Chief Justice Swears in Sullivan

It may have taken Kathleen Sullivan two times to pass the California bar exam, but she sure got royal treatment for her successful repeat performance.

On Thursday, the former Stanford Law School dean and current of counsel for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges was sworn in by California Chief Justice Ronald George. In private in his San Francisco chambers.

 

Sullivan, who took a lot of grief over last year’s failure and was even denied pro hac vice status by the Supreme Court in a big case earlier this year, found out on May 19 that she hurdled the barrier the second time.

Guess the chief justice felt he and the court owed Sullivan some personal face time and congratulations.

Supreme Court spokeswoman Lynn Holton said late Friday that it isn’t unusual for George to swear in new bar members in person. Plus, she said, George — a Stanford graduate — and Sullivan have many personal connections.

Among them, Holton said, Sullivan provided pro bono assistance in developing an amicus curiae brief submitted by the Conference of Chief Justices in Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, 536 U.S. 765, the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a Minnesota requirement that judges not discuss political issues. George once headed the Conference of Chief Justices.

Nonetheless, way to go Kathleen.

— Mike McKee