Newsom elevates three to appellate courts, names seven trial judges

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced three nominations to the California Courts of Appeal and seven appointments to trial courts in five counties, adding to his imprint on the judiciary.

The governor nominated Justice Joanne Motoike to serve as presiding justice of the 4th District Court of Appeal, Division 3; Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephen Goorvitch to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, Division 2 and Fresno County Superior Court Judge Amy Guerra to the 5th District Court of Appeal.

The appellate selections require confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.

Goorvitch has served on the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 2015. Before taking the bench, he was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Central District of California from 2007 to 2015. Earlier in his career, he practiced at O'Melveny & Myers and worked as a staff attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He also clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Goorvitch earned his law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law.

Motoike, who has been an associate justice in the 4th District, Division 3 since 2022, will now lead that Orange County-based court if confirmed. She previously served nearly a decade on the Orange County Superior Court. Earlier in her career, she worked for the Orange County Public Defender's Office, rising to senior deputy public defender, and also served as a trial attorney at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal. Motoike graduated from Loyola Law School.

Guerra has been a Fresno County Superior Court judge since 2018. Before her appointment to the bench, she led the Fresno County Alternate Defense Office as chief defense attorney and previously worked there as an associate. She earned her law degree from the San Joaquin College of Law.

In addition to the appellate nominations, Newsom announced seven appointments to Superior Courts in Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties.

Los Angeles County will add two judges. Victoria Shapiro, who became a commissioner with the Superior Court this year, previously worked for years at the 2nd District Court of Appeal as a judicial attorney and lead judicial attorney. Earlier in her career, she practiced at Arnold & Porter, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Covington & Burling, and served as vice president and general counsel at The Brain Technologies Corporation. She graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Also appointed in Los Angeles County is Anastasia Zykanova, a deputy public defender with the Orange County Public Defender's Office since 2018. She briefly served as a deputy public defender in Kern County and previously worked in private practice. Zykanova earned her law degree from the UC College of the Law, San Francisco.

Two new judges were also appointed in Santa Clara County. Karen Schulz has served as an immigration judge with the U.S. Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review since 2021. She previously led the Step Forward Foundation as executive director and managing attorney and maintained a private immigration practice. Schulz graduated from Santa Clara University School of Law.

Carl Chamberlin, currently the lead appellate court attorney at the 1st District Court of Appeal, was also appointed to the Santa Clara bench. Chamberlin has served in that role since 1999 and earlier worked at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and briefly as an acting assistant district attorney in San Francisco. He received his law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco.

In Contra Costa County, Carole Bosch, an administrative law judge with the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board since 2021, was appointed to the bench. Bosch previously practiced at several Bay Area firms, including Hildebrand, McLeod & Nelson and Kazan McClain Satterley & Greenwood, and earlier served as an annual attorney at the California Supreme Court. She is a graduate of Golden Gate University School of Law.

In Riverside County, Thanh Ngo was named to the Superior Court. Ngo currently serves as a deputy district attorney in San Bernardino County. His prior roles include field counsel for Liberty Mutual Insurance, assessment appeal policy director in the Alameda County Assessor's Office, and trial attorney in private practice. Earlier in his career, he worked in district attorney offices in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Francisco counties and was an Echoing Green Fellow at the Asian Law Caucus. He received his law degree from UCLA School of Law.

San Francisco County will add Matthew Kahn, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher since 2013. Kahn previously practiced as an associate at the firm after graduating from Stanford Law School.