SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointments of Stephen D. Kaus, Scott D. Patton and Gregory A. Syren to judgeships in the Alameda Superior Court.
Stephen D. Kaus, 64, of Berkeley, has worked at Cooper White and Cooper LLP since 1993 and has been a partner at the firm since 1995. He was a solo practitioner at the Law Offices of Stephen Kaus from 1990 to 1993 and a partner at Kaus Kerr and Wagstaffe from 1982 to 1990. Kaus was a deputy public defender at the Contra Costa County Public Defender’s Office from 1974 to 1980. Kaus earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California, Berkeley 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 February 9, 2012. Kaus is a Democrat.
Scott D. Patton, 51, of Piedmont, has served as a deputy district attorney at the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office since 1990. Patton earned a Juris Doctorate 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 Beverly Daniels-Greenberg. Patton is a Democrat.
Gregory A. Syren, 53, of Kensington, has served as an assistant public defender at the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office since 1987. He served as a deputy public defender at the Solano County Public Defender’s Office in 1987 and as a deputy public defender at the Napa County Public Defender’s Office from 1986 to 1987. Syren was an associate at Guadagni Flax and McGrath in 1986. Syren earned a Juris Doctorate degree from University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers following her appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Syren is a Democrat.
The compensation for each position is $178,789.