(Subscription required) Justice Brad R. Hill has handled significant responsibilities since he was a young man. He was a law firm partner at 33, a judge at 36, and a superior court presiding judge before he turned 50. In 2010, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named him presiding justice of the 5th District Court of Appeal.

(Subscription required) All of the 9th Circuit panel judges agreed on the new standard, which rules the State Bar is immune under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution, but disagreed 9-2 about whether the bar was an arm of the state or an independent agency.

(Subscription required) Prosecutors argued that the State Bar could not protect the public from serious harm if in every case where an attorney faces criminal charges, the agency is kept from suspending his ability to represent clients.

(Subscription required) Umberg said he will try to persuade his colleagues that they need to defend the core functions of the court system. But he also noted that while the state has been through budget crunches in the past, many of his recently elected colleagues in the Legislature have not.