SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced various court appointments throughout the State of California, including San Diego County Superior Court, the San Bernardino County Superior Court, San Francisco County Superior Court, and others.
Governor Brown Appoints Two to San Diego County Superior Court
Patricia Guerrero, 41, of San Diego, has served as a partner at Latham and Watkins LLP since 2007, where she was an associate from 1997 to 2001 and 2003 to 2006. She worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the Southern District of California, U.S. Attorney’s Office from 2002 to 2003. Guerrero earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Stanford Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She fills the vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel to the Federal Court. Guerrero is a Democrat.
Michael J. Popkins, 62, of San Diego, has served as a deputy public defender at the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office since 1985. He has been an adjunct professor at the California Western School of Law since 2009 and was a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office from 1978 to 1985. Popkins earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from Villanova University. He fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on November 13, 2012. Popkins is a Democrat.
The compensation for each of these positions is $178,789.
Governor Brown Appoints Two to San Bernardino County Superior Court
Erin K. Alexander, 39, of Moreno Valley, has served as a deputy public defender at the San Bernardino County Public Defender’s Office since 2005. She served as a deputy alternate public defender in multiple units at the San Diego Alternate Public Defender’s Office from 1998 to 2005. Alexander earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Dayton. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Douglas M. Elwell. Alexander is a Democrat.
Lisa M. Rogan, 50, of Alta Loma, has served as a supervising deputy district attorney at the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office since 2010 and a deputy district attorney since 2001. She was an adjunct professor of law at the University of La Verne, College of Law from 2004 to 2009. Rogan was a police sergeant at the City of Pomona Police Department from 1989 to 1997 and a deputy sheriff at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department from 1983 to 1988. She earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of La Verne, College of Law and an Associate of Science degree from Mount San Antonio College. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge James Welch. Rogan is a Democrat.
The compensation for each of these positions is $178,789.
Governor Brown Appoints Four to Los Angeles County Superior Court
Julie Fox Blackshaw, 59, of Pasadena, has served as deputy counsel to the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles since 2010. She was a federal court special master from 2002 to 2010. Blackshaw served as deputy general counsel to the Rampart Independent Review Panel at the Los Angeles Police Commission in 2000. She served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division at the United States Attorney’s Office of Los Angeles from 1987 to 1994. Blackshaw was an associate at the Law Office of Tuttle and Taylor from 1984 to 1987 and at the Law Office of Overland Berke Wesley Gitts Randolph and Levanas from 1983 to 1984. She was a legislative assistant to Congressman Leon E. Panetta from 1982 to 1983 and was an associate at the Law Office of Sellers Connor and Cuneo from 1979 to 1982. Blackshaw earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Joan Comparet-Cassani. Blackshaw is a Democrat.
H. Jay Ford III, 52, of Malibu, has served as commissioner at the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 2005. He was an associate and shareholder at Tyre Kamins Katz and Granof Law Corporation from 1987 to 2005. Ford served as a litigation associate at the Law Office of Adams Duque and Hazeltine from 1985 to 1987. He earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law and a Bachelor of University Studies degree from the University of Utah. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Carl West. Ford is a Democrat.
Gregorio Roman, 53, of Whittier, has served as deputy alternate public defender and senior trial attorney at the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender’s Office since 1994. He was a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office from 1991 to 1994. Roman was an associate at Lum Roberts and Gutierrez in 1991 and served as a deputy district attorney at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in 1989. He was a law clerk and associate at Lewis D’Amato Brisbois and Bisgaard from 1986 to 1989. Roman earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Rose Hom. Gregorio is a Democrat.
Douglas W. Stern, 59, of Rancho Palos Verdes, has been an attorney in private practice at Law Office of Douglas W. Stern since 2013. He served as an attorney at Gibbs Giden Locher Turner and Senet LLP from 2012 to 2013. He worked in multiple positions at Fidelity National Law Group from 2009 to 2012, including vice president, litigation manager and senior trial counsel. Stern was a litigation partner at Fulbright and Jaworski LLP from 1990 to 2009 and served in multiple positions at Pepper Hamilton and Scheetz from 1982 to 1989, including litigation partner and litigation associate. He was a litigation associate at Miller and Mandel from 1978 to 1982. Stern served on the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council from 1999 to 2011 and was mayor in 2003 and 2008. He earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Gary R. Hahn. Stern is a Democrat.
The compensation for each of these positions is $178,789.
Governor Brown Appoints Antonio A. Reyes to Tulare County Superior Court
Reyes, 60, of Visalia, has been an attorney in private practice since 1990. He was a partner at Duarte and Reyes from 1985 to 1990, at Orduno and Reyes from 1983 to 1984 and at Valdez Silva Orduno Candelaria and Reyes in 1983. Reyes was an attorney at Nunez Silva and Orduno from 1982 to 1983 and at the Legal Services Program for San Gabriel Valley from 1978 to 1982. Reyes earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Mary’s College of California. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Gerald F. Sevier. Reyes is a Democrat.
The compensation for this position is $178,789.
Governor Brown Appoints Three to San Francisco County Superior Court
Tracie L. Brown, 42, of San Francisco, has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office since 2002. She was an associate at Cooley Godward Kronish LLP from 1997 to 2002 and served as a judicial law clerk for Judge Margaret McKeown from 1998 to 1999. Brown was a law clerk and associate at Morrison and Foerster LLP from 1995 to 1997. She earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California Berkeley School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard-Radcliffe University. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Kevin McCarthy. Brown is a Democrat.
Harry M. Dorfman, 56, of San Francisco, has been a managing attorney at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office Homicide Unit since 2010. He was a professor at San Francisco Law School from 2001 to 2011 and chief counsel for the California Assembly Committee on Public Safety from 1999 to 2000. Dorfman earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Donna Little. Dorfman is a Democrat.
Rochelle C. East, 56, of San Francisco, has been chief deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice since 2011, where she served as senior assistant attorney general in the Correctional Law Section from 2008 to 2011 and deputy attorney general and supervising deputy attorney general from 2000 to 2004 and from 2005 to 2008. East worked in Haiti as a U.S. Department of State foreign service officer from 2004 to 2005. She was an associate attorney at Schachter Kristoff Orenstein and Berkowitz from 1996 to 2000 and a judicial extern at the California Supreme Court in 1996. East served in the U.S. Navy from 1983 to 1993. She earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Jerome T. Benson. East is registered decline-to-state.
The compensation for each of these positions is $178,789.
Governor Brown Appoints Denny R. Forland to Butte County Superior Court
Forland, 59, of Chico, has served as an attorney at the Law Office of Denny R. Forland since 1991 and has been a contract public defender for Butte County since 1990. He was a partner at Price Price Brown and Halsey from 1986 to 1990. Forland served as an attorney at the Law Office of J. Joseph Vandervoort from 1984 to 1986, deputy district attorney at Butte County District Attorney’s Office from 1980 to 1984 and as research attorney at the California District Attorney’s Association from 1979 to 1980. Forland earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from Pacific Union College. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Gerald Hermansen. Forland is a Democrat.
The compensation for this position is $178,789.
