Leon Rene Yankwich


Leon Rene Yankwich was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

Education and career

Born in Iași, Romania, Yankwich received a Bachelor of Laws from Willamette University College of Law in 1909. He was in private practice in Modesto, California from 1909 to 1916, and in Los Angeles, California from 1916 to 1927, interrupted by service as a Sergeant in the United States Army during World War I in 1918. He received a Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles in 1926. He was a Judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County from 1927 to 1935.

Federal judicial service

Yankwich was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 21, 1935, to the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, to a new seat authorized by 49 Stat. 508. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 23, 1935, and received his commission on August 24, 1935. He served as Chief Judge from 1951 to 1959. He assumed senior status on April 28, 1964. Yankwich was reassigned by operation of law to the United States District Court for the Central District of California on September 18, 1966, pursuant to 80 Stat. 75. His service terminated on February 9, 1975, due to his death.

Notable case

Yankwich tried Cain v. Universal Pictures, a case in which the writer James M. Cain sued Universal Pictures, the scriptwriter and the director for copyright infringement in connection with the film When Tomorrow Comes. Cain claimed a scene in his book where two protagonists take refuge from a storm in a church had been copied in a scene depicting the same situation in the movie. Yankwich ruled that there was no resemblance between the scenes in the book and the film other than incidental scènes à faire, or natural similarities due to the situation, establishing an important legal precedent.