MOMENTUM
Recent UCLA Law Alumni Judicial Appointments A number of UCLA Law alumni have recently been appointed by Governor Brown to judgeships in California, including 13 Superior Court appointments and five Court of Appeal appointments. The Superior Court appointments include: s
Richard J. Burdge, Jr. ’79,
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Nicole C. Bershon ’92,
appointed to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County s
Julian W. Bailey ’74,
appointed to the Superior Court of Orange County s
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Rosendo Peña, Jr. ’80,
Frances Rothschild ’66,
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Audrey B. Collins ’77,
appointed to the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Four
Raquel A. Marquez ’91,
appointed to the Superior Court of Riverside County s
David A. Thompson ’83,
appointed presiding justice of the Second District Court of Appeal, Division One
appointed to the Merced County Superior Court s
Brian M. Hoffstadt ’95,
appointed to the Fifth District Court of Appeal
Bruce G. Iwasaki ’76,
Paul C. Lo ’94 ,
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appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three
appointed to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County s
Douglas W. Stern ’78,
appointed to the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Two
Peter A. Hernandez ’95,
appointed to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County
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Ruth Bermudez Montenegro ’92,
appointed to the Superior Court of Imperial County
Halim Dhanidina’s appointment
as the first American-Muslim judge in California Rosendo Peña’s appointment
as the first Latino judge on the Fifth District Court of Appeal s
Rupa S. Goswami ’98,
appointed to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County
Fred W. Slaughter ’99, appointed to the Superior Court of Orange County
Regarding the Court of Appeal, of the 10 appointment actions taken by Governor Brown, five involve UCLA Law alumni—four new appointments and one elevation. They include:
Rupa Goswami’s appointment
as the first South Asian American woman judge in California
appointed to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County
Halim Dhanidina ’97,
appointed to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County
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appointed to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County
appointed to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County s
Gregorio Roman ’86,
Raquel Marquez’s appointment
as the first Latina judge on the Riverside County Superior Court In addition, Jacqueline Nguyen ’91 and Paul Watford ’94 became judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and three alumni were appointed as federal magistrate judges for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California: Sheri Pym ’94 , Douglas F. McCormick ’95 and Alka K. Sagar ’84 . Two alumni also have recently been named to judgeships outside of California. Salvador Mendoza, Jr. ’97 was appointed by President Obama to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, and confirmed by the Senate in June. He is the first Hispanic federal judge to serve that district. Anthony D. Truglia ’84 was confirmed in March 2013 as a judge for the Stamford/ Norwalk District Superior Court in Connecticut.
Governor Brown’s judicial appointees from 2011-2013 also included a number of notable firsts, and more than a third involve UCLA Law alumni. These include: s
Paul Lo’s appointment as the first Hmong American judge in the country
UCLA LAW MAGAZINE
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