The Daily Journal interviewed Manatt's Benjamin Shatz, co-chair of the firm's Appellate Practice, for an article on the selection of Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, who lacks judicial experience, to the California Supreme Court.
The Daily Journal reports that the selection marks Gov. Jerry Brown's second pick of an academic lacking courtroom experience, following that of Goodwin H. Liu of UC Berkeley School of Law. Cuellar is currently a Stanford Law professor and director of the university's Spogli Institute for International Studies.
"Choosing somebody who hasn't been a judge is a very nontraditional move for anyone but Jerry Brown," said Shatz. "It's worked out well for him. Goodwin Liu has done an amazing job."