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California has a procedure that allows litigants to file peremp- tory challenges to judges. John used that procedure on one occasion when Judge Gumpert had been assigned a case in- volving a workers compensation lien. When John returned to his office after filing the challenge, his secretary told him that
the Judge had called, was mad as hell, and wanted to see him that afternoon. John of course complied. When he walked into the courtroom, the Judge beckoned him to chambers with his index finger and said he wanted to know why he had filed the challenge. John said, “I don’t have to tell you, but I will. You held such and such in this other case.”
Judge Gumpert apparently held no grudges. The two be- came close and were personal friends until the day Judge Gumpert died.
In recent years, John has moved from trying cases to hear- ing cases. He has worked as a Judge Pro Tem in Los Angeles since 1984, primarily hearing cases in family law court and small claims court. The cases run the full gamut of issues, but almost always involve participants who are mad as hell because they don’t understand what has happened. A lot of John’s work is trying to explain what is involved. Even on the bench, he says, you can help people reach solutions. He tells them that if they can make peace between themselves, even though they hate each other, it will be better than the deal he will give them if he is forced to decide.
John and his wife, DeDe, were born at the same Los Angeles hospital, but didn’t meet until 1950, when he was thirteen and she was twelve. They married six years later and had sev- en children, six of them in the first eight years. He says he is most proud of the fact that he met and fell in love with DeDe, and that he “is still in love with the girl” after sixty-seven years of marriage. Their seven children have provided them with fourteen grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
“It’s been a good ride,” he says. “I am very blessed.”
John’s history is so remarkable that one might have thought he was a star student in law school. But John didn’t graduate from law school – after studying law for four years at Loyola Law School, he figured he had had enough schooling, and sat for the bar, passing it on the first attempt. He says he really didn’t have a chance to appreciate law school as he had a full-time day job as a claims adjuster for an insurance company while attending law school at night – all to support his growing family.
His longest trial was a six-month criminal trial in Santa Ana, where he represented the late U.S. Congressman Andrew J. Hinshaw on twelve counts of bribery, embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds stemming from Hinshaw’s service as the Orange County assessor prior to running for Congress. As with all of his trials, John worked alone in the Courtroom. He started one trial with Patrick, but has never completely tried any case with his sons or any other lawyer.
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