Justice retiring after 20 years on 4th District appeals court

After more than 20 years on the appellate bench, Justice Richard D. Fybel of the 4th District Court of Appeal will retire March 31.

"I'm very proud of my role in the development of the law," he said in an interview Thursday. "I was very fortunate that we hired three lawyers to work with me 20 years ago and my chambers still have the same three lawyers. They have been excellent."

Fybel has written more than 2,000 opinions, including 260 that were published. Before his appointment to the Orange County Superior Court in 2000, he was a partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP in Los Angeles. He said he knew he was at the right point in his life to step away from the bench.

"I thought 20 years was the right time for me," said Fybel, who is 75, adding that he knew it was a good choice to spend more time with his family and friends "and not have a job to go to every day."

For 18 years, he has chaired the California Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics.

"The code was comprehensively revised in 2013, where we went through the whole code and made recommendations to the Supreme Court and they adopted our recommendations," he said.

During his time as the committee chair, the California Supreme Court has amended the code in significant ways, affecting areas such as access to justice, discrimination and harassment, judicial campaign conduct and contributions. He said he's "extremely proud" of his work on the committee.

Fybel also co-authored a treatise on judicial ethics titled the "California Judicial Conduct Handbook."

"It took us between two and three years to put it all together. It was a lot of hard work," he said.

He has taught judicial ethics and other subjects at institutions such as the B. E. Witkin Judicial College and the Appellate Justices Institute.

Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye said in a statement Fybel's professional contributions to justice in California have been "extraordinary."

"[His] contributions go beyond the judiciary. [As] a scholar and philanthropist, educating us on the Holocaust and the need for a strong and independent justice system that serves everyone ... he has helped us all to better fulfill our constitutional oaths of office and to perform at our highest levels," she said.

Presiding Justice Kathleen E. O'Leary of the 4th District's Division 3 described Fybel as "the gold standard."

"He not only works to author excellent opinions, he works collegially with the other justices to make sure the entire court produces the highest quality work possible. What he cares about is getting it right so that we are consistently improving the quality of California jurisprudence," she said.

Fybel has been honored as Alumnus of the Year for Community and Public Service by the UCLA School of Law and for his public service by the Fowler School of Law at Chapman University. He's also received honors from the California Judges Association, the Orange County Bar Association and the appellate section of the Orange County Bar Association.