Barton C. Gaut, Associate Justice

Name: Barton C. Gaut

Position: Justice, Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Two

Personal

  • Married 42 years; four children; six grandchildren
  • Resident of Riverside County since October 1962
  • Served with U.S. Army, First Lieutenant, Infantry Branch, detailed to Counterintelligence Corp. (1957-1959)

Education

  • B.A., UCLA, 1957
  • Law Degree, University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall), 1962
  • National Judicial College, Reno, Nevada, 1997
  • Judicial Education Courses at California Center for Judicial Education and Research

Date of Admission to Bar

  • 1963

Professional Legal Background

  • Attorney with Riverside law firm of Best, Best & Krieger from October 1962 to November 1995. Specialized in complex civil litigation, general business, eminent domain, employment law, defamation defense, real property, title insurance defense, anti-trust, environmental litigation, and appellate litigation.

Judicial Experience

  • Appointed to Riverside Superior Court by Governor Pete Wilson, November 1995. Assigned to the civil law and motion and trial calendar. Appointed civil supervising judge in 1996.
  • Appointed to Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Two, by Governor Pete Wilson, May 1997.
  • Appointed member of Judicial Council state-wide task force to revise civil jury instructions, 1997

Professional Activities, Associations and Affliations

  • President, Riverside County Barristers and Riverside County Bar Association
  • Chairman, Riverside County Judicial Selection Committee
  • Board of Directors, Riverside Legal Aid Society
  • Panel member, seminar of Association of Business Trial Lawyers, on subject of jury voir dire
  • Author, chapter on jury instructions pertaining to fraud and deceit, California Forms of Jury Instructions (Matthew Bender)
  • Member, State Bar Committee on Court Congestion
  • Master, Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court
  • Lawyer representative to federal Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference
  • Member, California Judges' Association

Educational and Professional Honors and Awards

  • Phi Beta Kappa, awarded upon graduation from UCLA
  • Order of the Coif, awarded upon graduation from University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall)
  • Recipient of the Leo A. Deegan Award for excellence in litigation
  • Listed in Best Lawyers in America for business litigation