The Board of Governors of the Italian American Lawyers Association
on June 3 voted unanimously to urge the appointment of Los Angeles Superior
Court Judge George Schiavelli to the next opening on the Second District
Court of Appeal.
The board, on motion of Phil Lazafame, chair of the IALA's Judicial
Evaluations Committee, authorized President Jo-Ann W. Grace to send a letter
to Gov. Pete Wilson's appointments secretary, John Davies, advising of
the IALA's strong support for Schiavelli's appointment.
There is currently no vacancy in the Court of Appeal for this district.
However, two additional seats would be created in this district under the
governor's budget bill, which has passed both houses. It is currently in
a conference committee.
That bill would create a fourth position on the two Second District
panels that have only three members: Div. Six in Ventura and Div. Seven
in Los Angeles.
Schiavelli has served on Div. Seven as a pro tem justice.
Letter to Davies
Grace said in her letter to Davies:
"This is to advise you of the wholehearted support of the Italian
American Lawyers Assn. for the appointment of Los Angeles Superior Court
Judge George Schiavelli to the Second District Court of Appeal.
"George Schiavelli is a former president of our organization.
We who know him best respect him. We know first hand of his even-temper,
his collegiality, his integrity, his willingness to listen, his quick wit,
and his intellect. As president, he had no detractors. Now that he is a
judge, we hear nothing but praise for his juridical abilities and his temperament.
"His background is in appellate law. Even as a neophyte Superior
Court judge, he has been asked to serve as a pro tem justice of the Court
of Appeal, and has performed skillfully, as we would have expected.
"As Italian Americans, we are tremendously proud of George's
accomplishments, because he is one of us. He has, since ascending to the
bench, remained highly active in our organization, and has evidenced imperviousness
to that malady afflicting so many upon donning black robes: 'judgeitis.'
It is natural, from the standpoint of a shared heritage, that we would
be rooting for his elevation.
"But there is far more to our support of George Schiavelli
than that. As lawyers, we are concerned about the need to maintain a judiciary
whose members are fully equipped to carry out their responsibilities. And
as lawyers, putting aside sentiment, we know from our close observances
of George Schiavelli through the years that he is, by virtue of his knowledge
of the law, ability to reason, industriousness, and patience, ideally suited
for service on the appellate bench.
"Without reservation, our organization urges the appointment
of Judge George Schiavelli to the next vacancy on the Second District Court
of Appeal."
Held Partnership
Schiavelli, who has been a member of the IALA since 1983, was president
in 1990. He was then a partner in the highly respected law firm of Horvitz
& Levy, which specializes in appellate work.
Ellis Horvitz, a name partner in that firm, has been quoted as characterizing
Schiavelli as a "straight shooter" and "a very capable lawyer."
Prior to joining Horvitz & Levy in 1984, Schiavelli was a partner
for 10 years in Erwin, Cohen & Jessup. For two years before that, he
was an associate with O'Melveny & Myers.
Schiavelli received his undergraduate degree from Stanford and his
law degree from UCLA. He graduated first in his class at the latter institution,
where he was a member of Order of the Coif and received the Alumni Award
for Academic Distinction.
In addition to his leadership of the IALA, he has been active in
the Los Angeles County Bar Assn., the Beverly Hills Bar Assn., the San
Fernando Valley Bar Assn. and the Assn. of Business Trial Lawyers.
He was sworn in as a judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court on
Feb. 4, 1994.
Recounts Appointment
In remarks before the IALA the following July 20, Schiavelli recounted
the circumstances of his appointment:
"My appointment set the tone for the hectic times which were
to follow. During the late afternoon of Wednesday Feb. 2, I received a
telephone call from Chuck Poochigian, Gov. Wilson's appointments secretary.
He told me the seat I was being appointed to was up for election and that,
therefore, I should file my election papers immediately.
"To his credit, he also gave me the option, in light of the
fact an election might be imminent, to refuse the appointment at that time.
"Obviously, I was not about to tell the governor's appointments
secretary that I was refusing the appointment in order to wait for a better
one!
"The next day I checked with Sacramento and learned that, while
the seat was not an open one, if I was not sworn in right away, I would
be subject to challenge and could be required to run as an incumbent. On
the other hand, if I was sworn in, the seat would not be subject to challenge
until 1996. Accordingly, I arranged with the [then-]presiding judge, [IALA
founding member] Bob Mallano, to be sworn in the next day, Friday, Feb.
4.
"On Friday, after being sworn in, I was thinking about the
intimidating prospect of transitioning my cases, clients and generally
shifting from law practice to the bench. So I asked Bob how long I would
have to make the transition before starting my new duties. In his infinite
largesse, he told me I would not have to report for work until the following
Monday...."
Schiavelli went on to tell the IALA audience:
I was told that until my calendar court was ready,
I would have a couple of weeks to do trials. This seemed appropriate--I
could do that--I was a litigator, and the same rules of evidence that apply
to civil trials also apply to criminal trials.
This analysis sounds fine until you recall that I
had been doing only appellate work for the past eight years. Thus, during
that time, whenever an evidentiary issue arose, I had several months to
research it.
Thus, there I was in my first trial, sailing along
and enjoying the trial--any criminal trial is much more interesting than
any civil trial not involving a rock star--when it happened: an attorney
said the catastrophic words, "OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR." However,
I stayed calm and kept my head. Without missing a beat, I told the attorney
he could file a brief on the issue the next day!
Actually, I got through my first few trials without
any major setbacks, although I make that statement as a result of the optimism
which flows from not yet having seen the appellate briefs in those trials.
In any event, my failure to run into any significant
problems was not a function of any particular brilliance on my part, but
was, rather, the result of the mercy of the assistant supervising judge,
Lance Ito, who carefully screened the cases coming to me for trial.
It has been reported to me that Lance sent the attorneys
to my court with the sobering threat that if they messed with me, they
were messing with him. And messing with Lance could mean a fate
worse than death--for example being sent to Pomona to try a case in front
of [former IALA President, co-speaker, friend, and Superior Court Judge
Larry] Crispo....
Actually, there is a fate worse than death--running
a calendar court when you have no idea what you are doing. For those of
you who might feel the occasional need for a dose of humility you never
knew you had!
On a given morning, our courts deal with from 15 to
30 or more matters at various stages of preparation for trial. It is during
the calendar call that anything may come up and it is during the calendar
call that you have the least chance to take time out to seek help in dealing
with it....
Thus, on Feb. 28, I walked out into my permanent court,
Dept. 117, for the first time. The definition of terror is walking into
a courtroom filled with people, all of whom are expecting you to make decisions--and
knowing that all of them know more than you do. The attorneys knew more
than I did; my clerk knew much more (and still does). Even the defendants
knew more than I did!
Presiding over that court has been the most intense
learning experience of my life....Some of my initial impression were:
1. I found nobody speaks English in criminal proceedings.
Rather, everyone talks in numbers which, to a former civil lawyer, border
on the incomprehensible: e.g., 995, 1538.5, 1054, etc. Numbers are
even used as verbs: e.g., "We'll 1368 him.'' I knew I was starting
to catch on when a friend of mine was giving me a telephone number, and
when he said the prefix was 459, I immediately thought, "burglary.''
2. Even where words were used, they were not terribly
helpful. For example, in civil, motions and other proceedings are called
what they are. Thus, when someone says they are filing a demurrer or motion
for summary judgment or an application for a temporary restraining order,
you know what that is. On the criminal side, proceedings are named for
the cases that created them. Thus, you have Marsden motions, Faretta
motions, Wheeler motions, Arbuckle waivers, etc. During my
first few trials, I concluded that I could solve the crime problem in California--all
we had to do was catch this guy Castro whose name kept popping up in all
my cases.
3. I also learned that in the Criminal Courts Building,
nobody writes anything. I had just come from a practice where nothing was
less than 4050 pages and was edited, reedited, proofread and citechecked.
Now, I rarely see a motion of more than 4 or 5 pages. I saw one motion
where the entire legal argument consisted of a cite to the Fourth Amendment,
and I remember thinking, "thanks a lot--that really narrows the issue!"'
There is a lot more I could mention, but I see my time is getting short,
and there are some things I wish to mention of a more serious nature.
I have found that, in order to have a chance of learning
my job, I had to remain teachable. I learned very quickly to try to read
everything, listen, and be willing to ask questions and learn. In my view
there is nothing wrong with a new judicial officer being ignorant and willing
to learn. The devastating combination for a bench officer is to be ignorant
and arrogant at the same time.
I would like to make a few remarks about my colleagues
and the counsel who have appeared before me:
I have found the judges with whom I work to be conscientious,
hard working, and committed to following the law and doing what is right,
not what is expedient. At lunch in the judge's lounge, people often raise
issues which are before them and seek the counsel of their colleagues.
The judges in the building have been a tremendous resource for me; they
have been universally collegial and helpfulI cannot imagine a more supportive
group for a new judge.
Turning to the lawyers, I recall that as a civil lawyer,
I viewed criminal practice with some disdain--sort of like our thoughts
as we look at a car accident--"interesting, but I'm glad I'm not involved.''
Since coming to the criminal law, I have been extremely
impressed with counsel on both sides....
In short, I believe my colleagues and the lawyers
appearing before me reflect the best traditions of the legal profession
and our criminal justice system. I am proud to be a part of that system.
It has been nearly two years since Schiavelli's address to the IALA
on his early days as a trial-court judge and just shy of 2½ years
since he embarked on his judicial career. The IALA board agreed he is clearly
ready for advancement.
On Saturday, Schiavelli will mark his 48th birthday. And on June
26, the Schiavellis will celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary.
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