New Justices!

 First District Court of Appeal

 

 

Judge Danny Chou, 54, of San Mateo County, has been nominated to serve as an Associate Justice of the First District Court of Appeal, Division Five. He has served as a Judge at the San Mateo County Superior Court since 2018. Judge Chou served as an Assistant County Counsel at the Santa Clara County Counsel’s Office from 2012 to 2018. He served as Chief of Complex and Special Litigation at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office from 2008 to 2012, where he was Chief of Appellate Litigation from 2006 to 2008. Judge Chou served as a Supervising Staff Attorney at the California Supreme Court from 2005 to 2006, where he was a Judicial Staff Attorney from 1999 to 2005. He was a Staff Attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 1998 to 1999, an Associate at Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk and Rabkin from 1995 to 1998 and a Law Clerk for the Honorable Stanley A. Weigel at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California from 1994 to 1995. Judge Chou earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Henry E. Needham. This position requires confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which consists of Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Senior Presiding Justice Jim Humes. He is a Democrat.
 
Second District Court of Appeal
 

Judge Rashida Adams, 45, of Los Angeles County, has been nominated to serve as an Associate Justice of the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Three. She has served as a Judge at the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 2017. Judge Adams served as a Senior Appellate Court Attorney at the Second District Court of Appeal from 2009 to 2017, where she was an Appellate Court Attorney from 2008 to 2009. She was an Associate at Caldwell Leslie and Proctor PC from 2005 to 2007 and at Bernabei and Katz PLLC from 2002 to 2005. Judge Adams earned a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Halim Dhanidina. This position requires confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which consists of Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Senior Presiding Justice Arthur Gilbert. She is a Democrat.
 
Fourth District Court of Appeal
 

 

Judge Jose S. Castillo, 44, of San Diego County, has been nominated to serve as an Associate Justice of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One. He has served as a Judge at the San Diego County Superior Court since 2020. Judge Castillo served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California from 2010 to 2020. He served as a Staff Attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 2007 to 2010 and was an Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law from 2009 to 2010. Castillo served as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Micaela Alvarez at the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas from 2006 to 2007. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law. Judge Castillo fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Judith L. Haller. This position requires confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which consists of Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Senior Presiding Justice Manuel Ramirez. He is a Democrat.
 
The compensation for each of these positions is $264,542.