SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointment of 12 California superior court judges, which include: One in Kern County; Seven in Los Angeles County; One in Napa County; One in Orange County; One in Sacramento County; and one in Sutter County.
Kern County Superior Court
Therese M. Foley, 67, of Bakersfield, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Kern County Superior Court. Foley has been a sole practitioner since 1989. She served as a deputy county counsel at the Office of the Kern County Counsel in 2010 and served as a law clerk for U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa A. Goldner at the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California from 2008 to 2009. She was a deputy child support attorney at the Kern County Department of Child Support Services in 2002 and a patients’ rights advocate at the Kern County Department of Mental Health in 2001. Foley served as deputy county counsel at the Office of the Mendocino County Counsel from 1998 to 1999 and at the Office of the Kern County Counsel in 1993. She was a partner at the Law Office of Gene R. McMurtrey from 1988 to 1989, where she was an associate from 1981 to 1988. Foley was an associate at Robert D. Wenzel, Adams, Ball, Wenzel and Kilian from 1977 to 1981. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Santa Clara University. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Gary T. Friedman. Foley is a Democrat.
Los Angeles County Superior Court
Daniel M. Crowley, 58, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Crowley has been a partner at Booth, Mitchel and Strange LLP since 1992, where he was an associate from 1987 to 1992. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from Santa Clara University. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Rita J. Miller. Crowley is a Democrat.
Alexander C.D. Giza, 51, of Culver City, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Giza has been a partner at Hueston Hennigan LLP since 2015. He was a partner at Russ, August and Kabat from 2009 to 2014. Giza was counsel at Irell and Manella LLP in 2009, where he was an associate from 2001 to 2008. He was a law clerk for the Honorable Walter L. Carpeneti at the Alaska Supreme Court from 2000 to 2001. Giza earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Virginia. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Laura A. Matz. Giza is registered without party preference.
Mary E. Kelly, 65, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Kelly has served as an administrative law judge at the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board since 2004. She served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender and supervising trial attorney at the Federal Public Defender’s Office from 1995 to 2004 and was a law clerk for the Honorable Arthur L. Alarcon at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 1993 to 1994 and from 1981 to 1983. Kelly was a sole practitioner from 1984 to 1993 and an instructor at the California State University, Long Beach Department of Health Care Administration from 1984 to 1989. She was an associate at Abzug and Kelly from 1983 to 1984, an adjunct professor at Southwestern University School of Law from 1983 to 1991 and served as a law clerk for the Honorable David Linn at the Illinois First District Court of Appeal from 1979 to 1981. Kelly earned a Juris Doctor degree from the DePaul University College of Law, where she was a member of the DePaul Law Review, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on October 25, 2018. Kelly is a Democrat.
Jeffrey S. Cohen-Laurie, 43, of West Hollywood, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Cohen-Laurie has served as a deputy alternate public defender and senior attorney at the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender’s Office since 2008. He was a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office from 2006 to 2008 and was an associate at the Law Offices of R. Samuel Paz from 2005 to 2006. Cohen-Laurie earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. He fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Marie E. Stratton to the Court of Appeal. Cohen-Laurie is a Democrat.
David K. Reinert, 43, of Culver City, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Reinert has served as a deputy district attorney at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office since 2005. He was an associate at Lax and Stevens from 2004 to 2005. Reinert earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from Pennsylvania State University. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Benny C. Osorio. Reinert is a Democrat.
Holly A. Thomas, 38, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Thomas has served as deputy director of executive programs at the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing since 2016. She served as special counsel to the solicitor general at the New York State Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Solicitor General from 2015 to 2016 and as senior appellate attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, in the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division from 2010 to 2015. Thomas was assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. from 2005 to 2010, where she was a Liman fellow from 2005 to 2006. Thomas served as a law clerk for the Honorable Kim McLane Wardlaw at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 2004 to 2005. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Robert A. Dukes. Thomas is a Democrat.
Jessica A. Uzcategui, 43, of South Pasadena, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Uzcategui has been a partner at Sacks, Glazier, Franklin and Lodise LLP since 2012, where she was an associate from 2004 to 2011. She was an associate at Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart, Oliver and Hedges LLP from 2002 to 2004. Uzcategui earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Science degree from Duke University. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Michael K. Kellogg. Uzcategui is a Democrat.
Napa County Superior Court
Monique S. Langhorne, 43, of Vallejo, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Napa County Superior Court. Langhorne has served as a commissioner at the Napa County Superior Court since 2006. She served as a deputy district attorney at the Napa County District Attorney’s Office from 2000 to 2006 and was a family support officer at the Napa County Department of Child Support Services from 1999 to 2000. Langhorne earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Effective December 4, 2018, she will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Rodney G. Stone. Langhorne is a Democrat.
Orange County Superior Court
H. Shaina Colover, 45, of Newport Beach, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Orange County Superior Court. Colover has been of counsel at the Law Offices of Ronald B. Schwartz, APC since 2012, where she was an associate from 2002 to 2012. She was an associate at Freitas, McCarthy, MacMahon and Keating, LLP from 1999 to 2001. Colover earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego. She fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on August 28, 2018. Colover is a Democrat.
Sacramento County Superior Court
Daniel J. Calabretta, 40, of Sacramento, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Sacramento County Superior Court. Calabretta has served as a deputy legal affairs secretary in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. since 2013. He served as a deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2008 to 2013 and was an associate at Munger, Tolles and Olson LLP from 2005 to 2008. Calabretta served as a law clerk for the Honorable John Paul Stevens at the Supreme Court of the United States from 2004 to 2005 and for the Honorable William A. Fletcher at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 2003 to 2004. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University. Calabretta fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Cheryl C. Meegan. He plans to continue serving in his current position in the Governor’s Office until the end of the Administration. Calabretta is a Democrat.
Sutter County Superior Court
Laura J. Davis, 44, of Chico, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Sutter County Superior Court. Davis has served as a research attorney at the Sutter County Superior Court since 2005. She was an associate at Seyfarth Shaw LLP from 2003 to 2005 and at Folger Levin and Kahn LLP from 2001 to 2003. Davis earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego. Effective December 31, 2018, she will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Brian R. Aronson. Davis is registered without party preference.
The compensation for each of these positions is $207,424.
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