Defeated Justice Reynoso to Join L.A.-Based Law Firm

California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, who was defeated at the polls in November, announced Friday that he is joining the Los Angeles-based law firm of O’Donnell & Gordon, where he said he will perform a variety of trial and appellate work, including cases related to the new federal immigration law.

Reynoso, 55, leaves the bench after serving more than 10 years on the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1982 by former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.

Reynoso and two Supreme Court colleagues, Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird and Justice Joseph Grodin, were the targets of a successful election-year blitz by well-financed opposition groups that focused on the justices’ record of overturning death penalties.

Reynoso is joining a 16-member law firm with offices in Chicago and Washington that has specialized in a variety of litigation in the areas of entertainment, environment and finance.

Reynoso, who will join the firm next week, said he was drawn to the firm because of its interest in public service.

“I liked them because they were clearly a law firm that looked at the law as a service as well as an occupation,” Reynoso said.

Pierce O’Donnell, a partner in the firm, said that Reynoso’s interest in the fair implementation of the newly enacted immigration law will give the firm a new area of expertise.

While Reynoso said he would be dividing his time between Los Angeles and Sacramento, he said his office would be in Sacramento, near his home.