Division Five: Associate Justice Dorothy C. Kim

In 2018, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. appointed Dorothy Kim as an Associate Justice to the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Five.  She was unanimously confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.  In 2013, she was appointed by Governor Brown as a Judge to the Los Angeles Superior Court, where she presided as a trial judge in criminal cases.

Prior to her appointment to the bench, Justice Kim served as a federal prosecutor at the United States Attorney’s Office, where she specialized in cases involving fraud, environmental crimes, and public corruption.  During her 12 years with the United States Attorney’s Office, Justice Kim served in several positions including as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.  In 2007, she was awarded the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award, for her work on an environmental pollution matter.

Justice Kim began her legal career as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Norman H. Stahl, at the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.  Justice Kim also worked in private practice at Irell & Manella LLP.

Justice Kim earned her law degree from Columbia University School of Law, where she received the Pauline Berman Heller Prize, awarded to the highest-ranked woman in the graduating class.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University.

Justice Kim was born in Korea and grew up in Los Angeles.