Gov. Gavin Newsom announces 6 Southern California judicial appointments
Amid a period of passing – and vetoing – a plethora of bills, California Gov. Gavin Newsom also announced several judicial appointments on Monday.
Three of the appointments were for the 2nd District Court of Appeal, which includes Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Within the 2nd District, there are eight divisions; Division 6 handles Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, while the other seven divisions cover Los Angeles County.
The 2nd District Court of Appeal appointments are:
Justice Brian M. Hoffstadt
Justice Brian M. Hoffstadt of Los Angeles County has been nominated to serve as presiding justice of the 2nd District Court of Appeal for Division 5. He served as an associate justice for Division 2 for the last decade, having previously worked as a judge in the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 2010 to 2014, a partner at law firm Jones Day from 2007 to 2010 and as assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California from 2000 to 2007.
The UCLA School of Law graduate also served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and for Judge Cynthia H. Hall at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Presiding Justice Laurence D. Rubin.
Judge Michelle C. Kim
Judge Michelle C. Kim of Los Angeles County has been nominated to serve as an associate justice of the 2nd District Court of Appeal, Division One. Kim previously served in the L.A. County Superior Court since 2018 and was a deputy alternate public defender at the L.A. County Alternate Public Defender’s Office from 2005 to 2018.
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Also a UCLA law school graduate, Kim fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Victoria D. Cheney.
Judge Anne K. Richardson
Judge Anne K. Richardson of Los Angeles County has been nominated to serve as an Associate Justice of the 2nd District Court of Appeal, Division 2. Since 2018, she has served as a judge at the L.A. County Superior Court.
Formerly a directing attorney at Public Counsel from 2014 to 2018, she was a partner at Hadsell, Stormer, Richardson and Renick LLP from 1998 to 2014. Richardson also previously served as a law clerk for Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
A graduate of Stanford University Law School, Richardson fills the vacancy that will be created by Justice Brian M. Hoffstadt’s appointment as presiding justice of the 2nd Court of Appeal, Division 5.
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Each of the three positions requires confirmation by the Commission of Judicial Appointments, which consists of Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Senior Presiding Justice Arthur Gilbert.
The compensation for each of their positions is $279,151, Newsom’s office said. Hoffstadt, Kim and Richardson are all Democrats.
In addition to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, two appointments to the Los Angeles County Superior Court were announced:
Elizabeth L. Bradley
Elizabeth L. Bradley of Los Angeles County has been appointed to serve as judge in the L.A. County Superior Court. A partner at Rosen Saba LLP since 2011, she also served at several other prominent firms throughout the 2000s.
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A graduate of the California Western School of Law, Bradley fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Michael Levanas.
Sally Espinoza
Sally Espinoza of Sacramento County is the second appointment to the L.A. County Superior Court. She has been a deputy attorney general at the California Office of the Attorney General since 2017 and served in several other positions there since 2011.
In addition, Espinoza served as a deputy legal affairs secretary in the Office of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.
A graduate of the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, she fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Tomson T. Ong.
One appointment to the Ventura County Superior Court was announced:
Russel-Paul H. Kawai
Russel-Paul H. Kawai of Ventura County has been appointed to serve as a judge in the Ventura County Superior Court. He was previously a commissioner in the Ventura County Superior Court and after that, served a military judge in the U.S. Army Reserves, 150th Legal Operations Department.
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He was also a senior deputy public defender for the Ventura County Public Defender’s Office from 2014 to 2021. A graduate of BYU Law School and a holder of a master’s degree in strategy from U.S. Army War College, Kawai fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Rocky Baio.
Bradley, Espinoza and Kawai are all Democrats. According to the Governor’s Office, the compensation for their positions is $243,940.
In addition to the Southern California appointments, four appointments to the Alameda County Superior Court were announced Monday.
They are Rozlynn Silvaggio Bauman, Chad A. Stegeman, Han N. Tran and Kevin T. Wong.
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