SAN DIEGO - Robert C. Longstreth received a trial by fire early in his legal career when he was plunged into a high-profile Agent Orange case.

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1 DAILY JOURNAL JUDICIAL PROFILE The Daily Journal Corporation. All rights reserved By Pat Broderick Robert C. Longstreth Superior Court San Diego County, State of California ================================================= Career Highlights: Re-elected to San Diego County Superior Court, 2010; appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Superior Court, 2008; DLA Piper, San Diego, ; Office of Independent Counsel Iran/Contra, Washington, D.C., , full time, , part time; Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, Washington, D.C., ; U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., ; U.S. District Court, Newark, N.J., Law school: Yale Law School, 1981 Age: 53 By Pat Broderick Daily Journal Staff Writer SAN DIEGO - Robert C. Longstreth received a trial by fire early in his legal career when he was plunged into a high-profile Agent Orange case. Vietnam veterans and their families brought a class action against chemical manufacturing companies for injuries they claimed resulted from exposure to the herbicide, used to kill vegetation that provided cover to enemy soldiers. The companies in turn looked to the government to assume liability. By the time Longstreth was assigned the case in 1984, it already had been under way for a few years. "There were five of us, all of whom were young lawyers," said Longstreth, now a San Diego County judge presiding in family court. "We were essentially the government trial team. We worked pretty much round the clock." The focus at that point was a ruling that the government could be sued by chemical companies for claims that wives and children of servicemen suffered birth defects and miscarriages as a result of the servicemen s exposure to Agent Orange. Longstreth, as lead counsel, argued two of the appeals in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the government ultimately prevailed. It was a heady experience for a young lawyer, but not one he anticipated as a young boy in Madison, Wis. A friend s father was a lawyer, who became an early mentor, and by fifth grade Longstreth found his career path. "I wasn t particularly interested in academics," he said. "I liked real-world issues and real-world problems. Being a lawyer gave you a chance to address those."

2 Longstreth enrolled at Yale Law School, where he earned his degree in 1981, and then clerked for U.S. District Judge Herbert J. Stern in New Jersey for two years. In 1983, he headed to Washington, D.C., where he worked as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice s torts branch, representing the government and individual federal employees in a variety of tort-related litigation, with a focus on radiation and dioxin exposure litigation. After a stint working for Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, he became attached to another famous case when he went to work for the Office of the Independent Counsel on the Iran-Contra affair. That political scandal involved officials of the Reagan administration, including Oliver North, a staff member of the National Security Council, and John M. Poindexter, Reagan s national security adviser. North and Poindexter were accused of using funds raised by covert arms sales to Iran to aid the Contra rebels against the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. Longstreth represented the prosecution against claims of improper use of immunized testimony and assisted the office in its investigations. "Everybody was wondering if it would reach to the White House and be possible grounds for Reagan to be impeached," he said. While North and Poindexter were convicted of obstructing justice and other offenses, their convictions were overturned on the grounds that testimony given at their trials was influenced by information they had given Congress under a limited grant of immunity. Longstreth, 53, credits those now-historic cases with teaching him how to be a lawyer. "You could really focus on the craft of practicing law," he said. "When I came to work for a private firm, there was a whole other set of things I needed to learn, in terms of dealing with clients and developing business. It s helpful not to have to do all that at once." In 1989, Longstreth made the move to San Diego, spurred on by his wife, Veronica Longstreth, who had earned her undergraduate degree at the University of San Diego. He got a job at what was then Gray Cary Ames & Frye and is now DLA Piper, where he would remain until he took the bench in Michael S. Tracy, a partner at DLA Piper, recalled how Longstreth would commute between San Diego and Washington, winding down his work on Iran-Contra. "It s like everything else with him," Tracy said. "He feels a sense of responsibility for things, and he wanted to see them through." Kurt Weissmuller, a partner at Alston + Bird in Los Angeles, worked with Longstreth several years ago when both were representing defendants in a secondhand smoke case.

3 "We would work to coordinate strategy with other members of the defense group," Weissmuller said. "He was very bright and creative, and always had something to add of substance to our efforts." After Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him to the bench in 2008, Longstreth found himself to be among an unprecedented number of sitting judges in San Diego to be challenged in the June 8 race. "It was like running a marathon," he said. "It s a great thing to have done but not so much fun while you re doing it." Longstreth gets high grades from attorneys on both sides of the aisle. "It s hard for young lawyers to appear before judges when they re trying to figure out how to be lawyers," said Trisha Amador, a deputy district attorney. "But he made such an impression by giving us guidance. I was so impressed by his demeanor." San Diego defense attorney Michael Crowley credits Longstreth for being evenhanded, recalling the time the judge "latched onto an issue I hadn t thought of - to my embarrassment. But at least he is not one of those judges who do everything for the prosecutor and ignores an issue that occurs to them just because the defendant didn t raise it." Todd Stevens, a partner at Keeney Waite & Stevens in San Diego, who appeared before Longstreth, gives him points for tapping into his experience as a civil litigator. "He quickly understood the issues and cut to the core of the dispute and started the parties talking," he said. "He worked hard to get the case settled." For Tracy, Longstreth is "fair, has a wonderful temperament, is very smart and does his homework." "He combines all the best qualities we look for in a judge," Tracy said. Here are some of Judge Longstreth s recent cases and the lawyers involved: People v. Juneau, A animal-control violation For the prosecution: Trish Amador, San Diego For the defense: Ron Rockwell, San Diego Jagd v. Rhoades, civil harassment For the petitioner: Douglas Holbrook, San Diego For the respondent: Lee Haugen, El Cajon

4 Washington v. Horvath, civil harassment For the petitioner: Chris Washington, in pro per For the respondent: Helen L. Horvath, in pro per Granite State Insurance Co. v. Pattah, collections For the plaintiff: Charles B. Carey, Mission Viejo For the defendant: Gary A. Brenner, San Diego Geiserman v. Club Cohiba USA Knits LLC, breach of contract For the plaintiff: Thomas B. Goode, San Diego For the defendant: Douglas S. Gilliland, San Diego This profile originally appeared in the Los Angeles Daily Journal and the San Francisco Daily Journal on September 3, Biography ================================================= CURRENT ASSIGNMENT Court Name: Superior Court San Diego County, State of California Title: Judge Dates: 2010 to Present Status: Appointed Date Appointed: July 21, 2008 Appointed By: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Case Types: Family: 100% EDUCATION Law School Yale Location: New Haven, CT Date: 1981 Degree: J.D. College Haverford College

5 Location: Haverford, PA Date: 1978 Degree: B.A. High School Madison West Location: Madison, WI PRACTICE HISTORY Organization: DLA Piper US LLP (formerly Gray Cary Ames & Frye and Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich) Location: San Diego, CA Dates: 1989 to 2008 Specialty: Environmental Law, Insurance Coverage Organization: Office of Independent Counsel Iran/Contra Dates: 1988 to 1994 Specialty: Federal Prosecutor Organization: Wilmer Cutler & Pickering Dates: 1987 to 1988 Specialty: Insurance Coverage, Drug Liability Legislation and Litigation Organization: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Torts Branch Dates: 1983 to 1987 Specialty: Tort Defense; Governmental Liability PERSONAL HISTORY Birthdate: 10/11/1956 Birthplace: Phoenix, AZ Gender: M Spouse: Veronica Platt Longstreth Children: Daniel Herrera (18); Adeline Marie (14) Religion: Episcopalian Political Affiliation: Democrat Recreation: Sports, reading and music. Languages:French