Moore Named 5th Court of Appeal Justice : Superior Court Jurist to Take Newly Created Seat

Gov. George Deukmejian on Friday elevated Orange County Superior Court Judge Henry T. Moore Jr. to the newly created fifth seat on the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana.

Moore, 55, a longtime civil attorney, was appointed to the Superior Court by Deukmejian in 1984.

“It’s an honor and will be quite a challenge,” Moore said of his new job Friday. “I’ll miss Superior Court, where you spend a lot of time with lawyers. On the (appellate bench) you spend most of your time in chambers reading. But, of course, you get more time to read too.”

Moore spent much of Friday afternoon accepting congratulations and returning telephone calls.

He will become the fifth justice on the 4th District’s Santa Ana division, which was created nearly six years ago after Orange County lawyers and judges argued that a county of 2 million people needed its own appellate court.

Until Friday, the Santa Ana, San Diego and San Bernardino divisions of the 4th District have each had four justices.

But former Presiding Justice John K. Trotter of the Santa Ana appellate division complained for years that the workload here required a fifth justice.

The fifth seat on the court was created nearly a year ago through legislation that gave the governor power to fill 109 new judgeships statewide.

Moore’s confirmation hearing before the state Commission on Judicial Appointments is scheduled for Aug. 26.

“I’ve known Henry for a long time. He’s going to be a fine addition for us,” said Appellate Court Presiding Justice Harmon G. Scoville.

Moore grew up in Beverly Hills, where he attended public schools. His grandfather and father were both lawyers.

Moore received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Southern California. He was graduated from law school with honors in 1957 and then studied for an extra year at Harvard Law School, where he specialized in business and international law.

He joined his father and brother in a Los Angeles law practice, then established his own Century City practice in 1974 after his father died. Moore moved his practice to Santa Ana in 1979 and currently lives in Newport Beach.

Moore is a Republican.

Scoville, who until this year was presiding judge in Superior Court, had appointed Moore to a Superior Court panel that speeds top priority civil cases through the court system in no more than 1 1/2 years instead of the usual three or four years.

Before that assignment, Moore served as a probate judge. He once told a reporter that probate was not as boring as the public might think.

“A will contest can be juicier than a good divorce case,” Moore said.

Because of Orange County’s high ratio of white-collar jobs, its appellate court receives an unusually high number of civil, rather than criminal cases.

“I’m glad they need a civil judge because that’s what they’re getting,” Moore said.

Scoville said he will soon lobby for a sixth justice for the Orange County appellate court. Statistics show that even with the addition of Moore, the Orange County justices will be carrying a higher workload than most of their counterparts elsewhere.

The salary for an appellate justice is $97,003 annually, according to the governor’s office.