State appellate justices who lack courtroom experience confirmed

Five appellate justices, including a new presiding justice, were confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments Monday in San Francisco.

At what is normally a laudatory affair, some of the new justices faced questions about how they would adapt to their appellate duties despite not having significant trial or judicial experience.

Justice Stuart R. Pollak was confirmed as presiding justice of the 1st District Court of Appeal, Division Four in San Francisco and will replace retiring Presiding Justice Ignazio J. Ruvolo. Pollak has served as a justice on Division Three of the 1st District Court of Appeal since 2002.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer praised Pollak’s opinions as “models of clarity” and said he had already proven his worth as an appellate justice capable of writing opinions trial judges can use. “Not only does he say what the law is but how people should apply the law,” Breyer said.

Pollak said he would miss the work of an associate justice but said he felt he had more to offer the court despite his 81 years.

“There’s probably nothing that replaces experience to inspire confidence,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, one of the panel members.

“If its new challenges that keeps you in your bench seat then we will see you for a long time,” said California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, another member of the panel.

Gabriel Sanchez was also confirmed as justice of the 1st District Court of Appeal, Division One in San Francisco. Sanchez has served as a deputy legal affairs secretary to Gov. Jerry Brown since 2012 but faced questions from the panel about his lack of experience in the courtroom.

“I have not had the opportunity to have significant trial experience,” Sanchez said in response to a question from Becerra. “How it will affect me I candidly do not know,” he added. “In all the situations where I’ve faced novel challenges, I’ve worked hard to overcome them.”

Justice Jim Humes of the 1st District court, UC Berkeley School of Law professor Sonia Katyal, and Dentons partner and former U.S. ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich, testified to Sanchez’s qualifications.

Carin T. Fujisaki, principal attorney to Cantil-Sakauye at the state high court since 2015, faced similar questions about her lack of courtroom experience.

“She has never tried a case as a lawyer or tried a case as a judge,” said David W. Fermino, a partner with Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP who spoke on behalf of the Judicial Nominee Evaluation Commission for the State Bar of California.

He noted she was an unusual candidate but had overseen thousands of cases in her work for Cantil-Sakauye.

Fujisaki, whose father was Los Angeles County Judge Hiroshi Fujisake and whose parents and grandparents were interned in camps for Japanese-Americans during WWII, said she would apply her experience wherever it was needed.

“I feel most comfortable with civil law since that was my background,” she said. “I also find criminal law fascinating and challenging.”

Peter Krause, who was confirmed to the 3rd District Court of Appeal, was asked by Becerra how he would transition to the more contemplative life of an appellate justice after serving as legal affairs secretary to Gov. Jerry Brown since 2014.

“I’ve wondered if that would be something that is difficult for me,” Krause said. “I don’t have any extreme need to be in the mix of the hot button political issues. I am not somebody who again seeks the limelight or is looking to be in the thick of things.”

While he has worked as an attorney, including for the state attorney general’s office and the Judicial Council, he has not been a judge. Justice Jonathan K. Renner of the 3rd District Court of Appeal said this would not be a problem for Krause.

“He is really uniquely comfortable diving into and figuring out an area of law with which he has no background or prior experience,” Renner said.

The final candidate was former Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Frank J. Menetrez, confirmed to the 4th District Court of Appeal, Division Two in Riverside. He has a doctorate in philosophy from UCLA, among other degrees.

He served as an appellate judicial attorney at the 2nd District Court of Appeal and some of his questioning focused on how his philosophical background would come into play as a justice.

“I would say certainly the graduate work in philosophy developed my analytical skills to a very high degree, and I needed that and I put it to use every day as a dependency bench officer,” Menetrez said.