Mesiwala CJA hearing today at 2

The Commission on Judicial Appointments will hold a public hearing on Feb. 14 starting at 2 p.m. in the Supreme Court Courtroom—350 McAllister Street in San Francisco—to consider the appointment of Judge Shama Hakim Mesiwala to the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento. Judge Mesiwala would fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Coleman A. Blease. The hearing will be webcast live on the California Courts Newsroom.

And see Commission Confirms Appointment to Third District Court of Appeal

And Sacramento Judge Shama Mesiwala Confirmed to 3rd District Court of Appeal -- Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Shama Hakim Mesiwala returns to the court where she served as a central staff attorney and senior chambers attorney for almost 13 years.

• Mesiwala will be the first South Asian American woman and the first Muslim woman to serve on any appellate court in California, according to the Sacramento County Superior Court.
• The daughter of immigrants from India, Mesiwala grew up in the Bay Area and graduated from UC Davis School of Law. She worked for five years as a staff attorney at the Central California Appellate Program, where she litigated more than 100 cases in the state Supreme Court and courts of appeal.
• Mesiwala co-founded the South Asian Bar Association of Sacramento. She has taught appellate advocacy at UC Davis Law School since 2013 and said Tuesday that she plans to continue doing so while serving as an associate justice.

Law.com has 2 Cases, 1 Day: Gibson Dunn Associate Delivers His First Arguments Back-to-Back, about how on Feb. 9 associate Jeff Liu (who clerked for Judge Bea) argued two pro bono appeals in one day: "His day started at 10 a.m. in-person at the Federal Circuit, and once the appeal was heard, he had about five hours to catch his breath before virtual arguments at the Ninth Circuit."