From Traffic Court to State Supreme Court?

So where is possible California Supreme Court nominee Dennis Perluss pontificating on the major legal issues of our time as his credentials are evaluated by a State Bar committee?

Traffic court, that’s where.

For the last seven months, Perluss has been handling a daily routine of misdemeanor hit-and-run, drunk-driving and joy-riding cases--or what he calls the “meat and potatoes” of the courthouse.

Sometimes, if another judge is too busy, Perluss also presides over felony criminal trials in the drab, gray building just south of downtown Los Angeles.

Even though the 53-year-old Sacramento native has an impeccable legal and educational background, he is still a relatively new judge. Gov. Gray Davis appointed him in October 1999 to the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

So Perluss is doing what rookie judges do: paying his dues. And the Metropolitan Courthouse, commonly known as traffic court, is one of the first steps up the ladder.

“He has very good credentials, but he’s still a new judge,” said Jack LeVan, director of judicial support for the Superior Court. “We don’t put brand new judges in high-profile places.”

In his first interview since being named one of four high court finalists by Davis, Perluss acknowledged that it would be somewhat unusual to go directly from traffic court to the state’s highest court. But his position is a bit deceiving. Before arriving at traffic court, he served a three-month temporary stint on a state appellate court panel, writing opinions on such weighty topics as tobacco company liability and the constitutional applications of a ballot initiative.

The longtime civil attorney said that traffic court is giving him the criminal trial experience he needs. It also allows him to help guide defendants, victims, jurors and inexperienced attorneys through the court system.

“Judge Wapner not withstanding, it really is a ‘people’s court,’ ” he said. “They’re real people with real problems. For many of the defendants in these cases, it is the first time they have been in trouble.”

Perluss also pointed out that he has previous trial court experience. After being appointed a Superior Court judge, he presided over a juvenile dependency court for 11 months, hearing cases involving abused and neglected children.

As on many days, Judge Perluss’ current courtroom was painstakingly slow on Friday. Without a calendar of his own, he waits for matters to be sent to him. About 10 a.m., he got two cases: a drunk-driving matter and one involving driving while under the influence. But then, in the hurry-up-and-wait routine typical of many county courtrooms, the attorneys spent several hours negotiating possible plea deals.

Perluss sat in his chambers, occasionally coming out to check for progress. Meanwhile, he read through the two files, issued a few bench warrants for missing defendants from other courtrooms and reviewed arrest reports. His bailiff and court reporter chatted and bided the time.

Finally, at 2:55 p.m., after having lunch with fellow judges and taking care of more paperwork, Perluss was told that the attorneys were ready--on one of the cases anyway. Jae Lee had been charged with drunk driving and was ready to plead no contest to a lesser charge.

Perluss, whose glasses seem too big for his thin face, questioned Lee to make sure the Korean-language speaker understood the consequences of his plea. Through an interpreter, Lee replied in the affirmative, and the judge sentenced him to probation, community service and fines.

“That’ll do it, Mr. Lee,” he said with a smile. “The important thing is that you do not find yourself here again. Good luck to you.”

During his time at the Metropolitan Courthouse, Perluss also has presided over a handful of felony jury trials, including a domestic violence case and another involving assault with a deadly weapon. The most complex case was a three-strikes robbery trial, which ended in a conviction and a sentence of 26 years to life in state prison, he said.

Perluss believes that the reason he is on Davis’ short list to replace the late Justice Stanley Mosk has much to do with his record and reputation before he was sworn in as a judge.

His resume speaks for itself: near the top of his class at Stanford University and Harvard Law School. Clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Shirley Hufstedler. Visiting professor at the UCLA School of Law.

And finally, more than two decades as a business litigator, most recently as a partner at the law firm of Morrison & Foerster in Los Angeles. While there, he argued securities, antitrust and finance cases as well as 1st Amendment issues on behalf of journalists.

In one case, he represented the University of California in a dispute about race-based admission procedures at an experimental elementary school at UCLA. He argued that the criteria at the school were necessary for a research study on urban education issues. The 9th Circuit Court agreed, finding the procedures constitutional.

If he does not get the California Supreme Court appointment, Perluss said, his next posting might be a felony trial courtroom in the downtown Criminal Courts Building.

“In terms of stretching my judicial and mental muscles, it seems like the logical next step,” he said.

Judge Sam Ohta, who supervises the judges at the Metropolitan Courthouse, said he was immediately impressed by Perluss’ abilities, credentials and personality.

“He has a very impressive background, but he sort of kept it under his hat,” Ohta said. “He’s really down-to-earth. He’s not some sort of ivory-tower person.”

James Bascue, presiding judge of the Superior Court, said new jurists go through a rotation to give them experience in both civil and criminal courts. He said traffic court is where the public often first meets the judicial system and is a perfect place to train judges.

One of the county’s newest jurists, veteran prosecutor Harvey Giss, said handling traffic tickets and trials is the price to pay for wearing a black robe. Five of the eight judges there have less than a year of experience. “It’s grunt work and we are all overqualified,” said Giss, who worked as a deputy district attorney for almost four decades. “But it goes with the territory. It’s like the Army; this is where you start. “

Others on the List Have More Experience

Giss added that Perluss’ opportunity has elevated the status of the court. “At least it adds a little class to the place, that you can possibly go from traffic court to the Supreme Court.”

Even if Perluss’ current assignment is part of a rotation, some attorneys say his limited time on the bench will likely be a factor in the final selections, especially in light of the experience of the other three finalists: 5th District Court of Appeal Justice Dennis Cornell, U.S. District Judge Carlos Moreno and 2nd District Court of Appeal Justice Steven Perren.

“The biggest issue for him in determining whether he is the person to fill Stanley Mosk’s shoes . . . will be the extent and depth of his judicial experience,” said George Eskin, a retired Ventura attorney who once sat on the State Bar’s judicial nominees commission.

The son of a Sacramento judge, Perluss is married to Emily H. Feigenson, an associate rabbi at a Reform temple in Bel-Air. They have three young children. Perluss said he always knew he wanted to be a lawyer and a judge. That is, after he gave up the dream of playing second base for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He applied for the appellate court and the trial court in early 1999 and then renewed his application for the appellate court in the middle of last year. Instead, the governor’s office approached him about the possibility of joining the state Supreme Court, and he was thrilled.

If he is selected, he won’t be the first to take a slightly different path. The late Chief Justice Roger J. Traynor, generally considered one of the best judges ever to serve on the California Supreme Court, had been a law professor and government lawyer, but had no judicial experience before he was appointed in 1940.

Mosk, whose death in June created the current vacancy, had served as state attorney general and a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge but had never been on the Court of Appeal.

Similarly, former Gov. Jerry Brown elevated the late Justice Allen E. Broussard to the state’s top court directly from Alameda County Superior Court.

Perluss said he thinks it would be “perfectly appropriate, with the right candidate, to appoint someone to the Supreme Court without any trial court experience at all.”

Davis’ press secretary said Perluss has had a variety of experience and that traffic court just happens to be the latest stop.

“There is no doubt about it: He is a judicial heavyweight,” said Steve Maviglio. “He is one of the top judges for this position.”

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Times staff writer Maura Dolan contributed to this story.