David M. Rothman, 1937 -- 2024

David Rothman, a longtime judge in Los Angeles County who was an expert on judicial ethics and co-authored the Judicial Conduct Handbook, died Tuesday. He was 87. The family said he lived in Berkeley and had Alzheimer's disease.

"During his time on the bench, Judge Rothman was a highly regarded jurist and served with distinction on the Los Angeles court. But he will ultimately be remembered for his unparalleled leadership in judicial education, particularly his contributions to judicial ethics. His writings and teachings have helped shape the California judiciary by providing our judges with the resources to maintain their impartiality and integrity to better serve the litigants that come before them. His impact on our state's judiciary cannot be overstated," Chief Justice of California Patricia Guerrero said in a statement.

Rothman served as a judge on the Los Angeles Municipal Court and Los Angeles County Superior Court, ultimately becoming presiding judge in Santa Monica before his retirement in 1996. Although he heard countless cases, he is most remembered for his work on judicial ethics. He taught for decades at the California Judicial College in Berkeley.

"The judge must be long of fuse and somewhat thick of skin," he would tell his pupils.

Retired Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell co-taught a class on judicial ethics with Rothman for more than a decade. "We were a team," she said.

Cordell called him "a kind, wonderful, smart man. A terrific judge and terrific teacher."

"If everyone were like him, we would have a perfect judiciary," Cordell said in an interview.

Richard Chernick appeared before Rothman at the Superior Court, arbitrated alongside him after Rothman affiliated with JAMS after he left the bench, and even represented him in a legal matter. "He was an absolute gentleman, an exceptional lawyer and a great leader," Chernick said.

In the late 1980s, Rothman partnered with Sheila Kuehl and several other judges and attorneys on a project that examined gender bias in California courts. The Judicial Council's Advisory Committee on Gender Bias in the Courts published a report in 1990 that documented widespread gender bias and provided recommendations for reforming judicial practices to ensure fairness and equality​. Kuehl said in an interview that the court had never convened a committee to investigate how policies and procedures might impact women or minority communities. The committee identified myriad issues that might impact women in the court system including things like the fact that they might not have anyone to care for their children when they came to court.

"It was sort of uncharted waters for the Judicial Counsel and for the courts," she said. Rothman "was a steady hand, a beacon of ethics and trusted by everybody."

He also sought to inject humor "where appropriate," Kuehl said, using his skills as a cartoonist to draw a superwoman figure with the committees' name on her cape and having it put on t-shirts for all the committee members.

"After that [report was issued], he was the guy everyone turned to about judicial ethics issues," Kuehl said.

Rothman authored three editions (1989, 1999, and 2005) and contributed to a fourth (2018) of the California Judicial Conduct Handbook. Each new judge in California receives a copy, known simply as "The Rothman," free of charge. "It's a book that every judge should read, if they haven't," Cordell said.

"It takes a particular person with particular skills to create something like that for the entire judicial system in California," Chernick said. "It is really unique."

Born in Milwaukee, on May 23, 1937, Rothman's family moved to Los Angeles shortly after WWII, where his father Morris served. After graduating from Hollywood High School and UCLA, Rothman received a law degree from The University of Chicago Law School in 1962. He began his career as a deputy state attorney general and then spent nine years in private practice. During this time, he became deeply involved in politics and served as a volunteer attorney with the ACLU. He defended demonstrators arrested at an anti-war rally in Century City and helped establish a program to obtain presidential pardons for draft resisters after the Vietnam War. Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to the bench in 1976.

Throughout his life, he drew and painted ceaselessly -- cartoons, sketches, portraits, and more, his family said. He studied portrait painting with Stephen W. Douglas from the mid-1990s to 2012 and had a solo exhibit of his work in Los Angeles in 2011. His proudest works, a series of three paintings titled "Zeal for Good," combined his creativity and commitment to justice. His portrait of Congressman John Lewis is displayed at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

"He was always sketching. He would sit in his courtroom and draw pictures of the lawyers, the parties, and the courtroom. But he wouldn't show them to anyone. He thought that would create some issues," Chernick said.

Cordell is also an artist. She recalled how Rothman came to her aid when the Commission on Judicial Performance brought her up on discipline charges over cartoons she drew that poked fun at the judicial system. "He told me I had done absolutely nothing wrong," she said. The Commission issued Cordell a private reprimand, but she details the episode in a book published in 2022, "Her Honor: My Life on the Bench...What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It." "I wear it with pride," she said.

An avid hiker and opera fan, Rothman shared a love of the outdoors, adventure, art, and music with his family and friends, his family said.

Rothman is survived by his beloved wife of 61 years, Phyllis Rothman, son Steven (Kathleen Tierney), daughter Sharon (Michael King), and his adored grandchildren Miles, Noah, Gabriel, and Isaac, and his brother John Rothman (Judy).