Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointment of Layne H. Melzer and Gary M. Pohlson to judgeships in the Orange County Superior Court.

Melzer, 54, of Trabuco Canyon, has been a partner at Rutan and Tucker LLP since 1994, where he has been an attorney since 1987. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Northridge. Melzer fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Linda L. Miller. Melzer is a Republican.

Pohlson, 66, of Laguna Niguel, has been owner at the Law Offices of Gary M. Pohlson since 2014. He was a partner at Pohlson and Moorhead LLP from 2000 to 2014, at Pohlson, Moorhead and Goethals from 1987 to 2000, and at Pohlson, Horan and Moorhead from 1980 to 1985. Pohlson served as a deputy district attorney at the Orange County District Attorney’s Office from 1976 to 1980, was an attorney at Keesal, Young and Logan in 1976 and served as a deputy city attorney at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office from 1975 to 1976. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Santa Clara University. Pohlson fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Caryl A. Lee. He is a Democrat.

The compensation for each of these positions is $189,041.