect and Defend

Proudly Present

Annual Law Day Dinner Celebration 2013 DATE: May 1, 2013 • TIME: 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.

PLACE: Red Lion Hotel Woodlake Conference Center, 500 Leisure Lane, Sacramento, CA 95815

Keynote Speaker: Judge Jacqueline Hong-Ngoc Nguyen, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit PLATINUM SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSORS Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP Attorneys Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost

LLP

OLSON HAGEL & FISHBURN LLP

SILVER SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

Lozano Smith, LLP

Finnerty Law Office, Inc. Hon. Judy Holzer Hersher and Michael E. Hersher, Esq. PALMER KAZANJIAN WOHL HODSON LLP Shaw Valenza

Seyfarth Shaw LLP The ABAS Law Foundation

Price: $60 per ticket. Make check payable to “Operation Protect and Defend.” For credit card payment and to RSVP, please contact the SCBA Office, 1329 Howe Avenue, #100, Sacramento, CA 95825, 916-564-3780 x200, reception@sacbar.org Please RSVP by April 25th - by mail, telephone or email - no RSVP is finalized without payment.

Name: ______________________________________Organization/Company: _________________________________________ Phone number: ______________________________Email: _________________________________________________________ I wish to purchase: ________ tickets at $60 each and ________ donated tickets at $60 each. TOTAL purchase $ ___________ Menu choice Menu choice Attendee name (salmon, chicken, or vegetarian) Attendee name (salmon, chicken, or vegetarian) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________