Judge Schwab to Retire, Join Mediation Service

Philip E. Schwab, the longest-tenured judge in Orange County, said Friday he will retire from the Superior Court bench Jan. 3 to join a private mediation service.

Schwab, 58, has served for more than 21 years as a municipal and superior court judge.

“There’s never been a day I didn’t look forward to coming to work,” Schwab said in his chambers at the county courthouse in Santa Ana. “I’d like to try something new.”

He leaves his $82,500-a-year job to join the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Service Inc. The private service was founded by a retired superior court judge, H. Warren Knight, in 1979. The firm offers so-called rent-a-judge services that are not part of the court system.

Schwab becomes the 38th former judge to join the service, which last month opened offices in Los Angeles and San Diego. His retirement represents “a very great loss to the bench,” said Harmon G. Scoville, presiding judge of Orange County Superior Court.

“He has been a very dedicated, conscientious judge for over 20 years and has been tremendously well respected,” Scoville said.

Schwab was first appointed to the municipal bench by Gov. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown in 1966. In 1976, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. named him to the superior court bench.

In two decades as a jurist, Schwab handled both civil and criminal matters. He presided over state court litigation involving expansion of John Wayne Airport. And he presided over the murder trial of Rodney James Alcala, whom he sentenced to death in 1980 for the mutilation slaying of a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl.

Schwab said the court system he leaves is overburdened. Constantly increasing backlogs of cases steadily gaining complexity demand more manpower, he said. The five additional judgeships created by the Legislature this year, scheduled to be filled next summer, are not enough, “But I thought we were lucky to get that much,” Schwab said.

Schwab is married, lives in Santa Ana and has three children.