Harry Pregerson ... An Icon of the Ninth Circuit

I read with sadness the passing last month of Judge Harry Pregerson.

I argued many cases in front of Judge Pregerson over the years, some of them published.  My most memorable argument came in Cooper v. Sullivan.  The court set the case for argument on October 6, 1988.  My bar card was still moist, two months shy of my third anniversary as a lawyer.

Cooper arose from the Central District of California.  That meant that argument would take place in Pasadena.  Central District cases get argued in Pasadena.  So on October 6, I drove to the beautiful Pasadena Courthouse of the Ninth Circuit.  The parking lot was particularly light that day.  The marshals let me in and had a peculiar look about them.  Something was wrong.

The counter always had the calendar for the different courtrooms.  There weren't any.  I opened my large briefcase and pulled out the latest volume of my paper file.  Yep, there it is in black and white -- the court set argument for October 6, 1988, at 1:30 pm ... oh no, in San Francisco.

I pulled a couple of quarters out of my pocket and used one of those old fashioned pay phones and called my office.  "Tell the court I blew it.  Tell the court I am in Pasadena."  I hurriedly drove back to Santa Fe Springs.  When I arrived, my secretary told me that court wanted me in San Francisco, tomorrow, at noon, to argue Cooper.

I got on the airplane the next morning and went to San Francisco.  Dennis Mulshine was there in the hallway.  We were told to wait until the court finished its docket for the day.  We would argue in the chief judge's chambers.  Judges Reinhardt, Noonan, and Pregerson along with a cadre of others including Dennis and me walked down the halls of the courthouse to the chief ... it changed that year from Judge Browning to Goodwin.

As we walked down the hall, I strode next to Judge Pregerson.  He started talking to me.  I didn't know what to do.  Judge Pregerson says, "you know, we were going to leave a message for you ... that today, we were in Pasadena" and then he broke out laughing.

Judge Pregerson was a great judge.  He crafted the law in important ways that will reverberate for years or decades to come.  The court is lessened by his loss.  And so is the entire legal profession.