Federal Courts Update

For more federal courts content, please see the Quarterly Federal Courts Committee Newsletter. This quarter’s newsletter includes an interview with the Hon. Jeffrey T. Miller and an article summarizing the proposed civility changes to rules of professional conduct and rules of court.

If you are interested in applying to join the Federal Courts Committee, please apply at https://calawyers.org/section/litigation/standing-committees/committee-on-federal-courts/.

Ninth Circuit

2023 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest – The Ninth Circuit has extended the deadline for submitting entries to March 20, 2023. Click here for more details.

Southern District of California

No updates to report.

Central District of California

Local Rules – The Court preliminarily approved amendments to Local Rules 56-1, 56-2, and 56-3, and the addition of a new rule, Local Rule 56-4. These rules govern the formatting and contents for statements that must be filed with summary judgment motions and oppositions: (1) statements of uncontroverted facts, (2) statements of genuine disputes of material fact, and (3) responses to statements of genuine disputes of material fact. 

The proposed effective date is June 1, 2023. A redline of the proposed changes can be found here.

Eastern District of California

Judicial Appointments – On February 16, 2023, the U.S. Senate confirmed Superior Court Judge Daniel J. Calabretta to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of California. Judge Calabretta served as a California Superior Court judge in Sacramento County since 2019, when Governor Jerry Brown appointed him. He served as the presiding judge of the Juvenile Court since 2022. Prior to his appointment to the state bench, Judge Calabretta served as the deputy legal affairs secretary for the Office of the Governor in Sacramento from 2013 to 2019. Before joining the governor’s office, he was deputy attorney general for the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, from 2008 to 2013. Judge Calabretta was in private practice as an associate at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in San Francisco from 2005 to 2008.

Other Judicial Changes – Senior District Judge Anthony W. Ishii has announced his plan to retire this spring, after serving for 40 years as a judge. Judge Ishii was confirmed in 1997, becoming the first Asian Pacific American judge for the Eastern District of California. He served as chief judge from 2008 to 2012. Prior to joining the federal bench, Judge Ishii served as a Municipal Court Judge in Fresno County from 1994 to 1997, and as a Justice Court Judge from 1983 to 1993. Judge Ishii also was in private practice in Fresno, worked as a Deputy Public Defender in Fresno, and as a Deputy City Attorney in Sacramento.

Northern District of California

Judicial Appointments – On February 28, 2023, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Araceli Martínez-Olguín to serve as a U.S. district judge for the Northern District of California. Martínez-Olguín has worked for the National Immigration Law Center since 2018. Previously, she served as the managing attorney for the Immigrants’ Rights Project, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, in East Palo Alto, California, from 2017 to 2018, and as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights from 2016 to 2017. Martínez- Olguín also worked as a senior staff attorney, staff attorney, and Women’s Rights Project Fellow for the American Civil Liberties Union in San Francisco and New York, from 2013 to 2015 and from 2006 to 2010, respectively. She was a staff attorney for Legal Aid at Work (formerly Legal Aid Society – Employment Law Center) from 2010 to 2013. Read the full news release here.