Court Is Shifting Judge to Reduce Civil Backlog : Trials: Legal-community leaders hail the plan. A three-year wait for a courtroom after filing a lawsuit is now typical, attorneys say.

In an effort to shorten the time it takes lawsuits to come to trial, Ventura County Superior Court officials plan to move one of six judges who handle criminal cases to the court’s civil division.

Edwin M. Osborne, presiding judge of the Superior Court, and Judge Steven Z. Perren, in line to succeed Osborne as the court’s top administrator, said the change is expected to occur at the end of the year. Both said the move is aimed at reducing a huge backlog of civil cases awaiting trial.

“The hope is that by attacking it with more resources, we will get it down so that there are no cases five years old, or four years old, or three years old, waiting for a courtroom,” Osborne said.

Leaders of the county’s legal community hailed the move.

“It sounds wonderful to me,” said Robert J. Bayer, president of the Ventura County Trial Lawyers Assn., a 135-person group whose members specialize in civil litigation. “The civil side needs all the help it can get.”

Bartley S. Bleuel, president of the 850-member Ventura County Bar Assn., agreed. “Anything they can do to ease the backlog in civil cases is good,” he said.

With the change, Ventura County will have five Superior Court judges hearing criminal cases and five hearing civil cases--assuming that Gov. Pete Wilson fills a civil-division judgeship vacant since January. In addition, the court has two judges handling juvenile cases, two assigned to divorce and family law, and the presiding judge, who also helps with civil cases.

Court officials said they have no statistics on the typical period between the filing of a lawsuit and the start of trial. But several attorneys agreed with Bayer, who said a three-year wait is typical. Osborne said some case files have been batted around the Hall of Justice for more than five years.

The attorneys acknowledged that some cases are delayed because of their complexity, not because of the shortage of courtroom space. But, Bleuel said, “If a litigant can be ready for trial within six months, (space) ought to be available.” He said the years-long delays devalue the court system by discouraging people from using it.

Last year, the Board of Supervisors provided $170,000 to bring in retired judges to help with the backlog. Osborne said the addition of retirees, plus increased productivity by the other judges, resulted in a 30% increase in civil trials in the past year, from 56 to 73.

The trial lawyers association has proposed having volunteer attorneys take turns sitting as unpaid judges in cases where both sides agree, said Dennis O. LaRochelle, a past president of the group who is trying to work out details with Osborne.

Neither the district attorney’s nor the public defender’s offices object to having fewer judges on criminal cases.

“I like the five-court plan,” Public Defender Kenneth I. Clayman said. The change may allow him to reassign a deputy from Superior Court cases to misdemeanors, he said.

Vincent J. O’Neill Jr., chief deputy district attorney, said he sees a chance for similar savings. He said the agency had been concerned that the change could cause delays on the criminal side.

“We have been assured by the court that no criminal case would be put in jeopardy” by the change, O’Neill said. Perren said the additional civil-division judge will be available for criminal cases when needed.

The other change expected at year’s end--Perren’s move to the presiding-judge position--also has been well received in the county’s legal community.

“If there were 500 Steve Perrens sitting on the bench in California, we would have a very outstanding judiciary,” Clayman said. “He arrives early, works late--he’s just very conscientious.”

Perren, the assistant presiding judge, said the judges will not vote on Osborne’s successor until November. But he said the assistant usually moves up if he or she is willing to take the job. “There’s not a real long line behind me,” he said, referring to the demands of the post. “It’s just my turn.”

The presiding judge makes the court’s administrative decisions, supervises its clerical staff, makes case assignments and oversees the county grand jury. Any time left over is devoted to normal judicial duties.

Perren, 49, was appointed to the court by Gov. Jerry Brown in 1983 after working as a deputy district attorney and as a private attorney handling mostly civil cases. A Ventura resident, he grew up in Los Angeles and got his law degree from UCLA in 1967.

Perren said he expects to make time for trial work as presiding judge. “I plan to get back to the courtroom,” he said. “There is nothing in this world as good as a trial.”