Brown Names 15 Judges, Eight of Them in Los Angeles County

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Page 3

Brown Names 15 Judges, Eight of Them in Los Angeles County

By a MetNews Staff Writer


RICHARD J. BURDGE JR.	RUPERT A. BYRDSONG	DAVID J. COWAN	BRIAN S. CURREY

SHERILYN P. GARNETT	CHRISTOPHER K. LUI	ENRIQUE MONGUIA	GUSTAVO N. SZTRAICHER

Gov. Jerry Brown yesterday named 15 judges to superior courts around the state, including eight to the Los Angeles Superior Court.

The eight named here are Richard J. Burdge Jr., Rupert A. Byrdsong, David J. Cowan, Brian S. Currey, Sherilyn P. Garnett, Christopher K. Lui, Enrique Monguia and Gustavo N. Sztraicher.

Burdge, 64, is a former president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and is married to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lee Edmon, whose name has been sent to the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as a possible appointee to the Court of Appeal.

Burdge has headed his own law firm since 2011, after having been a partner at Howrey LLP from 2000 to 2011, at Dewey Ballantine LLP from 1986 to 2000 and at Lillick and McHose LLP, where he was previously an associate in 1986.

He is a graduate of Yale University and UCLA School of Law, and will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Shari K. Silver.

Byrdsong, 44, has been an attorney at Ivie McNeill and Wyatt since 1995. Byrdsong earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School his undergraduate degree from Morehouse College.

He fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position last year.

Cowan, 51, has served as a commissioner of the court since 2005. He was an attorney in private practice from 1994 to 2005, including as of counsel to Hong and Chang from 2001 to 2002.

Cowan was an associate at Leland Parachini Flinn Steinberg Matzger and Melnick from 1992 to 1994 and at Rogers and Wells from 1988 to 1992. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Hastings College of the Law, and fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Diana M. Wheatley.

Currey, 57, of Manhattan Beach, has been of counsel at O’Melveny and Myers LLP since last year, having previously been deputy mayor for economic and business policy under then-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 2013 and counsel to the mayor from 2010 to 2013.

Currey was a partner at O’Melveny from 1989 to 2010 and an associate there from 1981 to 1989. He is a graduate of UC Davis and the University of Virginia School of Law and fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Lawrence J. Mira.

Garnett, 45, has been chief of the General Crimes Section at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California since earlier this year, and has been an assistant U.S. Attorney since 2001. Garnett was a litigation associate at Arnold and Porter LLP from 1999 to 2000, a law clerk to Judge Barry T. Moskowitz of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California from 1998 to 1999 and a litigation associate at Altheimer and Gray from 1995 to 1998.

Garnett is a graduate of UC Riverside and Harvard Law School and fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position last year.

Lui, 45, has been of counsel at Browne George Ross LLP since earlier this year after having been a partner at Crowell and Moring LLP from 2011 to 2014 and an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California from 2005 to 2011.

Lui was counsel at O’Melveny and Myers LLP from 2002 to 2005, and an associate there from 1998 to 2002. He served as a law clerk for Judge Dickran Tevrizian—now retired—of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California from 1997 to 1998. Lui is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Loyola Law School, and fills the vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Beverly R. O’Connell to Central District bench.

Monguia, 57, has served as a deputy public defender since 1986, and worked at Mission Community Legal Defense Inc. from 1984 to 1986. He is a graduate of Stanford University and UC Berkeley School of Law. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Dewey L. Falcone, who is now deceased.

Sztraicher, 54, has been a deputy public defender since 1990, and a senior trial lawyer in the office since 2001. His previous positions there include felony trainer and misdemeanor trainer in the Central Trials Division, team leader in the Public Integrity Assurance Section and misdemeanor trial counsel at the East Los Angeles Branch Offices.

He was an associate at the Kaplan Law Corporation from 1988 to 1990 and at the Pfiester Law Corporation from 1987 to 1988. He is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz and Loyola Law School, and fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge John H. Reid.

Named to courts in other counties were criminal defense lawyer Christopher B. Harmon to the Riverside Superior Court; Ventura Superior Court Commissioner Rocky H. Baio, Kern Superior Court Commissioner Ralph W. Wyatt, and Fresno Superior Court Commissioner Kathleen A. Meehan as judges of their respective courts; Deputy District Attorney Michael Carrozzo to the Santa Barbara Superior Court; sole practitioner Nathan D. Ide to the Tulare Superior Court; and Trinity County District Attorney Michael Harper to the Trinity Superior Court.

Lui, Harmon, Wyatt, and Ide are registered without party preference, Carrozo is a Republican, and the other appointees are Democrats.

The compensation for each of these positions is $181,292.