Recent Changes in Civil at the Los Angeles Superior Court

Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
    eNewsletter - Volume 2 No. 3 March 2010
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Over the last several months a number of changes have taken place in the Central District of the Los Angeles Superior Court due to reassignments, retirements, and budgetary constraints.

Judicial Assignments

Judge Rex Heeseman is now presiding in the individual calendar, general jurisdiction Department 19 of the Mosk Courthouse, taking over the calendar of Judge Judith Chirlin, who recently retired. Judge Heeseman most recently sat in one of the limited jurisdiction courts of Mosk. Prior to his appointment to the bench in 2005, Judge Heeseman was a partner in the law firm of Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps and earlier at Adams, Duque & Hazeltine, specializing in commercial litigation.

Judge Debre Katz Weintraub is in charge of Department 47, formerly the courtroom of Judge Aurelio Munoz, who is now retired. Judge Weintraub previously sat in the appellate division of the court and in a criminal law assignment in Van Nuys. Before becoming a judicial officer in 1995, Judge Weintraub was a partner at Loeb & Loeb.
Judge Aurelio Munoz (Ret.) is now sitting on assignment in Department 77 in charge of the master calendar for limited jurisdiction cases.

Judge Michelle R. Rosenblatt has transferred to the downtown Mosk Courthouse Department 40 from her previous civil assignment at the Burbank Courthouse. She has taken over the caseload of Judge Ann I. Jones, who has moved to the Complex Litigation Center at Central Civil West, replacing Justice Victoria Chaney. Judge Rosenblatt also has served in criminal law assignments in Pasadena and Van Nuys.

Judge Steven J. Kleifeld is presiding in Department 76, a limited jurisdiction civil courtroom. Previously, Judge Kleifeld had criminal law assignments at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center and the Airport, Huntington Park, and East Los Angeles courthouses. Prior to his appointment to the court in 2002, Judge Kleifeld was in civil private practice for 22 years.

Judge Jan G. Levine has transferred to Department 81, a limited jurisdiction civil courtroom, from the Juvenile Court, where she handled both dependency and delinquency calendars. Before becoming a jurist in 2003, Judge Levine was in private practice, specializing in civil litigation.

Prejudgment writs of attachment proceedings, previously presided over by recently retired Judge Brett Klein, are now being heard by Judge Barbara A. Meiers in Department 12. In addition, Judge Meiers is handling rent and profits receivership cases and Los Angeles City tax cases.

All civil harassment temporary restraining orders and orders to show cause regarding stay-away injunctions are being heard by Judge Carol Boas Goodson in Department 75.

Court Closures

As a result of the serious state budget deficit, the allocation of funds to the judicial branch has been substantially reduced. In turn, the funding to the Los Angeles Superior Court has diminished. For the fiscal year 2009-2010 (ending June 30, 2010), the court currently has a $79.3 million budget deficit.

Since the state financial crisis is expected to continue for at least the next four years, it is anticipated that the superior court deficit will grow to $140 million by the fiscal year 2011-2012 and continue at that level for a number of years.

In response to the reality of these budgetary limitations, the court is constrained to take action to reduce the deficits by rational contraction through, among other actions, a hiring freeze and employee attrition, monthly furlough days, and employee layoffs. The court has already announced the layoff of 329 employees in March, and another 500 will be laid off later this year in September.

Ultimately, 1,800 employees, or one-third of the court work force, will have to be laid off for the court to live within its reduced budgets. Without these necessary employees, it will be impossible for the court to maintain its current level of operations. On average, 10 employees are required to support a courtroom, including in-court personnel as well as back-office staff for such functions as filing window, file maintenance, copying services, imaging, information technology, accounting, and jury services, among others. The layoff of 1,800 employees will require the closure of some 180 courtrooms.

Because criminal cases and many family law and juvenile cases have priority over civil actions, the heaviest burden of court closures will fall on our civil courts. Due to the financial crisis, it is anticipated that the superior court will most likely have to shutter over one-half of the civil courtrooms. As a necessary consequence, inventories of cases in the remaining courtrooms will increase enormously, resulting in greater delays in bringing cases to trial and having motions heard.

In response to the 2009 budgetary crisis, the Los Angeles Superior Court closed one small claims department and two limited jurisdiction departments. So far, in 2010, the court has already announced the closure of four long-cause trial departments, the specialized eminent domain department, and one complex litigation courtroom. Judge Peter Lichtman will be moving in April from Complex Litigation Center in Central Civil West to the Mosk Courthouse to establish a new settlement program. Further court closures will be announced during the year.

The court is in the process of organizing a bench-bar committee to consult and advise as to the future of civil litigation in this era of substantially reduced court resources.