SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointments of James E. Towery and Helen Elizabeth Williams to judgeships in the Santa Clara Superior Court.
James E. Towery, 64, of San Jose, has been of counsel at Rossi Hammerslough Reischl and Chuck since 2011. He served as chief trial counsel at the State Bar of California from 2010 to 2011. Towery was a shareholder at Hoge Fenton Jones and Appel Inc. from 1989 to 2010 and a partner at Morgan and Towery from 1979 to 1989. He was a law clerk and associate at Morgan Beauzay Hammer Ezgar Bledsoe and Rucka from 1976 to 1979. He is a former president of the State Bar of California and the Santa Clara County Bar Association. Towery earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Emory University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Kevin J. Murphy. Towery is a Democrat.
Helen Elizabeth Williams, 52, of Santa Cruz, has worked as an appellate court attorney at the State of California Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District since 2004, frequently serving in the lead position. She served as an attorney at Robinson and Wood Inc. from 2001 to 2004, at Olimpia Whelan and Lively from 1999 to 2001 and at Williams and Williams from 1987 to 1999. Williams is certified as an appellate specialist by the California State Bar. She earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Santa Clara University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Douglas K. Southard. Williams is a Democrat.
The compensation for each position is $178,789.