remain assigned to the magis-trate judge for all purposes, including trial, entry of judg-ment, and all post-trial mo-tions. Additionally, any judg-ment entered by the magis-trate judge is appealable di-rectly to the Ninth Circuit. Here are just 5 reasons to consent to a magistrate judge the next time you have a case in federal court: (1) SCHEDULING – Magis-trate judges have significantly more flexible trial calendars than district judges because magistrate judges do not pre-side over felony criminal trials. Felony criminal trials must pro-ceed under statutory deadlines and therefore have priority over civil trials, which can be bumped by a felony criminal trial with a pending deadline. Therefore, magistrate judges can offer civil litigants more certainty and flexibility with trial dates and scheduling. If the district judge assigned to your case cannot accommo-date your scheduling needs due to their overloaded crimi-nal docket, consider whether consenting to a magistrate

(continued on page 8)

Federal courts across the country are increasing pro-grams that allow litigants to consent to a magistrate judge. These programs offer unique advantages to your clients in terms of schedul-ing flexibility, experienced jurists, and the benefit of one judge for all purposes. Next time you have a case in federal court, check to see what programs are available in your district.

The Central District of California, which serves the largest population of any judicial district in the coun-try, offers two distinct mag-istrate judge consent pro-grams. Under the first pro-gram, known as the Volun-tary Consent List, parties have the option of consent-ing to a magistrate judge after the case has been as-signed to a district judge. This program offers the par-ties the unique ability to choose their judge from a list of ten participating mag-istrate judges. Biographical information for the partici-pating magistrate judges is available on the Central Dis-trict’s website at

www.cacd.uscourts.gov. Once the parties select the magistrate judge of their choice, all they need to do is file a simple form (available on the Court’s website) which is then approved by the selected magistrate judge and the previously assigned district judge.

Under the second pro-gram, known as the Direct Assignment Program, civil cases are randomly assigned to a magistrate judge, with the exception of class ac-tions, death penalty habeas corpus petitions, bankruptcy cases, and cases seeking a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction. If a case is randomly se-lected for participation in this program and directly assigned to a magistrate judge, all parties will receive a notice from the Clerk of Court. If all parties do not consent to the randomly assigned magistrate judge within the deadlines set by the Local Rules, then the case will be randomly reas-signed to a district judge. However, if all parties timely consent, then the case will

5 REASONS TO CONSENT TO A MAGISTRATE

JUDGE IN FEDERAL COURT

President

Sharon Ben-Shahar Bird Marella

President-Elect

Kenneth Sulzer

Proskauer

Treasurer

David K. Willingham

Caldwell Leslie &

Proctor, PC

Secretary

Matthew W. Close

O’Melveny & Myers LLP

Associate Editor

Kristina Starr Azlin

Holland & Knight, LLP

Visit our website:

www.fbala.org

F ED E R A L B A R

A S SO C I AT I ON

L O S A N G E L E S

C H A P T E R

FBA Lawyer F A L L 2 0 1 3 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 1

U P C O M I N G

E V E N T S :

10th ANNUAL

BANKRUPTCY

ETHICS

SYMPOSIUM

December 13,

2013

BROWN BAG

LUCH FOR

YOUNG

LAWYERS

January 15, 2014

TAKING THE

STEP TO

FEDERAL COURT

January 25, 2014

STATE OF THE

CIRCUIT/

DISTRICT

March 14, 2014

by A. Joel Richlin

F B A - L A

O F F I C E R S

P A G E 2

F B A L A W Y E R

Nancy Clark, on behalf of the FBA-LA Chapter, presents to Bankruptcy

Judge Thomas B. Donovan a framed copy of the judicial profile of him she

wrote, which was published in the national Federal Lawyer magazine.

(l. to r.) Judge Donovan, Candace Croshani, law clerk to Judge Donovan,

and Ms. Clark.

(l. to r.) Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, Kathryn Kwok, judicial assistant to

Judge Russell, and Bankruptcy Judge Barry Russell at the annual Supreme

Court Review/Judge Barry Russell Awards luncheon. Photo courtesy of the United States Bankruptcy Court.

Judge Barry Russell Award winners (l. to r.) Katherine Cheng (UCLA), Nicholas Mitchell

(Southwestern), Ashley Kaplan (USC), Bankruptcy Judge Barry Russell, Olga Novak (Loyola),

and Kelsey Halverson (Pepperdine). Photo courtesy of the United States Bankruptcy Court.

(l. to r.) District Chief Judge George H. King installing the 2013-

2014 FBA-LA chapter officers, Sharon Ben-Shahar, Kenneth

Sulzer, and David K. Willingham. Photo courtesy of the United States Bankruptcy Court. (l. to r.) Jackilie Len and Jeffrey Payne at

the recent Young Lawyer Division happy

hour.

(l. to r.) Chapter Past-President Evan A. Jenness, Jonathan T.D. Neil, and

Sarah Conley Odenkirk at the Stolen Art & Litigating Holocaust-Era

Expropriation Claims program.

(l. to r.) Christopher T. Sukhaphadhana, Michael

G. Freedman, and Ivan Lopez-Ventura at the

recent Young Lawyer Division happy hour.

SCENES FROM RECENT FBA-LA PROGRAMS

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 1

Sequestration and the resulting cuts to the budget for court operations simply mean that the federal judiciary cannot adequately perform its responsibili-ties. That is the message that Chief Judge George H. King and the chief judges of 86 other federal district courts delivered on August 13, 2013 to leaders in Congress. The chief judges all signed a letter to Vice President Biden and Speaker Boehner, explaining that the core constitutional responsibilities of the federal courts is threatened by the possibility that sequester funding cuts may continue.

There is reason for optimism, but no certainty, that funding for the federal courts may be restored to needed levels. The Senate Appropriations Committee recently approved an increase in court funding for FY 2014 of 7 percent over the post-sequestration fund-ing that the judiciary received in FY 2013, which would be enough to fully fund the judiciary’s FY 2014 revised estimates of budget needs. The House Appro-priations Committee has now approved a smaller in-crease of roughly 5 percent increase over the FY 2013 post-sequestration funding. (The funding bills are S. 1371 and H.R. 2786.) Action by these committees is welcome news. Passage by the full Congress is now needed.

Nationally, the Federal Litiga-tion Section and the FBA’s Gov-ernment Relations Committee continue to urge sufficient fund-ing of federal judiciary opera-tions. The Ninth Circuit Vice-Presidents of the FBA, West Allen of Las Vegas and Alison Bachus of Phoenix, have both been ex-tremely active in this effort. Mr. Allen recently addressed the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Bankruptcy and the Courts to urge adequate funding; and Ms. Bachus joined with me and other FBA delegates on Capitol Hill for a day of meetings with legislators and their staffs.

Now, I encourage you to share this important concern with your colleagues and clients, and with our own Senators and Representatives in Congress. Thank you.

Robert E. Kohn is the Chair of the FBA’s Federal

Litigation Section. He can be reached at (310) 917

-1011 or rkohn@kohnlawgroup.com, or followed

@RobtKohn.

Budget Funding for the Judiciary by Robert E. Kohn

Robert E. Kohn,

Kohn Law Group,

Inc.

Lorraine Loder was the FBA-LA President in 2005-06, and was a devoted member of our organiza-tion. FBA-LA Past-President, the Hon. Yolanda Orozco, recalls her first year on the FBA-LA Board when she was working with Lorraine while chairing the committee organizing our retirement dinner for District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall: “This was my first event - so to speak - and Lorraine was very helpful, accessible and responsive to my many calls and requests during the planning of the event. She was a great team player and made my first year on the Board a very interesting and fun one.” Jeff Westerman also has fond memories of working on the event with Lorraine, describing her as “polite, even tempered and professional.” Among Judge Michael Fitzgerald’s recollections of Lorraine, two stand out: “After leaving the USAO for Heller Ehrman, Lorraine defended the witness at the first civil deposition I took, which was the second deposition of my life. I took the idea of

‘deposition should be like trial’ quite literally and was quite over-bearing. Lorraine quietly but firmly defended her cli-ent and politely made me realize I had no idea what I was doing.” Later, “after taking the bench, there was a loose-end in a pro bono case I had that had ended-up in bankruptcy court. Lorraine competently tied-up that loose-end, for which I will always be grateful.” Lorraine was our Chapter President during my second year on the Board, and I have always viewed her Board meetings as a model – she communicated clearly, effectively and efficiently. How many law-yers can do that?

In Memory of Lorraine Loder, Past Chapter President by Evan A. Jenness

Lorraine Loder,

1953-2013

P A G E 4 President’s Message On October 3, I assumed the role of the President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Federal Bar Association with great honor and excitement. I have very big shoes to fill; our outgo-ing President Evan Jenness has provided outstanding leader-ship for our Chapter and set the bar high for future Presi-dents. The past term has been one of the most productive and successful in recent history thanks to Ms. Jenness' tireless work and endless commitment to our Chapter. It is not sur-prising that , with Ms. Jenness at the helm, our Chapter was recently awarded the 2013 Chapter Activity Presidential Excellence Award by the National FBA. In the past quarter alone, we had numerous programs, many

of which had an emphasis on our younger lawyers. We launched a series of Happy Hours that have exceeded all expectations. The inaugural Happy Hour was organized by the Chair of our Younger Law-yer Division, Sandhya Rama-das of Bird, Marella, Boxer, Nessim, Drooks & Lincenberg , with the assistance of FBA member Jeffrey Payne, a judi-cial clerk for Ninth Circuit Judge Arthur L. Alarcon. It was held on June 13 at the Blue Cow Kitchen & Bar down-town and was attended by over 80 young attorneys, law clerks and summer associates. For the second Happy Hour, Michael Sugarman of the Law Office of Steven Goldsobel joined the organizing team. It took place on September 25 at Pink Taco in Century City and,

like the first, was an outstanding event. Our Happy Hours provide an opportunity for our younger lawyers to network and meet leaders of the FBA-LA’s Younger Lawyer Division. We also held two remarkable Brown Bag Lunches. The first was on June 6, with U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald and Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian. The second was held on October 22, with recently ap-pointed U.S. District Judge Fer-nando Olguin and Magistrate Judge Paul Abrams. Both pro-grams were was organized by Ms. Ramadas and received very high marks from participants. On August 1, the FBA-LA, together with the District Court, presented the program

(continued on page 13)

F B A L A W Y E R

Much of the professional practice of law involves learning skills that are not found in law books or taught in law schools. That is one reason why mentorship is so valuable in the legal profession. For the past several years, the FBA-LA has been offering a mentorship program, designed to assist law students and newer lawyers as they begin their legal careers. The program is tailored to members who have been practicing for 5 years or less. Newer lawyers are matched one-on-one with experi-enced lawyers or jurists based on their area of interest, type of practice, career goals and other cri-teria, and enjoy the opportunity to network and benefit from the experience of seasoned lawyers. One of the goals of our program is to provide guidance to young members regarding career plans and goals. While many firms provide in-house mentoring, participants in the FBA-LA’s mentorship program have the added benefit of wholly independent guidance. Also, in today's market, some of our students and newer lawyers are struggling to get jobs, and mentorship provides an opportunity to meet new people and open potential doors to employment. For mentors, the mentorship pro-gram is a rewarding experience and an opportunity to give back to the community. The required time commitment is not substantial. Mentors are asked to set up one in-person meeting with their assigned mentee and to make themselves available for subsequent phone calls or meetings with their mentees as issues come up. They are encouraged to continue the relationship, to invite their mentees to join them at FBA and other events and to introduce them to friends and colleagues. If you are interested in joining our mentorship program, please visit our website at http://www.fbala.org/Events.php and fill out the short application form. A representative of our Board of Directors will contact you promptly.

Mentorship Program by Sharon Ben-Shahar

Sharon Ben-Shahar

FBA Chapter

President

Bird Marella Boxer

Wolpert Drooks

Nessim & Lincenberg

PC

Supreme Court Review/Judge Barry Russell Awards

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 1

What is the extent of the President’s recess appointment power? Can a state initiative effectively prohibit the use of affirmative action? Can a town board begin its regular meetings with a religious prayer? These are just three of the many questions the Supreme Court will tackle in its October 2013 term. They were also just a few of the many issues cov-ered at the Federal Bar Associa-tion Los Angeles Chapter’s “Supreme Court Review and Judge Barry Russell Scholarship Awards” luncheon, held on Oc-tober 3, 2013 at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Ange-les. Each year, the FBA hosts this popular lunch event to honor students from local law schools who excelled in their school’s course devoted to federal courts and practice, and to pre-sent Dean Erwin Chemerinsky’s annual summary of the last term’s Supreme Court decisions and a preview of the coming

year’s cases. This year, over 200 judges, attorneys, and law clerks attended the event. The event started with the swear-ing in the new officers of the FBA-LA chapter: Sharon Ben-Shahar, as the new President of the Chapter; Kenneth Sulzer, as the new Presi-dent-Elect; David K. Willingham, as the new Treasurer; and Matthew Close, as the new Secretary. The Honorable George H. King, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of Cali-fornia, administered the oath to the new officers and the new board. Judge Russell then presented the Annual Judge Barry Russell Scholar-ship Awards to five students from Los Angeles’s ABA accredited law schools. The five recipients this year were: Katherine Cheng, UCLA Law School; Nicholas Mitchell, South-western Law School; Ashley Kaplan, USC Law School; Olga Novak, Loyola Law School; and Kelsey Halverson, Pepperdine Law School. Each of the five received an individualized plaque that commemorated the honor, a $500 check, and the latest

edition of Judge Russell’s Bankruptcy Evidence Manual. After an introduction by Ms. Ben-Shahar, Dean Chemerinsky then pre-sented his overview and summary of the last term of the Supreme Court. He explained that several trends and themes dominated last year’s term. First, the Court remained the “Justice Kennedy Court.” Dean Chemerinsky explained that in this past term, just as in the terms for the last several years, Justice Kennedy again provided the deciding vote in many of the Court’s more politicized cases and was most frequently in the majority of the Court’s 5-4 decisions. For example, in Shelby v. Holder, the Court decided five to four, with Jus-tice Kennedy in the majority, to strike down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. The Court ruled that Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitu-tional and its formula can no longer be used as a basis for subjecting juris-dictions to preclearance. Second, the term was defined in (continued on page 10)

The Magistrate Judge position requires a minimum of five years as a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a state, and at least five years of active practice of law. The rigorous selection process, which is governed by statute and by regulations adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States, includes detailed background reviews and interviews before a Merit Selection Panel consisting of attorneys and non-attorney public representatives. The Panel refers candidates to the District Court, where interviews are conducted by the District Court’s Magistrate Judges Committee. The top candidates are then referred to the full Court for review, selection, and appointment. The Central District of California is comprised of the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo, and serves approximately 18.7 million people – nearly half the popu-lation of the state of California. In 2012, more than 17,000 cases were filed in the District.

New Magistrate Judges Appointed (cont. from page 12)

by Jeffrey M. Chemerinsky

P A G E 6

FBA-LA Hosts Event on Litigating Claims of

Nazi-Looted Art On September 11, 2013, the FBA-LA Chapter held an intriguing panel discussion on “Stolen Art & Litigating Holocaust-Era Expro-priation Claims” in downtown Los Angeles. The panel, moderated by attorney Raymond Dowd, in-cluded the Honorable Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Profes-sor Jonathan Petropoulos, and attorneys John “Skip” Byrne and Simon Frankel, all of whom had practical experience in litigating claims of art allegedly stolen by Nazi Germany. The event was well attended and included sev-eral federal jurists in the audi-ence who weighed in with their own professional experiences and questions on the subject. Professor Petropoulos, a world- renowned expert on Nazi-looted art who is on the faculty at Claremont McKenna College, helped place the discussion in its historical context. He stated that the Nazis were the “greatest thieves in history,” stealing over 600,000 cultural objects. The professor explained that at first the Nazis used coercion to obtain these works of art and then, as was the case with most of what they did, turned to brute force. The discussion then transi-tioned to the legal efforts to

return the stolen art works to its rightful owners and their heirs. Skip Byrne of the Washington, D.C. firm Byrne Goldenberg & Hamilton LLP shared his experiences of representing families whose art collections were taken by the Nazis. In particular, he talked about how “technical defenses,” such as statute of limitations and laches, have been used by those who currently possess the art to defeat claims of wrongful possession.

Simon Frankel of Covington & Burling LLP helped provide the perspec-tive of defendants in these lawsuits, given his experience representing a museum in a lawsuit involving allegedly stolen art. He stated that many museums have taken voluntary steps to return sto-len art to its rightful owners without legal compulsion. He defended the use by muse-ums of “technical defenses,” stating they were often barometers of the strength of the underlying claims. Chief Judge Kozinski stated

that he was constrained by what he could publicly say, noting that there are cases currently pending before the Ninth Circuit involving Nazi-looted art. Nonetheless, he asked several thought-provoking questions to the panelists. Judge Kozinski was one of two dissenters on the en banc panel that heard Casisirer v. Kingdom of Spain, a case in-volving a valuable Pissaro painting confiscated by the Gestapo during World War II. Also in attendance at the event was the Honorable Gary Feess, who was the judge who tried the Cassirer case in District Court. Moderator Ray Dowd of Dunnington Bartholow & Miller LLP in New York noted the FBA’s national organization has also recently urged for the creation of a Nazi-Looted Art Commission. Concerned that litigation has been time-consuming, expensive, and largely unfruitful, the FBA is asking Congress to establish a federal commission to hear claims of Nazi-taken art as several European nations have done.

F B A L A W Y E R

by Aaron M. May

Aaron M. May,

Assistant United

States Attorney

(l. to r.) United States Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski,

FBA-LA Chapter Past-President Evan Jenness, Simon J.

Frankel, Professor Jonathan Petropoulos, Raymond

Dowd, and John J. “Skip” Byrne at the Stolen Art &

Litigating Holocaust-Era Expropriation Claims

program.

Disclaimer:

This article was

written by Mr. May

in his private

capacity and not as

an employee of the

United States

government . All

statements reflect

only the author’s

own views and

opinions and not

those of the United

States government

or the United States

Department of

Justice.

P A G E 7 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 1

The Los Angeles Chapter of the Federal Bar Association thanks Rust Consulting for its support of our

programs through its advertising in our newsletter

paid advertisement

P A G E 8 Magistrate Judge Consent (cont. from page 1) judge might provide the perfect solution. (2) EXPERIENCE – By statute, magistrate judges are rigorously screened through a competitive merit-selection process in which only the most experienced and well-respected attorneys are chosen. These appointments are made without regard to political affiliation and must be confirmed by the district judges of the Court. Magistrate judges typi-cally have at least fifteen years of federal litigation experience and come from the highest caliber law firms and government agen-cies. For example, magistrate judges in the Central District are former partners at highly re-spected law firms, as well as for-mer supervisors in the U.S. Attor-ney’s Office (civil and criminal divisions) and the Office of the Federal Public Defender. More-over, the magistrate judges in the Central District have subject-matter expertise in areas ranging from intellectual property to em-ployment, real estate, securities, antitrust, environmental, prod-ucts liability, and civil rights (amongst many others). (3) CHOOSE YOUR JUDGE – Programs such as the Voluntary Consent List in the Central Dis-trict allow litigants to literally choose their judge from a list of available judges. The parties can select the magistrate judge best suited for their case based on the magistrate judge’s prior back-ground and experience. (4) ONE JUDGE FOR ALL PUR-POSES – Consenting to a magis-trate judge early in a case allows

the magistrate judge to de-velop greater familiarity with your case than if you had pro-ceeded before a magistrate judge only for discovery issues and then moved on before a district judge for trial. (5) HELP YOUR COURT – Courts across the country are being forced to reduce ser-vices and furlough or lay off staff due to budget cuts. Mag-istrate judge consent pro-grams help to redistribute the pressing civil caseload for the Court. By consenting, you help the Court further its ef-forts to utilize judicial re-sources as efficiently as possi-ble. For example, John Burton of the Law Offices of John Burton has been consenting to magis-trate judges in Section 1983 jury trials for well over a dec-ade. In fact, Burton recalls consenting to a jury trial be-fore then-Magistrate Judge George H. King, now the Chief District Judge. In recent years, Burton has litigated three jury trials before Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Walsh and currently has consent cases pending before several other magis-trate judges. Burton likes the greater flexibility magistrate judges have in trial scheduling and their ability to provide informal resolution of issues that may arise such as holding a telephonic conference in the middle of a deposition. Bur-ton also likes the efficiency of one judge for both pretrial motions and trial because the magistrate judge is already

familiar with the case from ruling on the discovery mo-tions. Burton said: “There is no magistrate judge I would not consent to. I’m a huge fan of the consent programs.”

Similarly, David L. Hagan of the Law Offices of David L. Hagan recently consented to a jury trial before Magistrate Judge Carla M. Woehrle in a race discrimination case. Hagan had not previously con-sented to a magistrate judge, but the case was initially as-signed to Judge Woehrle through the Direct Assignment Program and both parties con-sented. Hagan had recently attended a panel program dis-cussing magistrate judge con-sent programs and liked the fact that “magistrate judges are approved by the district judges, so they are really vet-ted.” Hagan is not sure he would have tried a consent program if not for the Direct Assignment Program, but he is really glad he did. Hagan said, “Judge Woehrle was really great. Her demeanor was pro-fessional, she was easy to communicate with, and made clear rulings. This was a diffi-cult trial and Judge Woehrle was absolutely imperturbable. I would gladly consent again.” In sum, consenting to a magistrate judge offers many benefits to your client from scheduling and efficiency to choice of judicial officer. The next time you have a case in federal court, check to see what options are available to consent to a magistrate judge.

F B A L A W Y E R

A. Joel Richlin,

Foley & Lardner

LLP

P A G E 9 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 1

In the past year, the Younger Lawyers Division of the Federal Bar Association of Los Angeles has made great strides in the number and quality of events it has hosted. We organized the Behind the Windows of the Clerk’s Office program in November 2012, which gave younger lawyers a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of the Clerk’s Office of the Central District. We continued our Brown Bag Lunch program, where host small groups of younger lawyers gather in a federal judge’s courtroom for an intimate conversa-tion with a federal judge about courtroom etiquette, effective advocacy, and his or her background and biography. In the past year, FBA-LA YLD has been fortunate to host lunches with the Honorable Dolly Gee, the Honorable Carla Woehrle, the Honorable Michael Fitzgerald, the Honorable Jacqueline Chool-jian, the Honorable Fernando Olguin, and the Honor-able Paul Abrams. We will be hosting our next lunch in January with the Honorable Beverly Reid O’Connell

Young Lawyers Division and the Honorable Michael R. Wilner. This year, the Younger Lawyers Division also launched a brand new happy hour series. We hosted our first happy hour in June 2013, and our second in September 2013. Both were extremely well-attended. If you are interested in organizing a happy hour, or if your firm is inter-ested in sponsoring one, please contact Sandhya at sr@birdmarella.com. For lawyers who are thirty-six or younger, member-ship in the FBA includes membership in the Younger Lawyers Division. It grants you access to our programs, including our mentorship program, where we pair you with an experienced lawyer in federal practice. Please consider joining the FBA – your membership sustains our events. If you have any suggestions for future events you would like to see, please do not hesitate to contact us. See you at one of our events!

Sandhya Ramadas,

YLD Chair,

Bird Marella Boxer

Wolpert Drooks

Nessim &

Lincenberg PC

by Sandhya Ramadas

UPCOMING FBA-LA PROGRAM

(l. to r.) Summer Shelton and Elizabeth Horowitz at the

annual Supreme Court Review/Judge Barry Russell Awards

luncheon.

(l. to r.) Professor Jonathan Petropoulos, Bankruptcy

Judge Maureen A.Tighe, and Holly Korbanski at the

Stolen Art & Litigating Holocaust-Era Expropriation

Claims program.

P A G E 1 0

Supreme Court Review (cont. from page 5) part by the importance of the standing doc-trine. For example, in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the Court held that the official sponsors of Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative prohibiting same-sex marriage, did not have standing to appeal an adverse federal court ruling. Dean Chemerinsky explained that the Court’s ruling avoided a decision on the mer-its and instead provided another instance of the increasing trend of the Court’s willingness to invoke the standing doctrine as a way of deciding, or not deciding, cases before it. Third, Dean Chemerinsky opined that the Court’s term was overwhelmingly pro-business. For example, in Mutual Pharma-ceutical Company v. Bartlett, the Court held that makers of generic drugs could not be sued for defects in product design. The case involved a woman who was horribly disfig-ured after taking a generic pain medication. The Court held that federal law pre-empted any recovery under state law for failure to warn of the defects. Dean Chemerinsky drew a connection between that case and the Court’s decision in American Express v. Italian Colors Restaurant, another pro-business deci-sion. In American Express, several businesses had brought a class-action accusing American Express of violating antitrust law by imposing excessive fees on merchants. The individual plaintiffs could have each recovered just $38,000 under the antitrust statute, and proving an antitrust violation would have cost exponentially more than they could have hoped to individually recover. Nonetheless, the Court ruled that the plaintiffs could not bring their case as a class action because of an arbitration clause in their American Ex-press agreements. Dean Chemerinsky ex-plained that these cases continued an in-creasingly evident trend: this is a very pro-business Court. Dean Chemerinsky then turned to a pre-view of the upcoming term’s key cases. Al-though the Court does not yet have a full docket for the coming year, it is already clear

that the coming year will have a number of blockbuster cases. First, in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, the Court will determine whether a state ballot initiative intended to eliminate the use of affirmative action by prohibiting discrimination or preferences based on race or gender actually violates equal protection. The Sixth Circuit held that the statute violated the Equal Protection Clause. This case will frame the affirmative action issue differently from what the Court has seen in the past: the issue is not whether an affirmative action program is constitutional, but whether a state can pro-hibit its use. Second, in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, the Court will decide whether limitations on campaign contributions to non-candidate committees are constitu-tional. Since Buckley v. Valeo was decided almost forty years ago, the Court has distin-guished between campaign contributions, which may be constitutionally restricted, and expenditures, which may not be. McCutcheon presents the Court with an op-portunity to reconsider this distinction and potentially change the landscape of cam-paign finance law. Finally, Dean Chemerinsky highlighted and discussed a case that he will be arguing before the Court in December, United States v. Apel. This case, arising out of California’s Central District and the Ninth Circuit, in-volves the application of First Amendment rights to speech outside of military bases, but on land that is owned by the federal government. The review of the Court’s past term, and preview of coming cases, made for a lively and informative lunch. This will be a fasci-nating term of the Court. We can look for-ward to hearing about it at next fall’s luncheon.

F B A L A W Y E R

“Dean

Chemerinsky

opined that the

Court’s term

was

overwhelmingly

pro-business.”

Jeffrey M. Chemerinsky,

Caldwell Leslie &

Proctor, PC

P A G E 1 1 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 1

cases; and Employee Retirement In-come Security Act (“ERISA”) cases (filed pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 1001, et seq.). For more detailed information about the Attorney Case-Opening Pilot Project, refer to the Court’s Amended General Order No. 13-01. For instructions on filing new civil cases electronically, refer to the At-torney Case-Opening Pilot Project User Manual. Both documents are available on the Court’s website at

www.cacd.uscourts.gov/e-filing/civil-case-opening, as are step-by-step training videos demonstrating the electronic case-opening process. The Pilot Project shall be in effect from October 7, 2013, to December 1, 2014. The Court an-ticipates that the electronic filing of case-initiating documents will eventually become mandatory in the Central District of California.

District Court News Announcement:

The Court has established a pilot project which allows for the electronic filing of new civil cases. Beginning October 7, 2013, attorneys may open new civil cases in the CM/ECF System and file both new and amended complaints electronically in the following kinds of cases only: student loan cases (filed pursu-ant to 20 U.S.C. § 1080, et seq.); patent, trademark, and copyright

Attorney Case-Opening Pilot Project

MORE SCENES FROM RECENT FBA-LA PROGRAMS

(l. to r.) Christina Goebelsmann and Christopher J. Wu

at recent Young Lawyer Division happy hour.

(l. to r.) District Chief Judge George H. King and

David K. Willingham at the at the annual Supreme

Court Review/Judge Barry Russell Awards luncheon.

(l. to r.) Manny Abascal and Ranee A.

Katzenstein at recent event.

(l. to r.) Stephanie Ames and

Jennifer Uyeda at the annual

Supreme Court Review/Judge

Barry Russell Awards luncheon.

(l. to r.) Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Jeffrey M.

Chemerinsky at the annual Supreme Court Review/

Judge Barry Russell Awards luncheon.

(l. to r.) Carolyn Afari, Roksana Moradi, and Jonathan M. Hayes

at the annual Supreme Court Review/Judge Barry Russell Awards

luncheon.

P A G E 1 2

Alka Sagar and Douglas F. McCormick Selected as

United States Magistrate Judges

F B A L A W Y E R

(as reported in an undated press release)

The United States District Court for the Central District of California announces the selection of Alka Sagar and Douglas F. McCormick as United States Magistrate Judges. Judge Sagar, who became the first Indian-American female federal judge in the nation when she was sworn in on August 21, will sit in Los Angeles in the Court’s Western Division, filling the position vacated by for-mer Magistrate Judge Fernando M. Olguin when he was appointed as a District Judge in January 2013. Judge McCormick, who was sworn in on August 23, will sit in Santa Ana in the Court’s Southern Division, filling the position vacated by former Magistrate Judge Marc L. Goldman, who retired in April 2013. Prior to her selection as a Magistrate Judge, Judge Sagar had served as an Assis-tant U.S. Attorney in the United States At-torney's Office in Los Angeles since 1987, serving as a Deputy Chief in the former Ma-jor Crimes Section since 1991 and as a Dep-uty Chief in the office’s Major Frauds Section since 2001. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Judge Sagar handled and supervised com-plex fraud, money laundering, and criminal tax matters from investigation through prosecution and appellate review, and was the recipient of an Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for her prosecution of over 70 lawyers and doctors involved in a kickback scheme. From 2004 to 2006, she also served as a judge pro tem for the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Judge Sagar was an associate at two law firms in Los Angeles. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1981, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and her J.D. from the UCLA School of Law in 1984. Prior to his selection as a Magistrate Judge, Judge McCormick had served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the United States

Attorney’s Office in Santa Ana since 2001, and as a Deputy Chief of that office since 2007. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Judge McCormick handled criminal cases at all stages from investigation through trial and appellate review, including the successful prosecution of seven corporate executives under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the prosecution of 29 defendants related to the Mexican Mafia’s control of gang activity on the streets and in the jails of Orange County. In 2008, Judge McCormick received an Attorney General’s Award for Distin-guished Service for his work on a domestic terrorism case against four members of a prison-based group plotting to attack military recruiting centers and synagogues. Before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, he worked at Latham & Watkins in Orange County. Judge McCormick served as a law clerk to the Honorable Charles E. Wiggins of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1996 to 1997 and to the Honorable Gary L. Taylor of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California from 1995 to 1996. He received his B.A. in 1991 from the University of California, Irvine, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and his J.D. in 1995 from the UCLA School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif. Including the positions now occupied by Judge Sagar and Judge McCormick, the Cen-tral District of California has 24 authorized full-time and one part-time Magistrate Judge positions. The duties of Magistrate Judges include conducting preliminary proceedings in criminal cases, the trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases, conducting discovery and various other pretrial hearings in civil cases, the trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants, and other mat-ters as may be assigned. Magistrate Judges are appointed for a term of eight years, and can be reappointed to additional terms. (continued on page 5)

Terry Nafisi,

District Court

Executive and

Clerk of Court,

United States

District Court,

Central District of

California

From the

Clerk of the

District

Court

President’s Message (cont from page 9)

P A G E 1 3 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 1

Hyperlinking – How to Improve Your Pleadings & Impress the Judge. U.S. District Court Judge Dean Pregerson and Magis-trate Judge Cheryl Zwart of the District of Nebraska explained the benefits and the mechanics of Hyperlinking, which will al-low judges with the click of a mouse to view a pertinent case, declaration, exhibit or other part of the record. The program was organized by Judges Pregerson and Zwart, and was coordi-nated by our past-President Evan Jenness and FBA member Kimberly Dunne of Sidley Austin. On September 11, we held the program Stolen Art & Litigating Holocaust-Era Expropriation Claims. Raymond ("Ray") Dowd of Dunnington Bartholow & Miller moderated the distinguished panel of Chief Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski, John J. ("Skip") Byrne of Byrne Goldenberg & Hamilton LLP, Simon J. Frankel of Covington & Burling LLP, and Prof. Jonathan Petropoulos of the Claremont McKenna College. Attendees were treated to a fascinating discussion regarding claims to Nazi-looted artworks, the legal and practical obstacles facing claimants of property stolen by the Nazis and the moral and other issues confronting institutions possessing property against which claims have been made. Finally, on October 3, our new Board and slate of officers were sworn-in during our ever-popular Annual Supreme Court Review and Judge Barry Russell Law School Scholarship Awards. As always, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky’s presentation regarding the past term of the Supreme Court was insightful, thought-provoking, and entertaining. This program was organ-ized by the Honorable Barry Russell, a long-standing FBA-LA Board member and past-President of the National FBA, to-gether with Board member Hillary Potashner of the Federal Public Defender. During the past quarter, our Chapter also was awarded the 2013 Outstanding Newsletter Award. We thank our Newslet-ter editor Ron Maroko of the U.S. Trustee’s Office for his hard work that results in a fabulous Newsletter each quarter and has earned us this great honor. During its most recent meeting, the Board of FBA-LA wel-comed to its ranks two new members -- the Hon. Audrey B. Collins and Kristina Azlin of Holland & Knight. We are thrilled to have Judge Collins and Ms. Azlin join our board and look for-ward to working with them. In the coming year, the Chapter remains committed to serv-ing its membership by presenting engaging educational pro-grams and social events, bolstering our mentorship program and maintaining close ties to the U.S. District Court. Our goals

for the upcoming term including strengthen our ties to other bar organizations and to local law schools. These goals are particularly appropriate this year, when Board member Jeff Westerman of Westerman Law Corp. is serving as Chair of the Litigation of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and chapter member Robert Kohn of Kohn Law group is serving as Chair of the Federal Litigation Section of the FBA. In addition, FBA member Stevan Sable initiated the first student chapter of the FBA-LA at UCLA. We hope to open similar chapters at other local law schools. We look forward to our award-winning Annual Bankruptcy Ethics Symposium on December 13. Board member Ron Maroko chairs this popular program, which as always, will feature an impressive slate of speakers on the latest issues relating to ethics in bankruptcy practice. We are also excited about our upcoming Brown Bag Lunch on January 15, 2014, organized by FBA member Jeffrey Chemerinsky of Caldwell Leslie. Newly appointed U.S. District Court Judge Beverly R. O'Connell and Magis-trate Judge Michael R. Wilner will be our hosts. On January 25, we will hold our popular Taking the Step to Federal Court. This “nuts and bolts” program is designed to aid both new admittees and attorneys with limited experience in federal court in the practical as-pects of civil federal litigation. It is organized by Board members David Willingham of Caldwell Leslie and Joshua Hamilton of Paul Hastings. Board members John Carson of Foley & Lardner LLP and David Willingham of Caldwell Leslie are spearheading this year’s State of the Circuit/District luncheon pro-gram, which will be held on March 14 at the Doubletree Hotel. Attendees will be hear the insights of Ninth Circuit Judge Paul J. Watford, Chief District Court Judge George H. King, Chief Magistrate Judge Suzanne H. Segal and Chief Bankruptcy Judge Peter H. Carroll. I, along with President-Elect Ken Sulzer of Proskauer Rose, Treasurer Dave Willingham of Caldwell Leslie and Secretary Matthew Close of O'Melveny & Myers, look forward to serving FBA-LA’s membership in the coming term. We welcome suggestions for enhancing the ex-perience of our existing membership, and attracting new members. Please visit our website at www.fbala.org to register for events, join the FBA, or find out more about our Chapter.

The Los Angeles Chapter

The Los Angeles Chapter is one of the oldest chap-

ters of the FBA. Originally chartered in 1937, the

Los Angeles Chapter covers the Los Angeles

Division of the Central District of California.

With approximately 400 members, the Los Angeles

Chapter is the largest in the Ninth Circuit. Members

come from private practice, government agencies,

military branches, law schools and the bench.

The Los Angeles Chapter is committed to meeting

the needs of the federal practitioner through educa-

tional seminars, training programs and social func-

tions. To join FBA-LA, log onto our website:

www.fbala.org.

Federal Bar Association Mission Statement

The mission of the Association is to strengthen the

federal legal system and administration of justice

by serving the interests and the needs of the fed-

eral practitioner, both public and private, the fed-

eral judiciary and the public they serve.

The Federal Bar Association

The FBA represents the Federal legal profession.

We consist of more than 15,000 federal lawyers,

including 1,200 federal judges, who work together

to promote the sound administration of justice and

integrity, quality and independence of the judiciary.

The FBA also provides opportunities for judges

and lawyers to professionally and socially interact.

and extends student scholarships.

210 N. Glenoaks Boulevard, Suite C

Burbank, CA 91502

Phone: 818-843-1020

E-mail: fbala@emaoffice.com

website: fbala.org

FEDERAL BAR ASSOCIATION

Los Angeles Chapter

About Us “The premiere bar association serving

the federal practitioner and judiciary.”

If you are interested in supporting our programs through advertisement in our newsletter please contact Janine Nichols at 818-843-1020 or fbala@emaoffice.com

complex early meeting and disclosure requirements in federal court under Rule 26.

The remainder of the pro-gram provided a series of demonstrations by various local practitioners to exemplify what not to do when interact-ing with opposing counsel, both in and out of court, as well as how to avoid losing credibility with the Court. Each demonstration was followed by commentary and a question and answer session in order to highlight the mistakes young practitioners should avoid.

The first demonstration session was lead by Melinda Eades LeMoine from Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP and Jason C. Wright from Jones Day, who demonstrated an early scheduling meeting, as well as a scheduling conference in front of Judge Gutierrez. The attorneys and Judge Gutierrez emphasized the importance in each attorney knowing their case, setting the tone for the entire case, and establishing credibility with the Court from the beginning.

(continued on page 8)

On January 25, 2014, the FBA-LA Chapter's civil practice program, "Taking the Step to Federal Court" introduced new Southern California attorneys to various aspects of federal pretrial practice. FBA-LA Treasurer, David Willingham of Caldwell Leslie & Proctor, PC, moderated the half-day program that included demonstrations and commentary by U.S. District Court Judge Philip S. Gutierrez, U.S. Magistrate Judge Carla M. Woehrle, Robyn C. Crowther of Caldwell Leslie & Proctor, PC and several other prominent federal litigators. The event was well-attended by young practitioners from Los Angeles and throughout Southern California.

Taking the Step to Federal Court walked young attor-neys through the dos and don’ts of federal practice from a Rule 26(f) early meeting through a summary judgment motion, while us-ing a class action sexual harassment lawsuit as the backdrop and highlighting

the key points in pretrial litigation.

Judge Gutierrez began the discussion by educating the attorneys on what to do, and what not to do, in federal court. Judge Gutierrez covered practical rules, such as not being late, not walking into the well, and always standing when addressing the Court, to more specific advice like utilizing the Rutter Group Practice Guide for solving practical issues and stating the relief requested with specificity.

Next, Robyn Crowther, discussed the differences between federal and state court practice. Ms. Crowther explained the use of magistrate judges in federal court and pointed out important differences in discovery rules, the timing of various motions, and jury pools. She stressed the importance of familiarizing oneself with the local rules and any standing orders upon initial assignment of a case. Additionally, Judge Gutierrez talked about the

TAKING THE STEP PROGRAM A SUCCESS

President

Sharon Ben-Shahar Bird Marella, Wolpert,

Nessim, Drooks &

Lincenberg, P.C.

President-Elect

Kenneth Sulzer

Proskauer, LLP

Treasurer

David K. Willingham

Caldwell Leslie &

Proctor, PC

Secretary

Matthew W. Close

O’Melveny & Myers LLP

Associate Editor

Kristina Starr Azlin

Holland & Knight, LLP

Visit our website:

www.fbala.org

F ED E R A L B A R

A S SO C I AT I ON

L O S A N G E L E S

C H A P T E R

FBA Lawyer W I N T E R 2 0 1 4 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2

U P C O M I N G

E V E N T S :

STATE OF THE

CIRCUIT/

DISTRICT

March 13, 2014

HAPPY HOUR

FOR YOUNG

LAWYERS

March 19, 2014

RECEPTION

HONORIG THE

FEDERAL

JUDICIARY

May 8, 2014

By Marissa E. Buck and John A. Canale

F B A - L A

O F F I C E R S

P A G E 2

F B A L A W Y E R

J. Scott Bovitz during the 10th Annual

Bankruptcy Ethics Symposium.

(l. to r.) Magistrate Judge Michael R. Wilner, Summer Shelton, Veronica

McKamie, and Elizabeth Horowitz at the FBA’s reception honoring the

judicial clerks. Ms. McKamie was named as Federal Court Clerk of the Year.

(l. to r.) Bankruptcy Judge Barry Russell and Bankruptcy Chief Judge

Peter H. Carroll at the FBA’s reception honoring the judicial clerks.

(l. to r.) District Court Executive and Clerk of Court Terry Nafisi

and Ian Yanniello at the FBA’s reception honoring the judicial

clerks.

(l. to r.) Megan Low, Jennifer Szoke, and District Judge

Audrey B. Collins at the FBA’s reception honoring the

judicial clerks.

(l. to r.) Jeff Gilbert, Jared Ahern, and District Judge Manuel L. Real at the FBA’s reception

honoring the judicial clerks.

SCENES FROM RECENT FBA-LA PROGRAMS

District Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell at

the “Brown Bag” lunch for the Younger

Lawyers Division, which she hosted with

Magistrate Judge Michael R. Wilner.

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2

The Los Angeles Chapter of the Federal Bar Association recently named Veronica McKamie as the Federal Court Clerk of the Year. Ms. McKamie has served as courtroom deputy clerk to U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael R. Wilner since his appointment to the bench in April 2011. “Veronica is a superb and hard-working member of the Court’s staff,” Judge Wilner said. “She really deserves this prestigious award from the FBA.” As a courtroom deputy clerk, Ms. McKamie coordinates Judge Wilner’s court calendar, docket orders and judicial decisions, and monitors litigants’ filings in civil and criminal action. She also interacts with lawyers and parties in preparation for hearings, trials, and settlement conferences. Judge Wilner noted that Ms. McKamie takes a “calm professional approach to her work and with litigants that helps move all cases forward efficiently.” Ms. McKamie is a six-year veteran of the Clerks office in Los Angeles. Before working for Judge Wilner, she coordinated

the Court’s postindictment arraignment and CVB calendars, and assisted several former magistrate judges. Ms. McKamie holds a bachelor’s degree in socialwork from Cal State - Los Angeles and a mas-ter’s degree in public administration from Cal State - Dominguez Hills.

Veronica McKamie Honored as Federal Court Clerk of the Year

On January 15, 2014, the FBA-LA Younger Lawyers Division organized and sponsored a brown bag lunch with the Honorable Beverly Reid O’Connell and Honorable Michael R. Wilner of the District Court. The judges presented their top ten do’s and don’ts of federal practice. The judges empha-sized the importance of building a reputation by being thoroughly prepared at all times. One com-mon theme was the importance of understanding the particular preferences of the judge handling the case. This starts with paying close attention to each judge’s so-called “local local” rules, which are the rules each judge issues for their own courtroom. Both also explained the value of observing court proceedings prior to a hearing to get a sense of how a judge approaches hearings.

The lunch is a part of the FBA-LA Younger Lawyers Division’s ongoing brown bag lunch series, in which judges are invited to share their advice and reflections on practicing in federal court in a small informal setting. Stay tuned for more information on upcoming YLD events, including the next brown bag lunch!

Judges “Brown Bag” with Younger Lawyers Division by Jeffrey M. Chermerinsky

Jeffrey M. Chemerinsky,

Caldwell Leslie &

Proctor, PC

(l. to r.) Award winner Veronica McKamie and Magistrate Judge Michael R. Wilner

P A G E 4

President’s Message The past quarter has been an active one for the Los Angeles Chapter. In November, we had our annual Law Clerks Reception & Clerk of the Year Award, organized by Board members Judge Michael Fitzgerald, Matthew Close and Peter Shakow. The 2013 Clerk of the Year Award deservedly was given to Veronica McKamie, courtroom deputy for Magistrate Judge Wilner. In December, we held our annual Bankruptcy Ethics program, featuring an impressive slate of speakers. The program was organized by board member Ron Maroko. It was well-received and demonstrated the strength and depth of our bankruptcy bar. We got off to a strong start in 2014 with a successful Brown Bag Lunch on January 15. YLD Co-Chair Jeff Chemerinsky organized the lunch, which was hosted by two of the newer judges of our Court - District Court Judge O'Connell and Magistrate Judge Wilner. The lunch was well-attended and the reviews were excellent. On January 25, we held our popular program "Taking the Step to the Federal Court." This year, the judicial panelists were District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez and Magistrate Judge Carla Woehrle. Robyn Crowther of Caldwell, Leslie & Proctor was the moderator. The pro-gram was organized by Board members David Willingham and Josh Hamilton, who worked hard to ensure a smooth and successful event. We thank all of the program organizers, the judges and attorneys who participated in them and, of course, our members for making these programs happen and ensuring their success. During the past quarter, the FBA also continued to support the federal court in the challenges facing it. In prior issues of this News-letter we reported on the ongoing concerns re-garding the budget cuts imposed by Congress and the efforts of the FBA to ensure adequate funding for the federal courts. We are happy to report that in January of this year, Congress approved an increase of 5% ($316 Million) in

discretionary appropriations for the judiciary for FY 2014. This outcome reflects the collec-tive effort of judges, federal practitioners and bar organizations, including the FBA, who reached out to members of Congress regard-ing the impacts of sequestration and worked tirelessly to lobby for a reversal of the budget cuts. The FBA also has been closely involved in the effort to increase the judicial pay for fed-eral judges. Just recently, Judicial salaries of Article III judges were elevated to new levels as a result of successfully concluded litigation challenging the withholding of cost-of-living increases (COLAs) by Congress. The victory came on October 30 as the government announced it would withdraw its appeal of Beer v. United States, and would no longer contest the judgment of the Court of Federal Claims that adjusted judicial pay levels as an outgrowth of the decision of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in October 2012, finding that the withholding of the COLAs violated the compensation clause of the Constitution. Throughout the Beer litigation, first brought in 2009, the FBA has been closely involved in support of the federal judges through the filing of amicus briefs and other actions. Although the final judgment entered by the Court of Federal Claims in Beer applied only to the six underlying judge plaintiffs, on January 1, all federal judges received a 14% increase to their salaries, as years of cost-of-living adjust-ments were added to their paychecks. On a very sad note, the federal bar in Los Angeles morns the tragic and untimely death of David Pregerson, son of District Court Judge Dean D. Pregerson and Sharon Pregerson, and grandson of Ninth Circuit Judge Harry Pregerson. Our deepest thoughts and prayers are with the Pregerson family during these

challenging times. (continued on page 8)

F B A L A W Y E R

Sharon Ben-Shahar

FBA Chapter

President

Bird Marella Boxer

Wolpert Nessim

Drooks & Lincenberg

PC

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2

This newsletter welcomes the submission of article of general interest to FBA members for publication. In addition to articles relating to specific practice areas, we also welcome articles about court procedures, rules, initiatives, and tips for better practice. We are also interested in summary reports of our events from those who attend. If you are interested in writing about an FBA event please let us know a month before the event, to avoid duplication. All article submissions and requests to write about an FBA event should be sent to Kristina Azlin, Associate Editor, at Kristina.azlin@hklaw.com. On all submitted articles, we reserve the right to decide what to publish. In some instances we may seek input from the court on articles prior to publication and we may change the title of the article. As we are a newsletter, not a law review, as a general rule we do not include footnotes. Due to space limitations we discourage string citations. The article should read like an article, not a brief. We do not require Blue Book formatting and there is no formal word count, just space limitations. A typical substantive article can be as short as 300 words or as long as 1100 words.

Write an Article for this Newsletter

MORE SCENES FROM RECENT FBA-LA PROGRAMS

(l. to r.) Brothers David S. Hagen and Jeffrey Hagen at

the Bankruptcy Ethics Symposium.

(l. to r.) David L. Neale and Tania M. Moyron at

the Bankruptcy Ethics Symposium.

.

Julia Brodsky spoke about issues related

to Elimination of Bias. The FBA offered

this program at no cost to its members, as

well as a Substance Abuse program fol-

lowing the Bankruptcy Ethics Symposium.

(l. to r.) Bankruptcy Judge Deborah J. Saltzman and

David W. Meadows spoke on technology issues and

ethics at the Bankruptcy Ethics Symposium.

(l. to r.) Niloofar Rezvanpour, Kenneth Sulzer, Amy Choe, and Bankruptcy

Judge Barry Russell at the Bankruptcy Ethics Symposium.

P A G E 6

10th Annual Bankruptcy Ethics Symposium

featured bonus programming On December 13, 2013 the LA

Chapter of the FBA and the Bank-

ruptcy Section of the FBA put on a

seminar which provided attendees

with an entertaining way to acquire

MCLE credits in the subject areas of

ethics, substance abuse, and elimi-

nation of bias.

The ethics section of the seminar

focused on ethical issues that arise

in bankruptcy cases.

The first panel of speakers, con-

sisting of the Honorable Ernest M.

Robles, M. Erik Clark, Christine L.

Cronenweth, Stella A. Havkin, and

David A. Tilem, addressed ethical

issues in pre-bankruptcy planning

through a clever power point presen-

tation entitled “20 Shades of Gray”.

The Discussion surrounded around

such questions as (1) To what extent

is exemption planning allowed? (2)

Is funding an exempt retirement

plan with non-exempt cash allowed?

(3) Are assets in a trust protected

from creditors? As you can guess

by the title, there were 20 such

questions that were answered by the

panel.

The second ethics section ad-

dressed ethical dilemmas involving

technology and was entitled

“Technology Tips and Trap Doors”.

The Honorable Deborah J. Saltz-

man, J. Scott Bovitz, and David W.

Meadows led a lively discussion on

the latest and greatest IT stuff avail-

able. As members of the Bank-

ruptcy Court IT Committee, Judge

Saltzman and David W. Meadows

updated everyone on the technology

available in our Courts and the an-

ticipated future technology ad-

dressed in the 2014-2019 Strategic

Plan of the Bankruptcy Court. The

attendees now know on how to

keep client information confi-

dential when using the cloud

and why you should flatten

your PDF’s before filing them

with the Court. Mr. Bovitz,

while wearing a jaunty red rose

buttoner, encouraged

participation from the audience.

The speakers for the final

ethics session were Evan A.

Jenness and Gillian Brown.

These two highly qualified and

engaging women spoke about

attorney client relationships and

how to avoid ethical issues.

Their advice included (1) being

clear as to who your client is,

which can be tricky when the

client is an entity or there is a

common defense agreement, (2)

making sure the client under-

stands the attorney client privi-

lege and how it can be inadver-

tently waived, and (3) insuring

that attorneys maintain the con-

fidentiality of client information

even when using third party

vendors in litigation. They

noted that the most common

ethical issues in Bankruptcy

Court involve conflicts of inter-

est. Their sage advice when an

ethical issue arises is to slow

down the process to buy your-

self time to think through the

problem and perhaps even get

advice from a friend or the

State Bar Ethics Hotline. And

don’t be greedy. Most ethical

dilemmas occur due to “speed

or greed”. Slow down and let

the work that could cause a

conflict of interest go to another

attorney.

For those who stayed for the

afternoon session, an hour of

Substance Abuse and an hour of

Elimination of Bias MCLEs were

provided for no additional fee.

Dr. Alex Yufix, a licensed psy-

chologist and attorney who is cur-

rently employed by the State Bar

of California as a Case Manage-

ment Supervisor at the Lawyers

Assistance Program, provided the

attendees with lots of information

on one of the largest predictors of

substance abuse and attorney

discipline issues: depression.

Although much of the statistics

were depressing themselves, Dr.

Yufix managed to get a few

laughs from the audience due to

his entertaining and lighthearted

approach to this serious topic.

Julia Brodsy and Kenneth

Sulzer, two LA labor law attor-

neys, presented some real world

examples of hidden and subtle

biases and provided advice on

how to ensure that your office and

your clients avoid perpetuating

such biases in your practice.

The LA Chapter of the FBA

and the Bankruptcy Section of the

FBA are already planning the 11th

Annual Bankruptcy Ethics

Symposium to be held in

December 2014. Not only is this

annual event a great way to fulfill

your MCLE specialty credits, it is

also a forum to meet your fellow

practitioners and even some of

our esteemed members of the

bench. In addition to the two

Judges who participated on

panels, Judge Thomas Donovan

and Judge Barry Russell sat in on

some of the programs and

conversed with attendees.

F B A L A W Y E R

by Kathleen J. McCarthy

Kathleen J..

McCarthy ,

Law Offices of

Thomas H. Casey

P A G E 7 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2

The Los Angeles Chapter of the Federal Bar Association thanks Rust Consulting for its support of our

programs through its advertising in our newsletter

paid advertisement

P A G E 8 Taking the Step Program (cont. from page 1) The second demonstra-tion session provided a glimpse into the discovery process with a meet and confer demonstrated between counsel, and a corresponding hearing on the discovery dispute with attorneys Purvi Patel from Morrison & Foerster LLP and Daniel Prince from Paul Hastings LLP and Judge Woehrle hearing the dis-pute. The parties and Judge Woehrle pointed out that the purpose of discovery is to move the case along, and thus attorneys should at-tempt to be reasonable with

each other and limit discovery disputes.

Finally, at the summary judgment hearing, Gail Standish from Winston & Strawn LLP and Jon Dean of McDermott Will & Emery LLP argued the issue of whether the First Amendment protects creative speech in front of Judge Gutierrez. While the presentation was humorous at times, Judge Gutierrez and the attorneys did an excellent job of displaying the negative effect of being disrespectful to the Court and opposing counsel can have on clients'

cases and diminishing attorney credibility in the eyes of the Court.

The program educated the young attorneys in an informative and often humor-ous manner and provided guidance for them as they begin their federal legal practice. The young attorneys were grateful to both the FBA-LA Chapter and the judges and attorneys who participated, and for sacrific-ing their Saturday morning to provide such an informative and engaging program.

F B A L A W Y E R

Marissa E. Buck,

Holland & Knight LLP

are also excited about our annual Reception Honoring the Federal Judiciary that will be held this year on May 8 in the beautiful Tom Bradley room atop the City Hall Tower. I encourage each of you to attend our events. Additional information can be found on our website at www.fbala.org/Events.php. If you are a Chapter member, please feel free to contact me or any of the Board members for ideas on how we can enhance the services and programs we provide to our Chapter members. If you are not a FBA member, please consider joining.

Finally, we look forward to our events and programs in the months to come, including the State of the Circuit/District luncheon program, which will be held on March 13 at the Doubletree Hotel, where attendees will hear the insights of Ninth Circuit Judge Paul J. Watford, Chief District Court Judge George H. King, Chief Magistrate Judge Suzanne H. Segal and Chief Bankruptcy Judge Peter H. Carroll. On March 19, the Younger Lawyers Division will be putting on its third-ever happy hour. The event will take place at the Blue Cow Kitchen and Bar in Downtown Los Angeles. We

Presidents Message (cont. from page 4)

John A. Canale,

Holland & Knight LLP

P A G E 9 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2

UPCOMING FBA-LA PROGRAM

Edward Wolkowitz and Stella Havkin at

the Bankruptcy Ethics Symposium.

(l. to. R.) Bernardo O. Ainza, John J. Atallah, and Galen

Yu at the reception honoring the judicial clerks.

The Los Angeles Chapter

The Los Angeles Chapter is one of the oldest chap-

ters of the FBA. Originally chartered in 1937, the

Los Angeles Chapter covers the Los Angeles

Division of the Central District of California.

With approximately 400 members, the Los Angeles

Chapter is the largest in the Ninth Circuit. Members

come from private practice, government agencies,

military branches, law schools and the bench.

The Los Angeles Chapter is committed to meeting

the needs of the federal practitioner through educa-

tional seminars, training programs and social func-

tions. To join FBA-LA, log onto our website:

www.fbala.org.

Federal Bar Association Mission Statement

The mission of the Association is to strengthen the

federal legal system and administration of justice

by serving the interests and the needs of the fed-

eral practitioner, both public and private, the fed-

eral judiciary and the public they serve.

The Federal Bar Association

The FBA represents the Federal legal profession.

We consist of more than 15,000 federal lawyers,

including 1,200 federal judges, who work together

to promote the sound administration of justice and

integrity, quality and independence of the judiciary.

The FBA also provides opportunities for judges

and lawyers to professionally and socially interact.

and extends student scholarships.

210 N. Glenoaks Boulevard, Suite C

Burbank, CA 91502

Phone: 818-843-1020

E-mail: fbala@emaoffice.com

website: fbala.org

FEDERAL BAR ASSOCIATION

Los Angeles Chapter

About Us “The premiere bar association serving

the federal practitioner and judiciary.”

If you are interested in supporting our programs through advertisement in our newsletter please contact Janine Nichols at 818-843-1020 or fbala@emaoffice.com