FROM THE PRESIDENT

By Jack McCabe

Our Bar Association's Vice President, Garrison "Bud" Klueck, recently returned from China and I have asked him to share some of his observations with us in place of a traditional President's Column. Bud's article follows. However, there are three points of important Bar business that I need to discuss first.

Please support our three-hour Saturday morning MCLE program on "Hard to Get Units." Every three years, all lawyers will have to show four hours of ethics, one hour of elimination of bias and one hour of substance abuse. One third of the bar membership has to make this showing every year.

The seminar is scheduled for Saturday, November 2, 2002 at 8:30 a.m. at the El Cajon Community Center. Board members Leah Boucek and Wells Lyman have worked very hard to organize this educational experience. Please plan on attending. You should have previously received a registration form and if not, please contact Leah or Wells immediately!

Second, as in recent past years, we will double up the Annual Meeting, which is required by our By-Laws with a section meeting in which the general membership is invited. This meeting will be held on November 26. 2002 and details are in this Newsletter under the "Civil Litigation Section." Before the MCLE program, we will convene the general membership and vote on the slate of Directors for next year.

Lastly, concerning the Board, there will be at least two openings for new Board members. If you are interested in serving, please contact Bud immediately.

Now, beginning on page 3, here are Bud's thoughts on China gleaned during his recent trip.

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FROM THE COURT

by Robert A. Durant

Assistant Executive Officer

Administrative Division

At a recent Executive Committee Meeting, Directive 5.1 was amended to provide, in part, that Court Reporter fees for any family law matter that takes over 2 hours to be heard must be collected. Please begin collecting these fees from counsel/litigants immediately. Checks should be made out to the "Clerk of the Superior Court."

HOLIDAY NOTICE

The El Cajon Superior Court will be closed for Veterans Day on Monday, November 11, 2002; Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, November 28, 2002 and the day after Thanksgiving on Friday, November 29, 2002.

REMINDER FROM

THE COURT

Please be reminded that the court requests that no gifts be given any court personnel as it violates the Court Code of Ethics. Your cheerful attitude at the counter and cooperation in the courtroom is greatly appreciated and all the thanks that they need.

FROM THE SMALL

CLAIMS ADVISOR

by Donna Morel

RECENT CHANGES IN

LANDLORD-TENANT LAW

Beginning January 1, 2003, significant landlord-tenant legislation will be enacted. One specific area of landlord tenant law affected by the new legislation involves the termination of tenancies. The new law will require the same notice of termination of tenancy provisions that are presently mandated in Santa Monica and West Hollywood under Civil Code Section 1946.1.

Currently, Civil Code Section 1946 requires that a tenant intending to terminate a periodic tenancy provide his landlord with written notice of his desire to terminate the tenancy. The written notice must be provided at least as long as the period between rent payments. Similarly, a landlord must comply with the same time requirements when the landlord intends to terminate the tenant's occupation of his premises. Given the fact that most periodic tenancies expand a period of thirty days, in such cases a landlord need only provide a thirty-day written notice of termination of tenancy to his tenant.

As of January 1, 2003, the current law will change by requiring landlords to provide tenants with at least sixty days advance written notice of intent to terminate the tenancy if the tenant has lived at the premises for at least one year. The thirty-day notice of termination of tenancy requirement will remain in effect for those tenants living at premises for less than one year. Under the new law, the tenant is not obligated to provide a 60-day advance written notice of termination of tenancy. The periodic tenant is simply obligated to provide written notice that is at least as long as the period between rent payments.

19TH ANNUAL

JUDGE'S RECEPTION

The 19th Annual East County Lawyer's Club Judge's Reception will be held on Wednesday, December 4, 2002 from 5:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. at the El Cajon Community Center located at 195 East Douglas Avenue in El Cajon. This popular event, which features holiday music, hor d'oeuvres and champagne, provides a unique opportunity to meet with judges and colleagues in a pleasant, informal setting. All members of the bench and bar are invited to attend.

FROM THE

PRESIDENT

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THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA THROUGH BUD'S EYES

Our President, Jack McCabe, has asked me to sub-in and write this month's President's Column. Jack observed that the Foothills Vice President usually does one column a year anyway (a tradition I was not told when I signed on to become the Vice President, by the way). And besides, President McCabe observed, "I can talk about China." Those of you who have been patient enough to be around me, during any part of October, know that I can't stop talking about China, if given a chance. So Jack knew he would be successful in avoiding the responsibility of having to write the next President's Column by inviting me to have an outlet for my observations about the People's Republic.

Those of you who have showed the patience to hear me rant about a country I find fascinating know that I participated in a People-to-People's delegation to China for about the last half of September. Our purpose was to learn about the Chinese legal system and to exchange our perceptions about the American system with the Chinese. The leader of our delegation was Jim Herman, who was installed last weekend at the State Bar convention in Monterey as President of the California State Bar. Jim was accompanied by his wife, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Denise deBellefeuille. This designation of "leader" was particularly important to the Chinese as hierarchy and "pecking order" concerns are more sensitive in Chinese society.

During our trip we met with all-People's Republic law firms, law firms who have westerners connected with them, a major international law firm headquartered in Cleveland (Jones Day) and with an over 150-year-old Hong-Kong-based law firm. We also met with the Beijing Bar Association, the Peking University Center for Woman's Legal Studies and Legal Services and the Guondong Bar Association (essentially the "Cantonese" region. Guondong is to Guongzhou city ["Canton"] as San Diego County is to the city of San Diego). During the trip, we visited Beijing (the national Capital), Shanghai, Guongzhou ("Canton") and Hong Kong during our half a month in the country.

From an American perspective, coming from a country whose european-related culture is only a few hundred years old but with a Constitution over 200-years-old, China is a very curious mix of the ancient and the very new. China was unified, under the first of 12 imperial dynasties, around two-and-a-half millennia ago (500 years before the birth of Christ). China has been a more-or-less unified country for about 2500 years. On the other hand, the present national form has only been in place since 1949--about 50 years. (The People's Republic of China was declared, by Chairman Mao Tse Tung, on October 1, 1949. As a result, the population nowadays gets a full weeks paid vacation October 1 through October 7.)

 Even more striking is that the early People's Republic legal and professional systems were effectively wiped out by the decade-long "Cultural Revolution" in the late '60s to the late '70s. Lawyers, teachers, administrators, and doctors were shipped out to the countryside to be forced to become manual laborers. Husbands and wives were routinely shipped to different rural communes. The cities were taken over by late-teen "Red Guards" chanting and saluting with Mao's little red book. As a result of all this, an

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FROM THE

PRESIDENT

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entire generation of Chinese professionals were lost to the country.

The Chinese started to rebuild a legal system around 1982. So the entire, present Chinese legal system is approximately 20 years old. As a result, one sees no old or even middle-aged lawyers in China. Most members of the Bar or law firms are in their '30s. There are apparently no 40-year-old, no 50-year-old or 60-year-old lawyers in the entirety of China.

There are relatively few lawyers generally. We were told consistently that there are approximately 120,000 lawyers in all of China. Jim Herman remarked that the California Bar has approximately 138,000 active member (and 167,000 total, including inactive). That is, California, a state with a population of 38 million has significantly more lawyers than the entire country of China with 1.3 billion (1,300,000,000) people.

The most interesting elements of the Chinese system itself is that they have never heard of juries. Virtually every case is decided by a three-judge panel. The Chinese employ a civil system of jurisprudence--not a common law system. That means the entire system is statutorily-based and prior court decisions do not have precedential or stare decisis weight. The Chinese system is modeled after Germany. (European systems, principally France and Germany, have similar civil law systems.) There is a four-tier court system, starting with the lowest level, People's Court (presided over by Judge Mao Tse Wopner) through the highest level, the Supreme Court. The proper level of court where a case initiates, for the first three levels, depends on the amount in controversy. Each higher court serves as an appellate court for the next lower level. A type of "forum shopping" is allowed and even encouraged. Most importantly, all appeals are "de novo" and new evidence can be introduced on appeal. Chinese do get "two bites at the apple."

This column is intended as an overall view of the Chinese legal system.

If you are interested in knowing more, I can share more. I am also willing to share my observations about Chinese culture and the business climate, in future columns, if there is an interest. (Yes, Bud did climb the Great Wall; interface with the Peoples' Liberation Army in Tien Na'Mien Square; eat Peking Duck in Peking and discussed Confusiousism with a direct decedent of Confucius. I also bit heads off of multiple shrimp, sucked the juice from "hairy crabs," eat moon cakes on Moon Day and ordered beer with a complete sentence of Mandarin.

Visiting China is much like the cliche about eating Chinese food. After you visit China, an hour later, you want to go back.

QUOTABLE

QUOTES

by Rex Randall Erickson

The trial court summarized its reasoning as follows. "One of my favorite quotes was the old Dick Butkus quote and it's rather famous. When they asked him what his philosophy was as a defensive back, he said, ‘I go through the line. I tackle the entire back field and then I throw them away one at a time until I find the guy with the ball.’ And in some cases in litigation, that also is necessary. The fact that the entire back field got tackled doesn't mean that he had no probable cause to tackle any given one of them under some circumstances.” (Puryear v. Golden Bear Ins. Co. (1998) 66 Cal.App.4th 1188, 1193-1194.)

NOTICE OF GENERAL

MEMBERSHIP MEETING

AND CIVIL LITIGATION

SECTION MEETING

There will be a combined Civil Litigation Section meeting and General Meeting of the membership of the Foothills Bar Association on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 from noon to 1:00 p.m. in Department 6 of the El Cajon Superior Court for the purpose of electing a Board of Directors to serve for the 2003 calendar year. The proposed slate of directors for 2003 will be announced at the meeting. The newly elected officers and directors will be installed at the Annual Dinner to be held in January, 2003.

Please see the information included in the Civil Litigation Section below.

NOMINATIONS OPEN

FOR 2001 BOARD

Elections for the twelve Foothills Bar Association Board of Directors for 2003 will be held on November 26, 2002. The Board members are elected for one year terms. Nominations should be immediately sent to Garrison "Bud" Klueck for consideration.

The next meeting of the Civil Litigation Section will be held on Tuesday, November 22, 2002 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. in Department 6 of the El Cajon Superior Court (second floor). Food is allowed and you are invited to bring your brown bag lunch.

The speaker will be Paul L. Van Loon, Esq., District Vice President of the American Arbitration Association. This is a nuts and bolts discussion on the practical aspects of mediation. This is the second course in a series of Alternative Dispute Resolution lectures encompassing Arbitration Advocacy, Mediation Advocacy, Elimination of Bias in ADR, Ethics in ADR, Drafting Effective ADR Clauses, and Drafting Employment Agreements. See enclosed flyer for additional information.

This activity has been approved for MCLE credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of 1.0 hour Ethics or General Participatory. The FBA certifies this activity conforms to the standards for approved education activities prescribed by the rules and regulations of the State Bar of California governing mandatory minimum continuing legal education.

These Section meetings are free for all FBA members, and $10.00 for non-members. Applications for FBA membership will be available at the door.

If you have any suggestions for speakers or upcoming meetings, please contact Sam or Joseph.

The next meeting of the Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Section will be held on Thursday, November 14, 2002 from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. at the Law Office of Nancy Ewin, 8166 La Mesa Boulevard, La Mesa, CA 91941. The office is in the La Mesa Plaza retail/office complex on the corner of Spring Street and La Mesa Boulevard. Bring your lunch (or pick it up prior to the meeting at any one of several sandwich shops in the center), enjoy the meeting and earn one hour of MCLE.

The topic will be a discussion regarding updates to the Medi-Cal system.

This activity has been approved for MCLE credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of 1.0 hour Ethics or General Participatory. The FBA certifies this activity conforms to the standards for approved education activities prescribed by the rules and regulations of the State Bar of California governing mandatory minimum continuing legal education.

These Section meetings are free for all FBA members, and $10.00 for non-members. Applications for FBA membership will be available at the door.

If you have any suggestions for speakers or upcoming meetings, please contact Nancy, Scott or Jocelyn.

The next meeting of the Family Law Section will be on Tuesday, November 12, 2002 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. in Department 6 of the El Cajon Superior Court (second floor). Food is allowed and you are invited to bring your brown bag lunch.

The speaker is Richard Bailey, Family Law Facilitator & retired military office who will discuss military compensation and benefits.

The meeting is free to members of the FBA. The cost is $10.00 for non members. Applications for FBA membership will be available at the door.

This activity has been approved for 1.0 hour of MCLE credit by the State Bar of California. The FBA certifies this activity conforms to the standards for approved education activities prescribed by the rules and regulations of the State Bar of California governing mandatory minimum continuing legal education.

If you have any suggestions for speakers or upcoming meetings, please contact Ed, Judi or Dana.

SECTIONS:

CIVIL LITIGATION

Joseph Fox 466-9091

Angelo “Sam” Parise (858) 674-6660

CRIMINAL LAW

Daniel Cohen 697-0333

Sheryl Graf 440-5716

ESTATE PLANNING

Scott Cole 460-2080

Nancy Ewin 698-1788

Joselina Medrano 562-9999

FAMILY LAW

Judi Klein 698-1882

“Bud” Klueck 448-6500

Edward Torrence 698-6059

COMMITTEES:

ANNUAL DINNER

Sheryl Graf 440-5716

Virginia Johnson 441-4801

Wells Lyman 589-9984

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Joselina Medrano 562-9999

COURT LIAISON

“Bud” Klueck 448-6500

GOLF TOURNAMENT

Dan Bacal 588-2064

LAW DAY

Jerry Carmody 667-9600

MCLE

Joselina Medrano 562-9999

MEMBERSHIP

Edward Torrence 698-6059

NEWSLETTER

Catherine Tancredi 579-7876

PUBLICATIONS

Sheryl Graf 440-5716

SPECIAL EVENTS

Wells Lyman 589-9984

WEBSITE

Dana Wynn 485-5518

SMALL CLAIMS COURT

Please be prepared to take the

bench at 8:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.

November, 2002

1        AM     Timothy Cohelan

          PM     David Demergian

5        AM     David Egan

          PM     Miranda Franks

6        AM     Joseph Fox

          PM     Larry Kincaid

7        AM     Elliot Kanter

          PM     Garrison Klueck

8        AM     Wells Lyman

          PM     Thomas Marshall

12      AM     Clare Maudsley

          PM     Jon McKinley

13      AM     James Mietzel

          PM     Ron Oberndorfer

14      AM     Frank Puglia

          PM     Joseph Sciarretta

15      AM     Conrad Walker

          PM     Miranda Franks

19      AM     Charles Scott Jr.

          PM     Blaine Phipps

20      AM     Kenyon Young

          PM     Peter Singer

21      AM     Dan Bacal

          PM     Thomas Buchenau

22      AM     Timothy Cohelan

          PM     Ed Castro

26      AM     David Demergian

          PM     Catherine Tancredi

27      AM     Dave Egan

          PM     DARK

28                 HOLIDAY

29                 HOLIDAY

FAMILY LAW SETTLEMENT

CONFERENCE JUDGE

Please arrive at Department 5

by 8:30 a.m.

November, 2002

11-6-02         Dark

11-13-02       William Benjamin

                     Win Heiskala

                     Garrison Klueck

11-20-02       Brian Cochran

                     Robert Lesh

                     John McCabe

11-27-02       Anthony Beccarelli

                     John Keeling

                     Gerald Mulder

Foothills Bar Association

P.O. Box 1077

El Cajon, CA 92022