Carin T. Fujisaki

Justice Fujisaki was appointed to the First Appellate District in October 2018 by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. She serves as an Associate Justice in Division Three.

Before joining the First District, Justice Fujisaki spent 28 years at the California Supreme Court.  From 2015 to 2018, she served as Principal Attorney to California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye.  In that capacity, Justice Fujisaki provided advice and counsel to the Chief Justice in her administration of the judicial branch, and advised the court as a whole in the exercise of its rule-making authority, oversight of the State Bar of California, and powers of appointment.  Previously Justice Fujisaki was a long-time judicial staff attorney for Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvin R. Baxter, and before that she worked several years as a litigation associate with the San Francisco law firm of Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Robertson & Falk.

Justice Fujisaki has served the judicial branch and the public in various capacities.  Among other things, she is currently a member of the Judicial Council of California and chair of the council's Rules Committee.  Governor Brown previously appointed her to the Advisory Panel for the California Civil Liberties Public Education Grant Program, and prior to that Governor Gray Davis nominated her as the first Asian American member of the Board of Directors of UC Hastings College of the Law.  During her 12-year term as a UC Hastings Director, including a term as chair and multiple years on the board's executive committee, she exercised oversight of the college's finances, educational policies, institutional advancement, and executive leadership.  Justice Fujisaki also served on the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation and has been active throughout her career in programs fostering mentorship of law students and attorneys.

Justice Fujisaki received her B.A. from UCLA, where she graduated magna cum laude and competed as a coxswain on the UCLA varsity women’s rowing team for four years.  She earned her J.D. from UC Hastings College of the Law and served as an associate editor on the Hastings Law Journal.

Justice Fujisaki and her husband have two adult children.