Friday, July 17, 2009
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Schwarzenegger Appoints Eight to Los Angeles Superior Court
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday announced the appointment of 11 new superior court judges in three counties, including the appointment of eight to the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Tapped to fill local vacancies were: LAUSD Assistant General Counsel Stephanie M. Bowick, Commissioners Henry J. Hall and Randall F. Pacheco, Deputy District Attorneys Renee F. Korn and Olivia Rosales, private practitioners Ralph C. Hofer and Stephen M. Moloney, and Senior Deputy County Counsel Gary Y. Tanaka.
Bowick, 46, has served as an assistant general counsel for the Los Angeles Unified School District since 2001.
Before then, Bowick served as a deputy city attorney for the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.
She previously served as a litigation associate for Barrack, Rodos & Bacine, Berman & Clark, and Mills & Schroeder.
A graduate of Howard University School of Law and UCLA, Bowick fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Joe W. Hilberman and is registered decline-to-state.
Superior Court Commissioner
Hall, 58, was elected by the judges of the court as a commissioner in 2007. Prior to that, he served as head deputy alternate public defender for the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender’s Office.
He spent 24 years as a deputy public defender after earning degrees from Loyola Law School and USC. Hall was admitted to the State bar in 1976.
A Democrat, Hall fills a vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position in September 2008.
Before Pacheco, 60, became a Superior Court commissioner in 2001 he spent 10 years as the head of a law firm within the Children’s Law Center.
He served the 10 years prior to that as a deputy public defender for the Orange County Public Defender’s Office.
Associate Attorney
From 1978 to 1981, Pacheco was an associate attorney for Newman, Chrisman and Faith after graduating from Hastings Law School and U.C. Riverside.
Pacheco, a Democrat, fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position in September 2008. He was admitted to the State Bar in 1978.
Korn, 44, of Los Angeles, has served as a deputy district attorney since 1990. She earned her law degree from the Hastings Law School and her undergraduate degree from U.C. Santa Barbara before being admitted to practice in 1990.
She is a Democrat and fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Rodney G. Forneret, since deceased.
Fellow deputy district attorney Rosales, 43, has been with the office since 1995 and previously served as a deputy attorney general for the California Attorney General’s Office from 1992 to 1995.
Rosales, a Republican, earned both her law and undergraduate degrees from UCLA and fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Robert Schnider.
She was admitted to the State Bar in 1992.
Hofer, 56, has served as a partner for the Los Angeles-based antitrust and complex litigation firm of Blecher & Collins since 1986.
Prior to that, he was an assistant U.S. attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice from 1983 to 1986.
He was a litigation associate for Bryan Cave from 1982 to 1983, and spent a year prior to that at Blecher Collins & Hoecker. From 1978 until 1980 Hofer was a member of Ball Hunt Hart Brown & Baerwitz.
A Republican, Hofer earned his law degree from USC and his undergraduate degree from UCLA. He was admitted to the State Bar in 1979 and fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Darlene E. Schempp.
Moloney, 60, a senior partner at Gilbert Kelly Crowley & Jennett, joined the insurance and business litigation firm as an associate in 1975.
A graduate of Santa Clara Law School and Santa Clara University, Moloney was admitted to the State Bar in 1975.
He is a Republican and fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position in November 2008.
Tanaka, 46, joined the Office of County Counsel in 2006. Prior to that, he spent five years as a deputy alternate public defender and one year as a deputy public defender.
From 1991 to 2000, Tanaka was an associate for Astor & Phillips.
He earned both his law and undergraduate degrees from Western State University and was admitted to the State Bar in 1991.
A Republican, Tanaka fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Kenneth A. Black.
In other news, the governor announced the appointments of Deputy Attorney General Deborah J. Chuang and Assistant Orange County District Attorney Walter P. Schwarm to the Orange Superior Court bench.
Schwarzenegger also appointed San Bernardino Chief Deputy Public Defender Debra Harris to a judgeship in the San Bernardino Superior Court.
The compensation for each position is $178,789.
Copyright 2009, Metropolitan News Company