By: Pat Alston
Staff Writer

Wet hair? Sarmiento admits it's possible. He often catches early-morning waves before he heads to court. But the wet-suit rumor is a bit of a stretch. A photograph of the judge "getting barreled" - surfer-speak for riding the hollow space of the wave - hangs on one wall of his chambers. He lettered in football and track in high school and was a member of the fencing team in college. "Now, I surf a lot," he said.

His most recent assignment, at the Malibu Courthouse, gives him easy access to the ocean. It beats running, he said, to keep in shape. Sarmiento spent 20 years defending, prosecuting or judging people accused of crimes. In 2000, he switched to a civil assignment. The disputes he sees now are mostly over money. "No dead bodies," he said. It's a relief, the judge said. "I didn't realize how much pressure there is ... in sentencings," he said. "When I came to civil, it felt like a big weight had been taken off [my shoulders]."

He faced a learning curve, to be sure. But, he said, his new assignment was rejuvenating. "It was a whole different world," he said.

Today, Sarmiento, 52, presides over a range of civil trials, from business disputes to medical-malpractice claims. He also sees a lot of construction-defect cases and a smattering of toxic-mold complaints. The majority are long-cause matters, and often he manages back-to-back trials. He handles them all in an even-handed, thoughtful and decisive manner, according to trial attorneys on both ends of the counsel table. "He's a user-friendly court," said Howard A. Slavin, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith. Sarmiento understands the challenges faced by trial attorneys, such as scheduling problems with witnesses or the need for continuances, and generally accommodates them, Slavin said, "so long as good cause is shown."

The judge also is open to argument that does not repeat what's contained in the court papers, Slavin said. "He's engaging, willing to listen," said Murphy of Murphy, Rosen & Cohen. "You get a fair trial, solid rulings, and he doesn't interfere with the lawyers," said Steven D. Davis of Garrard & Davis in Santa Monica, "and that's all we can ask for."

Davis recently spent two weeks in trial in Sarmiento's courtroom on a medical-malpractice case. Opposing counsel in the case, Manhattan Beach attorney Robert C. Reback, said he has always found the judge to be fair-minded. "He listens to both sides," said Reback of Reback, McAndrews & Kjar. The lawyer said he also appreciates the judge's decisiveness. "He makes decisions - which I like," Reback said.

Attorneys are not thrilled with the cramped quarters of Sarmiento's courtroom, which was converted years ago from office space. There's not enough room for all the lawyers, they complain, let alone the high-tech video equipment often used in long-cause cases. "Sometimes, it's a little bit on the cozy side," Reback said diplomatically, "but he's mindful of that, too."

What the physical surroundings lack, Sarmiento makes up for in his demeanor, lawyers said. Richard D. Carroll, defense counsel in a dispute over expert-witness fees that landed in Sarmiento's courtroom two years ago, described the judge as very patient and a "very personable fellow." "If you're going to be in front of a judge [for any length of time]," Carroll said, "it better be with a personable judge who stands the test of time." Sarmiento does, Carroll said.

"He treats all attorneys in his courtroom with respect," Century City attorney Gerald L. Sauer said. The judge also is mindful of the jurors' time, several lawyers said. Counsel should let Sarmiento know well in advance if there are issues to be resolved outside the presence of the jury, so he can set aside time to do that without inconveniencing the panel. "If there's going to be downtime, particularly legal issues that have to be resolved, you have to let him know in advance," Reback said.

Attorneys describe Sarmiento as an intelligent judge who gives a great deal of thought to his rulings and is very knowledgeable about the Evidence Code. "He doesn't let lawyers get away with anything," Santa Monica attorney Lawrence Y. Iser said. "While he lets us try our cases, he'll call you on it if you're going too far," said Iser of Kinsella, Weitzman, Iser, Kump & Aldisert. "He does it in a nice way," the attorney quickly added, "but he's firm."

Sauer tried a breach-of-contract case in Sarmiento's courtroom last year that involved a real estate commission on the sale of a Malibu Colony home. "I was very impressed with how he understood the law with regard to the damages and how he worked with counsel to craft specific instructions to make sure the jury rendered a decision that would not, in the end, be reversible," said Sauer of Sauer & Wagner.

Slavin, who specializes in medical-malpractice defense, has tried three cases before Sarmiento. "I felt he was a quick learner," Slavin said. "Even though he might not have encountered a particular legal theory that was presented to him, he would spend the time necessary to read the documents, do his own research and render a decision in a very timely manner," Slavin said. Elk Grove attorney John E. Cassinat represented the plaintiff in the expert-witness fees case. "I was very impressed with his knowledge of the law and his ability to grasp the issues of the case," the Sacramento-area attorney said.

Murphy has tried a number of cases in Sarmiento's courtroom, including the dispute between the Los Angeles Clippers and ex-coach Bill Fitch. The lawyer also represented the plaintiffs in the last chapters in a 10-year saga that pitted Santa Monica litigation boutique Dickson, Carlson & Campillo against once-thriving Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison of San Francisco. Dickson Carlson v. Pole, SA039135 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Nov. 9, 1995). David L. Schrader of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, who represented defendant Debra Pole, said that Sarmiento had not dealt previously with this type of case, but that "he worked very hard to understand the issues and learn the law, to the extent he didn't know already. And he tried to make the right rulings. "I can't say I agreed with him on all of them, but ... he inherited a case with a lot of history, [and] there were some complicated issues." What stands out the most about Sarmiento, Murphy said, is his sense of justice.

Murphy pointed to the "moral compass" of highly regarded U.S. District Judge William J. Rea, who served on the state and federal bench for 37 years before his death in 2005. "I would put Judge Sarmiento into that same category," Murphy said. Sarmiento's father encouraged him to go into law. "He wanted me to do something with my life," the judge said.

Sarmiento was born at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, where his dad was stationed at the time, and grew up in the San Fernando Valley.

After he graduated from Chatsworth High School and California State University, Northridge, he attended UC Davis School of Law, where he met his future wife, now Deputy City Attorney Ellen Sarmiento. The couple has four children: triplets Jamie, Allison and Timothy, who will graduate from Malibu High School in June, and Ryan, a 9th grader. Sarmiento spent his first year after law school with the U.S. Department of Energy in Los Angeles. In 1981, he joined the Los Angeles public defender's office. A year later, he moved to the district attorney's office, where he stayed until Gov. George Deukmejian appointed him in 1988 to the Los Angeles County Municipal Court. Gov. Pete Wilson elevated him to the Superior Court five years later. "It's a great job," Sarmiento said. "You agonize sometimes over decisions you have to make, some close calls." Most satisfying to him are those times when he can help the parties, at their request, resolve their differences without going to trial. He starts, he said, "by trying to get some kind of a dialogue going." "Sometimes, people just don't communicate," he said. His task is to discover what's really at issue, he said. If you can get to the heart of the problem, he said, you usually can find a solution. "It's amazing how many times you can settle," he said.

Despite the glitz of Malibu, Sarmiento does not get a lot of high-profile cases, he said. The cases that attract the television news crews usually land in Judge Lawrence J. Mira's criminal courtroom down the hall, he said. But every once in awhile, a little excitement flows from Department W - like one day in November during the trial of two elderly business partners locked in battle. Suddenly, the defendant clutched at his chest. Sarmiento immediately called for a recess, and paramedic crews rushed to the courtroom.

A few minutes later, the bailiff came into the judge's chambers and said, "'You're not going to believe this, but the plaintiff had a heart attack,'" Sarmiento recalled. The next thing he knew, the courtroom was filled with IVs and stretchers. The litigants recovered, he said, but they never returned to the courtroom. The attorneys finished up the trial. When he's not cheering on his kids' various extracurricular pursuits, playing a round of golf with son Tim or catching a wave, Sarmiento plays classic rock, blues or jazz on his electric guitar with Room to Move, a local band.

Biographical Information
Career highlights: Elevated by Gov. Pete Wilson to Los Angeles County Superior Court, 1993; appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian to Los Angeles County Municipal Court, 1988; deputy district attorney, Los Angeles County, 1982-88; deputy public defender, Los Angeles County, 1981-82; assistant regional counsel, U.S. Department of Energy, Los Angeles, 1980-81 Law school: University of California, Davis, School of Law, 1980
Age: 52

Here are some of Judge Sarmiento's cases and the lawyers involved:
Hanson v. Reinisch, SC081252 - medical malpractice For the plaintiff: Steven D. Davis, Garrard & Davis, Santa Monica For the defendant: Robert C. Reback, Reback, McAndrews & Kjar, Manhattan Beach

Hilton & Hyland Real Estate v. Loggans, SC084111 - breach of contract For the plaintiff: Gerald L. Sauer, Sauer & Wagner, Century City For the defendant: Richard E. Posell, Brentwood

Marcus v. Bethco Builders, SC079801 - construction defect For the plaintiff: Michael F. Avila, Avila & Peros, Westchester For the defendant: Russell A. Franklin, Schaffer, Lax, McNaughton & Chen, Los Angeles, and T. Kelly Cox, Gray & Prouty, San Diego

Perillo v. Presley, SC063100 - breach of contract (dispute over expert-witness fees) For the plaintiff: John E. Cassinat, Elk Grove For the defendant: Richard D. Carroll, Carroll, Kelly, Trotter, Franzen & McKenna, Long Beach