William F. Rylaarsdam, 1937-2020

William F. Rylaarsdam had a fearsome reputation on the bench, but a far gentler one behind the scenes.

The retired justice of the 4th District Court of Appeal, Division Three, died Monday at 83 after a short illness, according to his son. Daniel H. Rylaarsdam, of counsel to Blank Rome LLP, noted his father's death was not COVID-related.

Colleagues remember Rylaarsdam as a prolific writer. He co-authored two law textbooks and wrote dozens of articles for the litigation section of the California State Bar. He was one of the longest-serving justices in the history of the 4th District, and a mentor to multiple generations of attorneys.

Justice Eileen C. Moore worked with Rylaarsdam on the Orange County Superior Court, where he sat from 1986 to 1995 after a brief stint on the Los Angeles County Court, and on Division Three, where he served until his retirement in 2016. In a remembrance shared with The Daily Journal, she described how welcoming he was when she became only the third woman then serving on the Orange County bench. (See Page 6)

Moore said they grew especially close after she moved over to the law and motion department, where he was supervising judge.

"He was welcoming and delightful," she wrote. "My second or third day there he popped into my chambers and sat on my sofa. He told me he had a rather troublesome summary judgment motion on the next day's calendar and wanted my perspective."

"He was conservative. I'm a bleeding heart liberal," said appellate attorney Sharon J. Arkin in an email. "We agreed about almost nothing. But he would listen, and respected my opinions even if he disagreed. He was funny and charming."

Attorney Donna Bader appeared in front of Rylaarsdam in the superior and appellate courts. About a decade ago she interviewed him for a legal magazine and reminded him that attorneys sometimes called him "scary."

She said he seemed taken aback, but attributed it to rough back and forth debates at the family dinner table growing up. He added that he sometimes wanted to test attorneys to see if they believed their own arguments. Bader said she kept that interview in mind during future court appearances.

"I felt emboldened after he said that's what he was used to," she said.

Rylaarsdam grew up in The Netherlands under Nazi-occupation during World War II. He would later describe how his father built a false ceiling into part of the family's house to hide himself and other working age men from the Germans who were seeking slave labor.

He arrived with his family in 1953 at 16 in Ripon, near Modesto. Rylaarsdam was married to his wife, Jan, who also came from a European immigrant family, for 60 years until her death in 2017.

Rylaarsdam picked peaches with his father to make ends meet when he first arrived, something he said in later interviews helped him decide he wanted a professional career. He skipped high school, working a switchboard at the Modesto Bee while attending junior college. UC Berkeley would later give him a full scholarship.

He worked for a veterinary supply company before choosing Loyola Law School over USC Gould School of Law, largely because it was less expensive. His son Daniel also attended Loyola Law School, while one of his grandsons is currently enrolled there.

"Bill Rylaarsdam wasn't so much a jurist as a movie of the week," fellow Division Three Justice William W. Bedsworth wrote in an email. Rylaarsdam earned his tough reputation when unprepared attorneys entered his courtroom, according to Bedsworth.

"He was a brilliant jurist, as fine a legal mind as I've ever encountered," Bedsworth wrote. "And he was not shy about displaying that brilliance. He not only did not suffer fools gladly, he did not suffer them at all."

Rylaarsdam's entire career as a private attorney was spent with one firm, then known as Cummins & Welsh. He started as a clerk when he was still in law school but quickly worked his way up to partner, gaining a reputation for his work in business and insurance cases.

Richard E. Rico, later a judge for 20 years on the Los Angeles County Superior Court and now a neutral with ADR Services Inc., was an associate at the firm and later Rylaarsdam's senior research attorney on the 4th District.

"He was a real mentor to me because when I decided I wanted to become a judge, that's when he was being elevated to the Court of Appeal," Rico said. "He said, 'Come work for me and I'll fill out your resume.' I was a civil attorney and back then if you didn't have some kind of criminal [law] background you were unlikely to get appointed."

Sophia S. Lau, now a partner with Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae LLP, interned with Rylaarsdam on the appeals court 20 years ago. He took the time to have deep discussions about the law with his interns, she said.

"I had a choice between him and the [presiding] justice," Lau said. "I chose him because I heard he would spend more time with the interns and be more of a mentor."

The court's current presiding justice, Kathleen E. O'Leary, said Rylaarsdam could be confrontational on the bench but was warm with staff. He loved to joke, she said, often saying "Rylaarsdam, common spelling" when anyone asked about his unusual surname. He also put his signature white beard to use by playing Santa Claus during secret gift-giving at the annual Christmas party.

Rylaarsdam is survived by three of his four children, seven grandchildren, and his wife, Barbara, whom he married last month in Big Sur after almost three years together. Funeral arrangements are pending.