California Files

People › Superior Courts

Layne Melzer

Judge, Orange County Superior Court

Form 700 statements

StatementFiledWhat it lists
2025 Annual
Judge, Orange County Superior Court
2026-02-2129 investments, 1 businesses & trusts, 6 gifts, 2 travel
2024 Annual
Judge, Orange County Superior Court
2025-02-2334 investments, 2 businesses & trusts, 9 gifts, 2 travel

Findings

Worth a look Gifts · the statement

Lists $600 in gifts from Association of Business Trial Lawyers in 2025; the limit from one source is $560

The statement lists 4 gift(s) from Association of Business Trial Lawyers dated in 2025, totalling $600. Judges may not accept gifts from one source worth more than $560 a year (Code of Civil Procedure 170.9).

What to check
  • Whether part of it was returned, or paid back, in time to not count (the filer's comments often say).
  • Whether the gifts are from one source (a couple is two sources) or are of a kind the limit doesn't cover (family, wedding gifts and the like).
  • The FPPC's gift fact sheet and Regulation 18940.2 for the exceptions.

Gifts: Association of Business Trial Lawyers $150 2025-01-22 p.9Gifts: Association of Business Trial Lawyers $150 2025-05-21 p.9Gifts: Association of Business Trial Lawyers $150 2025-09-03 p.9Gifts: Association of Business Trial Lawyers $150 2025-11-12 p.9

Rule: Gifts from one source over the yearly limit
“The gift limit increased to $630 for calendar years 2025 and 2026. The gift limit in calendar year 2024 was $590.”Form 700 (2025/2026), What's New ✓ quoted from the saved copy · how this rule works