Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointment of 25 California superior court judges, which include: Three in Alameda County; one in Contra Costa County; one in El Dorado County; one in Humboldt County; seven in Los Angeles County; three in Orange County; one in Plumas County; two in Riverside County; three in San Diego County; one in Santa Cruz County; one in Shasta County; and one in Sonoma County.
Alameda County Superior Court
Jason Clay, 48, of San Ramon, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Alameda County Superior Court. Clay has served as a commissioner at the Alameda County Superior Court since 2013. He was a partner at Clay and Bowen LLP from 2008 to 2013 and a sole practitioner from 2006 to 2008. He served as a deputy public defender at the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office from 1995 to 2006. Clay earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Colorado Law School and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Willie Lott, Jr. Clay is registered without party preference.
James R. Reilly, 63, of Piedmont, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Alameda County Superior Court. Reilly has been a partner at Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani since 1995. He was an associate at Pillsbury Madison and Sutro from 1986 to 1990 and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy from 1976 to 1983. Reilly earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Robert B. Freedman. Reilly is registered without party preference.
Amy L. Sekany, 47, of Livermore, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Alameda County Superior Court. Sekany has served as the Alameda County Superior Court’s family law facilitator and managing attorney of Self-Help Services since 2016. She was the managing attorney for the Eviction Defense Center in Oakland from 2014 to 2016 and from 2005 to 2009. Sekany was an associate at Wylie, McBride, Platten and Renner from 2009 to 2014, where she was a law clerk from 1999 to 2001. She was a crisis counselor and case manager at the Tri Valley Haven domestic violence shelter from 2001 to 2004. Sekany served as an assistant state’s attorney at the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office in Illinois from 1998 to 1999 and as an assistant public defender at the Lake County Public Defender’s Office from 1997 to 1998. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Valparaiso University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Millikin University. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Dan Grimmer. Sekany is a Democrat.
Contra Costa County Superior Court
Leonard E. Marquez, 44, of Martinez, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Contra Costa County Superior Court. Marquez has been a partner at Wendel, Rosen, Black and Dean LLP since 2010, where he was an associate from 1999 to 2010. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge George V. Spanos. Marquez is registered without party preference.
El Dorado County Superior Court
Mark A. Ralphs, 57, of Diamond Springs, has been appointed to a judgeship in the El Dorado County Superior Court. Ralphs has been an assistant public defender at the El Dorado County Public Defender’s Office since 2007, where he has served as a deputy public defender since 1997. He was a sole practitioner from 1990 to 1997. Ralphs earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Northern California School of Law. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Nelson K. Brooks. Ralphs is a Republican.
Humboldt County Superior Court
Kaleb V. Cockrum, 43, of Eureka, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Humboldt County Superior Court. Cockrum has served as interim public defender at the Humboldt County Public Defender’s Office since 2018. He served as supervising attorney in the Humboldt County Conflict Counsel’s Office in 2017, where he was a deputy public defender from 2004 to 2017. Cockrum earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from Andrews University. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Marilyn B. Miles. Cockrum is registered without party preference.
Los Angeles County Superior Court
Michael R. Amerian, 43, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Amerian served as a deputy city attorney in the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office since 2003. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Dickran M. Tevrizian, Jr. at the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, from 1999 to 2000. Amerian earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge R. Carlton Seaver. Amerian is a Republican.
Armenui A. Ashvanian, 46, of Glendale, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Ashvanian has served as a deputy district attorney at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office since 2005 and has been an adjunct assistant professor at the Glendale University College of Law since 2014. She was an associate at Yeghiayan and Associates from 2004 to 2005. Ashvanian earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Glendale University College of Law and an Associate of Science degree from Glendale Community College. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge George Genesta. Ashvanian is a Democrat.
Ashfaq (Ron) G. Chowdhury, 43, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Chowdhury has served as a deputy federal public defender at the Office of the Federal Public Defender, Central District of California since 2010. He was an associate at Cole Pedroza LLP from 2008 to 2010, at Munger, Tolles and Olson LLP from 2005 to 2008 and at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP from 2003 to 2005. Chowdhury served as a law clerk for the Honorable Frederic Block at the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York from 2001 to 2003 and for the Honorable Richard N. Palmer at the Connecticut Supreme Court from 2000 to 2001. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Lloyd M. Nash. Chowdhury is a Democrat.
Danette J. Gómez, 41, of Huntington Beach, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Gómez has served as a deputy district attorney at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office since 2006. She was an attorney at the Children’s Law Center of California in 2006. Gómez earned a Juris Doctor degree from Whittier Law School and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of La Verne. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Teresa Sanchez-Gordon. Gómez is a Democrat.
Kimberley Baker Guillemet, 39, of View Park-Windsor Hills, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Guillemet has served as director of the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Reentry since 2015. She served as a deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2008 to 2015 and was an attorney at Disability Rights California from 2005 to 2008. Guillemet earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge David L. Minning. Guillemet is a Democrat.
Joseph M. Lipner, 53, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Lipner has been a partner at Irell and Manella LLP since 1996, where he was an associate from 1991 to 1996. He was a litigation associate to Professor Alan Dershowitz at Harvard Law School from 1989 to 1991. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Ruth I. Abrams at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1988 to 1989. Lipner earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yeshiva College. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Carol B. Goodson. Lipner is a Democrat.
Audra M. Mori, 50, of Santa Monica, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Mori has been managing partner of the Los Angeles Office of Perkins Coie LLP since 2017, where she has been a partner since 2005. She was a partner at Piper Rudnick LLP from 2002 to 2004. Mori was a partner at Preston, Gates and Ellis LLP in 2002, where she was an associate from 1998 to 2001. She was an associate at Andrews Kurth LLP from 1996 to 1998 and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Richard W. Goldberg at the U.S. Court of International Trade from 1994 to 1996. She was an associate at Brobeck, Phleger and Harrison from 1992 to 1994. Mori earned a Juris Doctor degree from Cornell Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. She fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on June 26, 2017. Mori is registered without party preference.
Orange County Superior Court
Cynthia M. Herrera, 46, of Santa Ana, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Orange County Superior Court. Herrera has served as a senior deputy district attorney in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office since 2011, where she has been a deputy district attorney since 1997. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Irvine. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge W. Michael Hayes. Herrera is a Democrat.
Kimberly A. Knill, 54, of Aliso Viejo, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Orange County Superior Court. Knill has served as a senior appellate attorney at the Fourth District Court of Appeal since 2016. She was a research attorney at the Orange County Superior Court from 2014 to 2016, a writing instructor at Whittier Law School from 1997 to 1998 and a sole practitioner from 1994 to 2014. Knill was an associate at McDermott, Will and Emery from 1988 to 1994. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Pepperdine University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arizona. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Mary F. Schulte. Knill is a Republican.
Thomas S. McConville, 53, of Irvine, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Orange County Superior Court. McConville has been a partner at Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe since 2009, where he was of counsel from 2007 to 2009. He served as deputy chief of the Santa Ana Office in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California from 2004 to 2006, where he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 2000 to 2006. McConville served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Ohio from 1996 to 2000 and was an associate at McKenna and Cuneo from 1991 to 1996. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Thomas J. Borris. McConville is a Democrat.
Plumas County Superior Court
Douglas M. Prouty, 64, of Portola, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Plumas County Superior Court. Prouty has been a sole practitioner since 1990, primarily working as a contract public defender since 2001. He was owner and mediator at Timberline Mediation Services from 1994 to 2001. Prouty was an associate at the Law Offices of Robert F. French from 1987 to 1990 and at the Law Offices of James Paul Green from 1982 to 1987. He was a part-time attorney at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office from 1982 to 1983. Prouty is a member of the Plumas County Community Corrections Partnership Executive Committee. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the San Francisco Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dickinson College. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Ira R. Kaufman. Prouty is a Democrat.
Riverside County Superior Court
Russel L. Moore, 41, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Riverside County Superior Court. Moore has served as a deputy district attorney at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office since 2005. He was an associate at Boccardo Law Firm LLP in 2005 and served as a deputy district attorney at the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office from 2001 to 2004. Moore earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on September 18, 2017. Moore is registered without party preference.
Gregory J. Olson, 53, of La Quinta, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Riverside County Superior Court. Olson has served as a commissioner at the Riverside County Superior Court since 2005. He served as a deputy public defender at the Riverside County Public Defender’s Office from 1990 to 2005. Olson earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Seattle University. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Richard A. Erwood. Olson is registered without party preference.
San Diego County Superior Court
Truc T. Do, 46, of San Diego, has been appointed to a judgeship in the San Diego County Superior Court. Do has been a partner at Jones Day since 2014. She was a partner at Munger, Tolles and Olson from 2009 to 2014 and served as a deputy district attorney at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office from 1999 to 2009. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Joel M. Pressman. Do is a Democrat.
Marcella O. McLaughlin, 47, of San Diego, has been appointed to a judgeship in the San Diego County Superior Court. McLaughlin has served as a deputy district attorney at the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office since 2005. She was a deputy city attorney in the San Diego City Attorney’s Office from 1999 to 2004. McLaughlin earned a Juris Doctor degree from the California Western School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Edward P. Allard III. McLaughlin is a Democrat.
Saba Sheibani, 39, of San Diego, has been appointed to a judgeship in the San Diego County Superior Court. Sheibani has been an assistant supervising attorney at the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office since 2016, where she has served as a deputy public defender since 2004. She was a law clerk at the San Mateo Private Defender Program in 2004. Sheibani earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge William S. Dato to the Court of Appeal. Sheibani is a Democrat.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court
Timothy J. Schmal, 61, of Santa Cruz, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Santa Cruz County Superior Court. Schmal has been a sole practitioner since 2014. He was a partner at Burton, Schmal and DiBenedetto LLP from 2008 to 2014 and at Burton, Volkmann and Schmal LLP from 1997 to 2008. Schmal was a partner at Gassett, Perry and Frank from 1988 to 1997, where he was an associate from 1983 to 1988. Schmal was an instructor at the Santa Clara University School of Law from 1982 to 1983. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Fresno. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Heather D. Morse. Schmal is a Democrat.
Shasta County Superior Court
Jody M. Burgess, 44, of Redding, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Shasta County Superior Court. Burgess has been a partner at Burgess and Bogener since 2015. He was a partner at Maire and Burgess from 2007 to 2015, where he was an associate from 2002 to 2007. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University, Sacramento. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Gregory S. Gaul. Burgess is a Republican.
Sonoma County Superior Court
Christopher M. Honigsberg, 38, of Petaluma, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Sonoma County Superior Court. Honigsberg has served as a deputy district attorney at the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office since 2009. He served as a deputy district attorney at the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office from 2006 to 2009. Honigsberg earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Elliot L. Daum. Honigsberg is a Democrat.
The compensation for each of these positions is $200,042.
