Aug. 25, 2012

Orange County’s legal community welcomes new justice

The Orange County legal community gathered earlier this month to congratulate David A. Thompson on his becoming a justice of the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana. District Presiding Justice Kathleen E. O’Leary said Thompson was already working hard for her court. “He is bright, energetic and collegial,” she told the large crowd of local judges and bar leaders who attended a reception at Chapman University School of Law in Thompson’s honor. In brief remarks, Thompson said he had hoped to sit on the 4th District since working for the appellate court as a research attorney years before. A former lawyer with Morrison & Foerster LLP and Rutan & Tucker LLP, he went on the trial bench in 1997, where he presided over more than 250 jury trials. Thompson was the Orange County Superior Court’s assistant presiding judge when Gov. Jerry Brown elevated him to the appellate bench. He said he particularly thanked the presiding judge, Thomas J. Borris, “my mentor and teacher.” — Don J. DeBenedictis