Richard D. Fybel, Associate Justice

Justice Fybel was born and grew up in Southern California. He is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles (A.B. 1968) and the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law (J.D. 1971; Law Review; Order of the Coif).

In February 2002, his appointment as an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division Three (Santa Ana) was confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. Justice Fybel was a judge of the Orange County Superior Court since April 2000. His assignments included criminal and civil cases.

Justice Fybel is the Chair of the California Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics. He is also the Chair of the California Supreme Court committee responsible for recommending rules and procedures for a new Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions. Justice Fybel is the 2005 UCLA Law School Alumnus of the Year for Public and Community Service. Justice Fybel is a member of the Ferguson American Inn of Court and he received the Inn's President's Award. Justice Fybel received the Lifetime Achievement Award from his undergraduate fraternity at UCLA.

In 2005, Justice Fybel was an Adjunct Professor at Chapman Law School, co-teaching a seminar on The Holocaust, Genocide and the Law. He is a founder of the Ruth and Ernest Fybel Endowed Fund for Literature on Children of the Holocaust, established at the Chapman University Samueli Library. In 2007, Justice Fybel spoke to the Cardozo Society on "An Analysis of the German Legal System, 1933-1945, and the Nuremberg Trials."

Justice Fybel is a member of the Judicial Candidate Conduct Task Force of the California Commission for Impartial Courts and the UCLA Law School Committee on selection of recipients for scholarships for under-represented minority law students. Justice Fybel has also served as a member the Kleps Award Committee, honoring contributions made by California courts to the administration of justice; the UCLA Foundation Board of Councillors; a mock trial judge for the Constitutional Rights Foundation, UCLA School of Law, Chapman Law School, the statewide Traynor Moot Court Competition and the regional finals of the 2006 Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition; and a speaker in school programs sponsored by the Orange County Education Department and the Orange County Bar Association. Justice Fybel was the President of the UCLA Law Alumni Association and an officer of the Board of Trustees of the Orange County Public Law Library.

Justice Fybel is the author of Honest Lawyers Make Good Lawyers-Thoughts on Ethics and Civility in the Legal Profession (Nov./Dec. 2006) 19 Utah Bar J. 11. Justice Fybel has spoken at events sponsored by the Center for Judicial Education and Research of the Administrative Office of the Courts ("Use of Financial Documents in the Courtroom"); the California Judges Association; the State Bar of California; the State Bar of Utah; the Orange County Bar Association; the Association of Business Trial Lawyers including "Security & Privacy Actions: The Changing Landscape for Business Litigators"; the Business Litigation, Appellate, and Labor and Employment Law Sections of the OCBA; the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association; the Ferguson Inn of Court; and the Constitutional Rights Foundation.

Prior to his judicial appointment, Justice Fybel was a partner in the law firm of Morrison & Foerster LLP. Justice Fybel specialized in civil business litigation.

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