Investigating Judge Newman, with Aliza Shatzman

The California Appellate Law Podcast

The Judge Pauline Newman saga reached a tentative end—or a respite—when the Federal Circuit imposed a year-long probation on the 96-year-old federal appellate judge. Aliza Shatzman of the Legal Accountability Project discusses the allegations of cognitive decline and workplace misconduct against her, and how the investigation and report may be a model for more transparency into judicial officers.

Aliza notes:

• There is a kind of “omerta” code among clerks against sharing negative experiences.
• But Aliza is seeing the beginning of a cultural change in the legal community toward more transparency.
• Coming Spring 2024, the Legal Accountability Project will offer a database to aspiring clerks with at least 1,000 entries about former judicial clerk experiences.
• To the calls for more transparency, Aliza is not seeing any opposition from judges.
• …but there is some resistance from some law schools.
• Judge Newman has a storied career: pilot, racecar driver, bartender on the Seine River, inventor, maverick IP attorney, and finally, brilliant—and often contrarian—federal appellate judge. How does one assess a complaint that Judge Newman, an extraordinary individual, is acting out of the ordinary? Ultimately, the court based its sanctions ruling not on Judge Newman’s cognition but on her refusal to comply with the investigation.
• This investigation vindicates the rule of transparency in the Judicial Conduct & Disability Act and may serve as a model for future investigations.
• Why the Judge Newman saga does not portend an opening of a “floodgates” of complaints against judges.

Aliza Shatzman’s biography, LinkedIn profile, and Twitter feed.

Appellate Specialist Jeff Lewis' biography, LinkedIn profile, and Twitter feed.

Appellate Specialist Tim Kowal's biography, LinkedIn profile, Twitter feed, and YouTube page.

Sign up for Not To Be Published, Tim Kowal’s weekly legal update, or view his blog of recent cases.

The California Appellate Law Podcast thanks Casetext for sponsoring the podcast. Listeners receive a discount on Casetext Basic Research at casetext.com/CALP. The co-hosts, Jeff and Tim, were also invited to try Casetext’s newest technology, CoCounsel, the world’s first AI legal assistant. You can discover CoCounsel for yourself with a demo and free trial at casetext.com/CoCounsel.

Other items discussed in the episode:

• Our June 2022 interview with Aliza.
• The Legal Accountability Project's website.
• Aliza Shatzman’s published articles on the subject of Judge Newman in Slate and Above the Law.
• Aliza Shatman’s article with the UCLA Journal of Gender & Law, entitled "Untouchable Judges? What I've learned about harassment in the judiciary, and what we can do to stop it."
• Our episode 90 on the California Bias Prevention Committee.
• Videos from this episode will be posted at Tim Kowal’s YouTube channel.