On March 8, 2017, Kathryn Mickle Werdegar, associate justice of the California Supreme Court, announced that after 23 years on the bench she would retire in the summer and give someone else “that privilege and opportunity.”

Werdegar’s timing gave Gov. Jerry Brown almost six months to make his fourth appointment to the court before oral arguments would resume in the fall. Shortly after her announcement, Werdegar told The Recorder she was “confident that the governor does not need my guidance” picking a successor.

Kathryn M. Werdegar (2005). Credit: Jason Doiy/ The Recorder