In 2019, we filed a public records request with one California court system, seeking information on attorneys appointed to represent children as guardians ad litem or minorsâ counsel â and on attorneys who play private judge in a family law case- divorce, DV or child custody.
It took three years, until 2022, for the court to finally produce these records. Under California Rules of Court 10.500, courts are required to provide certain non-adjudicated records to the public. But what did we do with what we uncovered?
We used the records in our reporting for The Davis Vanguard. And now, with video, weâre taking it a step further: explaining how attorneys acting as so-called âprivate judgesâ can sometimes do more harm than good â creating a court system that feels less like justice and more like racketeering.
Going to keep up the reporting until everyone understands what a court appointed attorney playing child's attorney or an attorney sliding onto a divorce or child custody case as a private judge really looks like and the harm they can impose.
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One commenter on todayâs short said that divorce attorneys using other attorneys for their own divorces is much like insider trading for the legal profession. Hereâs the video with that comment: www.youtube.com/shorts/wjWTrk...
That comparison is accurateâand it starts with how a private judge is selected.
When you hire a plumber, contractor, or real estate agent, how do you find them? We used to check the phone book because every professional or service provider in the area was listed there. Or, if you were lucky, you got a referral from a neighbor or family member who had a good experience.
When divorce attorneys steer clients into private judging, they often suggest one or two names of attorneys in the area. These attorneys are like used-car salesmen for the private judge industry. They pull out the name of a buddyâmaybe someone theyâve faced in court or sent business to indirectlyâwithout explaining that a private judge doesnât even have to be an attorney.
Then, armed with that name, these âsalesmenâ start applying pressure:
âItâll be cheaper, faster, and more confidential,â
playing on the fears of vulnerable clients who are already emotionally and financially drained by the breakdown of their family and future.
There are no phone books, Yelp reviews, or even Google and Facebook ads with real client testimonials saying, âGee, this private judge was great!â The only recommendation comes from the attorney youâre paying to trust.
Courts are supposed to protect and inform the public by posting the names and cases of attorneys who move cases out of public courthouses into private judging, as required by California Rules of Court 2.834. But in more than 58 counties, we found only two that even somewhat comply.
In the malpractice/fraud lawsuit weâre coveringâcurrently in jury trialâMark Erickson told his client to use private judge Michael P. Smith. Smith even called the police on us for requesting public records he was required to make available.
When Ericksonâs client went to the law library for information on Smith and private judging, there was nothing. When the client went to court to find Smithâs other cases, there was no information because attorneys werenât posting the lists. Clients couldnât investigate whether the attorneys and private judges they hired were actually âgood,â or even cheaper, faster, or more private than a public divorce.
Not only did Erickson refer his elderly client to Michael Smith, but later, when the clientâs ex-wife filed another action, Travis Whitfield also referred the case to Smith. This is an example of attorneys âsharing the wealth.â
As a result, Ericksonâs client has spent nine years in court and is still not divorced. He also now has a lawsuit against Erickson.
Meanwhile, Travis Whitfield used an attorney as a private judge in his own divorce and got it pushed quickly out of public view. But the paperwork and postings in his case appeared to be on the âprivate judge specialââmeaning they werenât legally handled as required by proper procedure.
Divorce cases in California are public. Hiring a private judgeâwho is essentially just a divorce attorney playing judge for extra payâdoesnât change the law. It does, however, illustrate what âinsider tradingâ looks like in the legal system.
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Birds don't do it. Bees don't do it, but attorneys and powerful politicans do it more than you know.
This week we are covering a malpractice- fraud jury trial related to a private judge and a divorce attorney.
This is video of that attorney and his chipper bodyguard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5BXc...
The malpractice lawsuit has given us the opportunity to report on the good, bad and the really ugly when it comes to attorneys playing judges for pay.
These are the divorce files from Gavin Newsom's first divorce case that was filed before he was elected as California Governor.
Gavin Newsom and KImberly Guilfoyle Newsom's divorce was reported on in major news headlines after Gavin was caught cheating on his wife with his campagin manager's wife. The affair and divorce were widely reported on so when we went to the San Francisco court we should have been able to find the file - but the court had it hidden in the database.
Private judging was once widely used by California's wealthy and powerful. Now it is a machine gobbling up even middle class families.
Private judging is a legal scheme in California that allows parties in a custody dispute, divorce or probate case to hire and pay their judge, avoiding public court proceedings. Clients are often told by their divorce lawyers that using an attorney paid as a private judge will be cheaper, faster and more private than public court. Which may be true for the rich and powerful, but for clients such as the one who brought the malpractice - fraud lawsuit, private judging saw him lose a $1.5 million separate property claim with countless losses for attorneys fees and court costs as he spent nine years trying to undo the harm the private judge had done in his divorce.
The worst cases we have reported on involve a core group of attorneys who secret their private judge cases, don't follow open proceeding laws and lie to clients to such them into the private judge scheme that has proven highly profitable for divorce attorneys.
Gavin Newsom's divorce case and public humilation faded into the private judge files in San Francisco. It was done quickly and Mr. Newsom and his then wife, Kimberly Guilfoyle, moved on. But for others, private judging does not work that way and for the next week we will report on how it really works.
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Remember that administrative hearing brought on by Code Enforcement in the Town of Los Gatos and the exhibits I asked to see at that hearing ? Here is what happened and here is the reply from the town attorney, Gabrielle Whalen
1. I attended the admintrative hearing on Monday at 2pm at the town's civic center.
2. Attorney Lance Bayer was at the hearing representing the town and putting on evidence and when I came in and began recording, he stopped the hearing and noted my presence and recording to the adminstrative judge, Jeff Blum. Mr. Blum had no problem with the hearing being recorded.
3. Attorney Brabara Choy was a contract attorney who was in the hearing feverishly jotting down notes.
4. The homeowner whose political signs were the subject of the adminstrative hearing was representing herself.
5. Mr. Blum, a former family law attorney who now works as a mediator and private judge, did an excellent job of mediating the hearing, and gave the homeowner more than 30 days to comply with the town rules.
6. At the conclusion of the hearing, I asked to photograph the exhibits. Mr. Blum was going to allow it until Ms. Choy stuck her busybody nose in and said she would instead help me get copies from the town clerk.
7. Moments later when I arrived at the town clerk, I was told that the release , or access to the records had to be approved by the town attorney , who was not available. I waitied for nearly two hours for the town attorney or the contract attorneys to approve the access. It never came.
So what do we do when government attorneys and towns don't follow the law?
A. I made this short video. www.youtube.com/shorts/PSOfe0...
B. I made public comment at the town meeting the following night
C. I did a live stream following the meeting to explain the problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iavOS...
D. I filed a complaint to the town.
This is the attorney's "dog at my homework excuse" from the town attorney.
These are the excuses and informal policies and proceedures thatr waste taxpayer money and deny the public the right to know the business of their local government. And they will continue to do so until social media or lawsuits hold them accountable as legalcy media keeps promoting these public officials in return for advertising and legal notice business.
Los Gatos is one town in Silicon Valley with a rich history of corruption.
In the early 2000's Los Gatos police officers were caught rigging traffic tickets with Judge William Danser whose wife , Judge Catherine Gallagher "retired" into private judges, arbtiration and mediation at San Jose JAMS.
Los Gatos Chief of Police and City Attorney, Robert Schultz, were known to be active memebers of the underground Bench- Bar- Media - Police Committee (BBMP). Which was a major source of local corruption in policing, the courts, the media and local elections when it was co- chaired by Judges James Towery, Carol Overton and Lori Pegg. The group shut down after our extensive reporting from 2022- 2024.
Here is a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gD42...
Here is link to our reporting in the Davis Vanguard:
Video of Ms. Whalen's problematic history with public records in the town of Los Gatos.
We did a records request related to this adminstrative hearing, the Los Gatos Party Mom case and others where corruption and politics are at work. Most shocking was an email record of family court judge James Towery asking to do ride- alongs with Los Gatos police as he presided over the lucrative divorce and domestic violence cases in Los Gatos where many of those police officers were witnesses determining when cases would be prosecuted criminally or remain in the secrecy of family court.
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We went live from the private judge courthouse at ADR Services today at lunch, but when I went into the building, we had some buffering in the last part of the livestream.
The purpose of our current reporting is to show folks how we do our work audting the courts and the legal profession in one community. The reporting shoud show how it works everywhere.
We are presently covering the malpractice fraud case that is pending before a jury. The case is related to private juding, but the judge assigned to the case has made orders that the jury can't hear about the good , bad or ugly of private judging.
The first private judge case we covered in Orange County had private judge David Weinberg with Keith Dolnick representing the mother who lost custody of her daughter once Randy Rand and his reunification camp scam got into the case. Rand later lost his therpist license, but the camps he owned an interest in keep operating.
This is an invoice for that same camp in 2020 and is from the custody battle of former MBL player David Segui who now has a federal lawsuit and a claim in Arizona seeking $30 million for the harm family courts and these reunifcation camps caused him and his boys. The lawsuit is filed as a federal RICO , we will get the complaint and report on that case as it works its way through the federal court, as we also continue to report on the lawsuits brought against divorce attorneys, minors counsel and hack reunifcaiton therapist businesses that are just taking money from vulnerable families who find no justice in the modern family courts.
Imagine a break up resulting in all this money being paid to attorneys, private judges, therapists and shady reunification businesses and the vulnerable people in the center of it never had any idea what was happening, until it was too late.
Tonight we recap what the jury heard in the private judge related lawsuit filed against Mark Erickson and the law firm he owns with his son - Matt Erickson.
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It is happening. The family court related lawsuits that their parents could never bring. We covered Major League Baseball player David Seguiâs case since 2020. It sadly is not unlike most we see here in Californiaâs Silicon Valley. Only his case took place in Arizona where the state legislature is holding hearings on the impact of family court.
The core issue is that allegations of abuse resulted in no criminal charges against the childrenâs mother, but resulted in the father losing full custody then getting out through these bogus reunification camps that are part of the troubled teen industry. It is big business with no regulation or oversight.
Today in the lunchtime live- will be covering the malpractice - fraud trial against a divorce attorney who put his client into private judging and only told him that he thought he would be good because they played baseball together.
We are also going to talk about the Brooks case that involves a cop, some really dirty lawyers fighting over disqualification, a former stateâs Attorney General , three private judges , Heather Allan as minors counsel and one reunification camp.
From what we read in the court file and saw in the courtroom in just that one case shows a brewing California problem that too many divorce attorneys appear to be causing.
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This Thursday we resume coverage outside the malpractice - fraud trial against a divorce attorney related to private judging. Watch for live lunchtime coverage in a new location as we cover attorneys appointed as private judges and minors counsel.
This is a record we got from a 10.500 request made to Orange County Superior Court. Orange County is the birthplace of private judging as it is the place where JAMS was formed with Jack Trotter.
Keith Dolnick is a divorce attorney in Orange County. His brother is a public court judge. Keith Dolnick was the attorney who brought a disqualification against private judge Nancy Perkovich in Napa County. That disqualification went on appeal in San Francisco and another appeal followed a few years later where we caught Mr. Private Judge - Garrett Dailey -hitting my camera after getting caught talking to Keith Dolnick about how corrupt private judging was in Orange County: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc7_A...
Keith Dolnick is also appointed to represent children in family court as minors counsel. This is his application. Tomorrow we discuss what it takes for an attorney to be a private judge and what an attorney appointed to represent children can and cannot do.
In California, an attorney who takes 8 hours of classes in a year, and proves they have malpractice insurance can be a minors counsel paid for by either parents, or taxpayers.
Also in California, an attorney with nothing more than a bar card can be a private judge. Also known as a rent- a judge.
This Thurday's live at lunch we talk about what Keith Dolnick did to his clients with private judges and why he hasn't been sued for fraud and malpractice. We also will talk about why there is still hope from the child clients he represented and what he is likely doing to try to stop them.
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Reporters are not attorneys or therapists. We don't get paid for the hours we listen to how the modern family courts stripped a parent of custody or saw home equity wiped out to pay attorneys and court costs in a divorce or custody case that dragged on for years. But we have to listen to that noise to be able to report on the root problem.
When attorneys and journalists are incompetent, or unethical, the results are similar but journalists can't be sucessfully sued for malpractice, only defamation or for committing crimes.
In 2023, I was assigned Robert J. Hansen to assist with our Tainted Trials, Tarnished Headlines, Stolen Justice investigative reporting series for the Davis Vanguard. That reporting was based on records we obtained from the courts pursuant to a request made under California Rules of Court 10.500.
Until then, it was unlikely Hansen had ever made such requests. Like most reporters, he had primarily obtained public records from state and local agencies using laws created under Californiaâs Public Records Act.
We ended our association with Hansen after he admitted to illegally recording Jane Doe1 without permission or notice. Hansen had been granted access to Doe1, a longtime source in Los Gatos. His conduct was more than unethical so we no longer wanted the association.
At the time of Jane Doe1's death in early 2025, she had a malpractice case pending against Hoge Fenton, after missing the statute of limitations to sue Brad Baugh and Mark Erickson directly. She was especially upset by how she had been treated by those two attorneysâso much so that she was closely following Ericksonâs malpractice and fraud case involving attorney David Patton and a private judge, which we have been actively reporting on.
Links to that reporting are here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CZRx...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw7EH...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5BXc...
Last night, we livestreamed about access to public records in Los Gatos concerning a code enforcement hearing involving a local resident once known as the âLavender Lady.â She has long fought to keep her political signs in her yard, to the dismay of her neighbors. That video discusses access to the exhibits from that hearing and can be found at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iavOS...
This morning, we livestreamed a demonstration of how we request records that we expect to be produced within 10 days from the Fremont Police Department. We reminded viewers that they do not need to provide their real names and may use anonymous emails to reduce the risk of retaliation.
Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy7hy...
This afternoon, we received 10.500 records related to our family court and WomenSV nonprofit investigations.
Nonprofit founder Ruth Patrick claimed to be training officers employed by the Orange County Probation Department, which got our attention, but this is not how we would do records requests related to probation officers.
Any investigative reporter with even minimal training in covering police and courts should know that probation department records requests must be made to the countyânot the courts.
When reporters donât know the proper agency to request records from, they donât get the records. That is similar to attorneys failing to obtain records from discovery or subpoenas.
So for those interested in getting records related to police, the courts or local government, stay tuned as we post our examples of what works, and what does not.
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âMy attorney threw me under the bus.â
Itâs a phrase we hear all too often from working and middle-class peopleâwhether they hired a lawyer after an arrest, in a domestic violence case, during a divorce, in a custody dispute, or even in probate.
But what does it really mean?
Yes, some clients can be difficult. And yes, family court is an emotionally and financially brutal time. But it isnât rocket science. Too often we see divorce attorneysârather than being honest about the realities of the modern legal systemârunning up fees with endless emails, continuances, and theatrics, instead of doing the actual legal work they were hired and paid to do.
Last year we reported on a class action lawsuit brought by attorney T. Matthew Phillips, involving parents who lost custody of their children. His clients said he misled them into believing litigation was funded when it wasnât. They then watched in horror as Phillips bungled oral arguments and the case was dismissed. These werenât parents separated at an immigration borderâthese were families torn apart by our own family courts.
More recently, Phillips sought free publicity for another lawsuit, while remaining silent on his own messy divorce in Nevadaâwhere he was declared a vexatious litigant. When we declined to cover his case (after years of him never supporting or contributing to our reporting), he lashed out with personal attacks and online trollingâbehavior shockingly unprofessional for an attorney. In that moment, I finally understood exactly what his clients meant when they said he had âthrown them under the bus.â
To be clear: when we do find an attorney who appears to be doing their job, our reporting is not an endorsement or a referral. Our mission is to educate the publicâespecially vulnerable parentsâon what to watch for in a lawyer, when to file bar complaints, and how attorneys often speak differently when they think they are protected by privilege or power.
Mr. Phillips was never my attorney. But if he had been, I would not hesitate to file a bar complaintâand I would publish it openly so others could be warned, and so the public could see whether the bar is functioning as it should, or once again protecting incompetent, abusive lawyers who exploit families while chasing free publicity.
This week we continue reporting on the malpractice and fraud lawsuit involving private judging and divorce attorney Mark Ericksonâa case where a jury of everyday Santa Clara County residents will decide whether Erickson, too, âthrew his client under the bus,â costing millions in losses.
In case you missed it, here is the last video we did on that case:
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Want to know what it looks like when we ask attorneys about private judging ? See tonight's video, and what attoreys, legal publications and public court judges don't want you to hear when it comes to the good, the bad and the ugly of using an attorney as a private judge.
For over a decade, weâve been reporting on divorce and child custody casesâand how they are handled in family courtsâexpanding into criminal and probate cases along the way. But of all the cases weâve covered, this one touches everyone.
Attorney Mark Erickson, now being sued by his former elderly client, once represented a 49ers football player in a child custody and civil domestic violence case. For that client, Erickson seemed to secure favors he never extended to the countless women and elderly men who walked into his office seeking help.
These videos tie into our reporting on private judges, a hidden network of attorneys who exploit legal loopholes and vulnerable clients for profit.
This trial gives us a rare opportunity to cover rules of evidence, motions in limine, and the inner workings of legal proceedings that often lead to unfairnessâeven in front of a jury.
From now until early September, a jury will hear what âmodern family courtsâ really look like in practice, and at what cost. Theyâll hear how an overpaid family law attorney can fail to provide a zealous defense, instead prioritizing profits for colleagues and friends.
On the eve of trial, Ericksonâs attorneys, Bruce MacLeod and Brad Bening, failed to pursue a meaningful settlement. Their offer: just $45,000 to a client who had already lost millions in a private-judge process he was duped into. As a result, taxpayers will now subsidize the cost of this trial.
Worse, MacLeod and Bening even cited our reporting in the Daily Journal and David Vanguard to block jurors from hearing the full storyâthe good, the bad, and the ugly of private judging. It mirrors Ericksonâs earlier attempts to silence coverage, both inside the courtroom and on public streets.
We will keep pressing forwardâshowing the public what really happens when an attorney persuades a client to use another lawyer as a private judge. This is the side of family court that too often goes unseen in mainstream legal reporting.
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Susan Bassi is an investigative reporter and publisher. Bassi is a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors (ire.org), the Society of Professional Journalists (spj.org), and the Online News Association (journalists.org). Her former and current publications include My Out and About, a regional magazine, and Ex Parte Press, a web-based, open source publication covering the California Judicial Branch of government.
Bassi is considered the Jason Leopold - a prominent, award winning FOIA journalist at Buzzfeed News - of local and state records research. Bassi vigorously utilizes the California Public Records Act for government records, and California Rules of Court rule 10.500 for judicial administrative records.
Bassi also practices advocacy journalism and immersion journalism, often acting as an advocate for victims rights:
Advocacy Journalism: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advocacy_journalism
Immersion Journalism: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersion_journalism