SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointment of Julie Fox Blackshaw, H. Jay Ford III, Gregorio Roman and Douglas W. Stern to judgeships in the 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.