About a hundred East Bay attorneys got a first glimpse last week at the list of Alameda County judges who will run special civil law departments and see cases through from beginning to end.
Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith � now one of the county’s two law and motion judges � is one of a dozen jurists tapped to run new “direct calendar” departments, which are set to open for litigation about three months from now. Her transition will leave Judge Frank Roesch as the lone judge dedicated to law and motion.
