Judges and Judiciary
Aug. 14, 2002
Santa Clara Bench Gets a Litigator
SAN JOSE - Veteran litigator James P. Kleinberg, who has worked for more than three decades handling commercial lawsuits involving organizations ranging from Microsoft Corp. to the National Football League, was appointed Monday to the Santa Clara County Superior Court bench.
Kleinberg was one of four new judges chosen by Gov. Gray Davis. The others were Hilary A. Chittick, a civil litigator and court-appointed criminal defense attorney who was picked as a Fresno County Superior Court judge; Ronald W. Hansen, a civil litigator who was appointed as a Merced County Superior Court judge; and family law practitioner Robert S. Tafoya, who was tapped to serve on the Kern County Superior Court.
The selection of Kleinberg, a 59-year-old partner at Bingham McCutchen, adds commercial litigation expertise to the Santa Clara County bench, which handles a significant civil calendar.
Kleinberg said he was approached late last year by several local judges, whom he declined to identify, suggesting he apply for one of the open judicial positions.
"I've got a lot to learn," he said, but "my experience may help fill a need."
The latest appointment was cheered by Presiding Judge Richard Turrone, who said it reduces the number of vacancies on the court - which had soared as high as 11 a couple of years ago - down to three.
"When he arrives, we will be in the best shape this court has been in during my tenure," Turrone said.
Davis' slow pace appointing Santa Clara judges has been a sore point with Turrone, but he has no problem with the people the governor eventually has picked.
"I've got to give him credit," Turrone said. "He's a little slow, but he sure puts out good quality."
Kleinberg earned his law degree at the University of Michigan before joining the Justice Department's antitrust division in 1967. He remained there for a year, leaving to join the San Francisco law firm of Petty, Andrews, Tufts & Jackson, where he remained until 1983, having become the firm's managing partner.
He then joined McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen, working as a litigation partner in its San Jose and Palo Alto offices and remaining after the firm merged and became Bingham McCutchen.
Mary Huser, who manages the firm's Silicon Valley office, described Kleinberg as "a man of impeccable integrity" with a wide variety of experience in commercial litigation. She praised Kleinberg's ability to understand complex issues and said he was able, even as a litigator, to view cases objectively.
As a young man, Kleinberg said, he was inspired by President Kennedy's call to public service. Later, he said, he was inspired by his wife, Judy, who works for a children's advocacy group and is a member of the Palo Alto City Council.
In Fresno County, Chittick is a partner in the law firm of Gilmore Wood Vinnard Chittick & Magness. The 48-year-old's practice is split between civil litigation involving business matters and service as a court-appointed attorney in federal criminal cases. She previously served as a deputy public defender in Fresno County.
Hansen, 54, is a partner at Canelo Hansen Wilson Wallace & Padron in Merced, and has worked since 1973 on matters including personal injury, real estate and business litigation.
Tafoya, in Kern County, is a family law attorney with his own practice since 1995. Before then, the 51-year-old attorney worked at a couple of law firms and as a deputy public defender.
The new judges will draw an annual salary of $139,476.
Craiq Anderson
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