Justice Trotter to Quit Appeal Court

John K. Trotter Jr., presiding justice of the 4th District of the state Court of Appeal, plans to quit his post Aug. 31 to join a private arbitration service, he has told The Times.

The justice said he expects to notify Gov. George Deukmejian’s office today about what is officially his retirement.

Describing his decision to leave the bench as “most difficult,” Trotter said it was not “in any way prompted by job dissatisfaction.” Instead, he said, he accepted a position at Judicial Arbitration & Mediation Service Inc. in Santa Ana because it is “a wonderful opportunity and a great challenge.”

Trotter, 53, would become the 11th appellate court judge appointed by former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. to leave the bench since Deukmejian took office in 1983.

Trotter also would be the first justice to leave the appellate district’s Orange County division, which he helped start in Santa Ana in 1983. His departure from the four-member court will give Deukmejian the opportunity to make his first appointment to that bench.

While the division covers only matters arising out of Orange County Superior Court, Trotter’s duties as head of the 4th District give him administrative control over the district’s other two divisions, which cover the courts in San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Inyo and Imperial counties.

News of Trotter’s resignation, colleagues on the bench said, surprised them and stunned the court’s employees, who were told about it Thursday.

“Two months ago, I was thinking I was perfectly content as presiding justice, absolutely enjoyed working with my colleagues on the bench,” Trotter said. “This (new job) is one of the few things that could have made me quit.”

Judicial Arbitration & Mediation, started in 1979 by H. Warren Knight, Trotter’s longtime friend and a former Orange County Superior Court judge, is opening offices in Los Angeles and San Diego counties, and has plans to go public and operate in up to six Western states. Trotter will own 9% of the stock and become a senior vice president.

Knight’s group is composed entirely of retired Superior Court and Court of Appeal judges who can act under state law and with approval of a public court as judges hearing cases, following normal court rules of evidence.

Trotter said private judges--sometimes referred to as rent-a-judge--can handle anything from full-fledged trials to mediations more quickly and more cheaply than public courts can. The result, he said, is that taxpayers benefit because of the reduced demand on public resources.

“I am convinced the delivery of civil justice (in California courts) is in a state of collapse,” Trotter said. “Despite Herculean efforts by judges and court administrators, too many cases have caused the civil justice system to grind more and more slowly. The process is far too lengthy and costly.”

Speculation about Trotter’s replacement centered on the Superior Court bench, primarily because Deukmejian has usually promoted Superior Court judges to the appellate courts. He also has tended to favor judges who have had experience as prosecuting attorneys.

According to insiders, those who have a chance of being appointed to replace Trotter as presiding justice are Judges Harmon G. Scoville, Everett W. Dickey, Jerrold S. Oliver and Donald E. Smallwood, a Deukmejian appointee.

Scoville is the presiding judge of Orange County Superior Court and probably has the inside track. He is close to California Supreme Court Chief Justice Malcolm M. Lucas, who is a former law partner of Deukmejian and one of the governor’s closest friends.

Lucas appointed Scoville to the 21-member state Judicial Council, the primary rule-making authority for state courts. Scoville, the first Orange County representative on the council in 10 years, chairs its court management committee and is a member of its executive committee.

A long-shot candidate for Trotter’s seat is Superior Court Judge Theodore E. Millard. Millard said Friday that he applied about a year ago for appointment to one of the divisions in San Bernardino or San Diego, but “no one was too interested in it.”

He said he understood that the governor’s office wanted to limit appointments for each division to judges in the respective area. With a vacancy in the Santa Ana division, he said, “I’ll gear up my letter writing again.”

Parslow Not Interested

Judge Richard N. Parslow Jr., Deukmejian’s first appointment to the Superior Court bench in Orange County, said Friday that he was not interested in an appellate court seat.

Trotter was named to the appellate bench when Deukmejian, then state attorney general, was campaigning for governor and criticizing Brown’s court appointees.

In late 1982, Deukmejian--then governor-elect--still served on the three-member Commission on Judicial Appointments, which approves a governor’s judicial appointments.

As a member of the commission, he repeatedly clashed with then-Chief Justice Rose Bird, who headed the group, because he questioned judicial appointees about their personal views on issues of law, such as the death penalty. Most appointees, however, refused to answer those questions, maintaining it would be improper to voice opinions on issues that could come before them in court.

Deukmejian, as commissioner, voted against a number of appointees, including the entire Orange County appellate division--Trotter, Thomas F. Crosby Jr., Sheila Prell Sonenshine and Edward J. Wallin.

Once governor, Deukmejian channeled his efforts against Brown appointees into the successful campaign to unseat Bird and two other state Supreme Court justices in a recall vote.

Wallin, Crosby and Sonenshine called their departing colleague a bright, thoughtful and moderating force on the bench who often kept them on course in their closed-door discussions of appellate cases.

“In the back of my mind, I always thought we’d all serve out our 20 years on the court together,” Sonenshine said. “I never thought anyone would leave.”

Trotter first was a personal-injury defense lawyer with the firm that became the powerful Shield & Smith in Los Angeles. Then he opened his own Santa Ana firm to represent plaintiffs in personal-injury cases. He was an Orange County Bar Assn. president before going on the Superior Court bench in February, 1979.