New judges (with some appellate backgrounds)

Governor Brown today announced the appointment of 12 California superior court judges, which include: One in Kern County; Seven in Los Angeles County; One in Napa County; One in Orange County; One in Sacramento County; and one in Sutter County.

• Therese M. Foley, 67, of Bakersfield, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Kern County Superior Court. 
• Daniel M. Crowley, 58, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
• Alexander C.D. Giza, 51, of Culver City, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Giza has been a partner at Hueston Hennigan LLP since 2015. He was a partner at Russ, August and Kabat from 2009 to 2014. Giza was counsel at Irell and Manella LLP in 2009, where he was an associate from 2001 to 2008. He was a law clerk for the Honorable Walter L. Carpeneti at the Alaska Supreme Court from 2000 to 2001.
• Mary E. Kelly, 65, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Kelly has served as an administrative law judge at the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board since 2004. She served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender and supervising trial attorney at the Federal Public Defender’s Office from 1995 to 2004 and was a law clerk for the Honorable Arthur L. Alarcon at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 1993 to 1994 and from 1981 to 1983. Kelly was a sole practitioner from 1984 to 1993 and an instructor at the California State University, Long Beach Department of Health Care Administration from 1984 to 1989. She was an associate at Abzug and Kelly from 1983 to 1984, an adjunct professor at Southwestern University School of Law from 1983 to 1991 and served as a law clerk for the Honorable David Linn at the Illinois First District Court of Appeal from 1979 to 1981.
• Jeffrey S. Cohen-Laurie, 43, of West Hollywood, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
• David K. Reinert, 43, of Culver City, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. 
• Holly A. Thomas, 38, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Thomas has served as deputy director of executive programs at the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing since 2016. She served as special counsel to the solicitor general at the New York State Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Solicitor General from 2015 to 2016 and as senior appellate attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, in the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division from 2010 to 2015. Thomas was assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. from 2005 to 2010, where she was a Liman fellow from 2005 to 2006. Thomas served as a law clerk for the Honorable Kim McLane Wardlaw at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 2004 to 2005. 
• Jessica A. Uzcategui, 43, of South Pasadena, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
• Monique S. Langhorne, 43, of Vallejo, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Napa County Superior Court. 
• H. Shaina Colover, 45, of Newport Beach, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Orange County Superior Court.
• Daniel J. Calabretta, 40, of Sacramento, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Sacramento County Superior Court. Calabretta has served as a deputy legal affairs secretary in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. since 2013. He served as a deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2008 to 2013 and was an associate at Munger, Tolles and Olson LLP from 2005 to 2008. Calabretta served as a law clerk for the Honorable John Paul Stevens at the Supreme Court of the United States from 2004 to 2005 and for the Honorable William A. Fletcher at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 2003 to 2004.
• Laura J. Davis, 44, of Chico, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Sutter County Superior Court. Davis has served as a research attorney at the Sutter County Superior Court since 2005.