Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointment of Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha, Robert S. Harrison, Sarah J. Heidel, Gus T. May, Rubiya Nur, Nancy A. Ramirez, Lynn H. Scaduto, Neetu S. Badhan-Smith and J. Christopher Smith to judgeships in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Aenlle-Rocha, 55, of La Cañada Flintridge, has been a partner at White and Case LLP since 2005. He was a partner at McDermott, Will and Emery LLP from 2000 to 2005 and an associate at Stephan, Oringher, Richman and Theodora PC from 1999 to 2000. Aenlle-Rocha served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California from 1994 to 1999 and at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida from 1990 to 1994. He served as a deputy district attorney in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office from 1987 to 1990. Aenlle-Rocha earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Jane L. Johnson. Aenlle-Rocha is a Republican. 

Harrison, 59, of Los Angeles, has served as a commissioner at the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 2006. He was a partner at Harrison and Harrison and a part-time hearing officer for the Los Angeles Police Department Board of Rights from 1994 to 2006 and an associate at Saltzburg, Ray and Bergman LLP from 1984 to 1994. Harrison earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Jeffrey K. Winikow. Harrison is a Democrat.

Heidel, 42, of South Pasadena, has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California since 2005. She was an associate at Sidley Austin from 2001 to 2005 and served as a law clerk for the Honorable Ferdinand F. Fernandez at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2000 to 2001. Heidel earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Emilie H. Elias. Heidel is a Democrat.

May, 52, of Los Angeles, has been vice president of legal services at Bet Tzedek Legal Services since 2016, where he was directing attorney from 2001 to 2016.He was legal director at Public Interest Investigations from 1999 to 2001 and served as a law clerk for the Honorable A. Howard Matz at the U.S. District Court, Central District of California from 1998 to 1999. May was litigation director at the Center for Law in the Public Interest from 1996 to 1998, an associate at Hall and Associates from 1993 to 1996 and a law clerk for the Honorable Lawrence K. Karlton at the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California from 1991 to 1993. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Northeastern University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. May fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Robert E. Willett. He is a Democrat.

Nur, 52, of Diamond Bar, has been a sole practitioner since 2008. She served as a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office from 2001 to 2008. Nur earned a Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern Law School and a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University, San Bernardino. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Peter P. Espinoza. Nur is a Democrat.

Ramirez, 52, of Pasadena, has served as a commissioner at the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 2014. She was western regional counsel at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund from 2007 to 2014, where she was a staff attorney from 1991 to 1997. Ramirez was executive director at the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice from 2005 to 2007, where she was managing attorney from 2001 to 2005. She was assistant director for outreach for the California Complete Count Campaign from 1999 to 2000 and served as Washington, D.C. director in the Office of U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez in 1999, where she was district director from 1997 to 1998. Ramirez was an associate at Whitman and Ransom from 1990 to 1991. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Ramirez fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Tia G. Fisher. She is a Democrat.

Scaduto, 46, of Los Angeles, has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California since 2011. She was an associate at Munger, Tolles and Olson LLP from 2000 to 2011. Scaduto earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. She fills the vacancy created by the death of Judge Daniel L. Brenner. Scaduto is a Democrat.

Badhan-Smith, 40, of Los Angeles, has served as a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office since 2004. She was an attorney at the Southern California Housing Rights Center from 2003 to 2004. Badhan-Smith earned a Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern 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 9, 2016. Badhan-Smith is a Democrat.

Smith, 50, of Los Angeles, has served as a commissioner at the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 2015. He was a sole practitioner from 2008 to 2015 and was lead staff attorney at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law Institute for Administrative Justice’s California Parole Advocacy Program from 2005 to 2008. Smith served as a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office from 1997 to 2004 and as an associate at the Law Offices of DeBose and DeBose from 1996 to 1997. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Mercer University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Smith fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Russell S. Kussman. He is a Democrat.

The compensation for each of these positions is $191,612.