SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointments of Deborah S. Brazil, Carl H. Moor, Connie R. Quinones, Armen Tamzarian, Sergio C. Tapia, Lee W. Tsao, Frank M. Tavelman and Joel Wallenstein to judgeships in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Brazil, 54, of Los Angeles, has been a deputy district attorney at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office since 1997, serving in multiple units including the Major Crimes Division, Hardcore Gang Division, Family Violence Division, Central Trial Unit 13, the Pasadena Juvenile Office, East Los Angeles Branch and the Malibu and Beverly Hills Area Offices. Brazil earned a Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. She fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on December 13, 2012. Brazil is a Republican.
Moor, 52, of Los Angeles, has been a partner at Munger Tolles and Olson LLP since 2003, where he has worked since 2001. He served as an assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California from 2000 to 2001 and from 1994 to 1999. Moor was litigation counsel at the National Broadcasting Company Inc. in 2000 and an associate and public interest fellow at Hall and Phillips from 1989 to 1994. He was a law clerk for the Honorable Mariana R. Pfaelzer at the U.S. District Court, Central District of California from 1988 to 1989. Moor earned a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Richard A. Adler. Moor is a Democrat.
Quinones, 49, of Lakewood, has served as a deputy alternate public defender at the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender’s Office since 1996, where she has been a senior trial attorney since 2004. Quinones served as a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office from 1991 to 1996 and was an attorney at the Law Offices of Michael Lopiano in 1991. She was a law clerk and attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Orange County and Community Legal Services of Los Angeles County from 1987 to 1991. Quinones earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Western State College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Irvine. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge John S. Fisher. Quinones is a Democrat.
Tamzarian, 47, of South Pasadena, has served as a senior appellate court attorney at the California Court of Appeal, Second District since 2008. He was a partner at Case Knowlson Jordan and Wright LLP from 2002 to 2008, where he was an associate from 1997 to 2002. Tamzarian served as a research attorney at the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 1996 to 1997. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern Law School and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Dudley W. Gray. Tamzarian is a Democrat.
Tapia, 45, of Alhambra, has been a senior trial attorney and deputy alternate public defender at the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender’s Office since 2001, where he has been deputy in charge of central trial support and coordinator of new felony attorney training since 2012 and was assistant deputy in charge of the Alhambra and Long Beach Branch offices from 2009 to 2011. He served as a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office from 1997 to 2001 and was a staff attorney and AmeriCorps fellow at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles from 1996 to 1997. Tapia is a member of the Mexican American Bar Association Board of Directors and the California Rural Legal Assistance Inc. Board of Directors. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Iowa College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Jan G. Levine. Tapia is a Democrat.
Tsao, 46, of Lakewood, has served as a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office since 1997. He was a staff attorney at the Public Counsel Law Center, Immigrants’ Rights Project from 1996 to 1997. Tsao earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Peter J. Meeka. Tsao is a Democrat.
Tavelman, 47, of Los Angeles, has been a deputy district attorney at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office since 1999, where he has served in the Crimes Against Peace Officers Section since 2006. He was in-house counsel at the Capital Group Companies Inc. from 1992 to 1998. Tavelman earned a Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern Law School and a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University, Northridge. He fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on December 13, 2012. Tavelman is a Democrat.
Wallenstein, 53, of Long Beach, has served as a commissioner at the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 2005. He served as house counsel at the California State Compensation Insurance Fund Legal Department from 2003 to 2005. Wallenstein served as a referee at the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 1997 to 2002 and as a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office from 1989 to 1997. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola Marymount University. He fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on December 13, 2012. Wallenstein is a Democrat.
The compensation for each of these positions is $181, 292.