[3] On September 2, 1879, Sullivan was elected as a judge of the San Francisco County Superior Court under the new constitution, and was re-elected in 1884.

He served on the trial bench until August 1, 1889, and then re-entered private practice with this brother, Matt I.

In November 1886, Sullivan ran for the position of Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court under the Democratic Party, but lost to Van R.

[16] In 1920 to 1921, Sullivan led the effort to reform the Police Courts in San Francisco and remove unfit judges.

[17][18] On November 22, 1926, Governor Friend Richardson appointed Sullivan to a vacancy left by the July 1926 death of William P.

After stepping down from the court, Sullivan returned to private practice with this brother, along with former Governor Hiram W. Johnson, Theodore Roche, and Edward I. Barry.

[6] A grandson, Robert P. Sullivan, was a graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (class of 1936), and a San Francisco County Superior Court judge from 1961 to 1971.