Commission to Consider Four Appointments to Courts of Appeal

July 2, 2014

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Commission on Judicial Appointments to Consider Four Appointments to Courts of Appeal

July 17th Confirmation Hearings set for First and Second District Appointees

SAN FRANCISCO—Four 90-minute public hearings have been scheduled by the Commission on Judicial Appointments for Thursday, July 17, 2014, beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the Supreme Court Courtroom in the Ronald M. George State Office Complex, Earl Warren Building, 350 McAllister Street, Fourth Floor, San Francisco, to consider the following appointments by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr.:

The state Constitution specifies that a gubernatorial appointment to the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal is “effective when confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.”

The commission consists of the Chief Justice of California, the Attorney General, and the presiding justice of the Court of Appeal of the affected district or, if there are two or more presiding justices, the one who has presided longest or, for a nomination to the Supreme Court, the presiding justice who has presided longest as a presiding justice on any Court of Appeal.

Appointee Summary Biographies

Justice Humes fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Presiding Justice James J. Marchiano and has served as Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Four since 2012. He served as executive secretary for legal affairs, administration, and policy in the Office of Governor Brown from 2011 until his appointment. Before that, he was chief deputy attorney general from 2007 to 2011, and served at the California Department of Justice from 1993 to 2007, in various roles, including chief assistant of the civil division and senior assistant attorney general of the health, education, and welfare section. He also served in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office from 1984 to 1986 and again from 1987 to 1993, and was an associate at Banta Hoyt Banta Greene Hannen and Everall PC from 1986 to 1987 and at Jay Stuart Radetsky PC from 1983 to 1984.

Ms. Stewart fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Associate Justice James R. Lambden. She has served as chief deputy city attorney at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office since 2002. She was a director at Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk and Rabkin PC from 1988 to 2002, where she was an associate from 1982 to 1988. Ms. Stewart served as a law clerk for Judge Phyllis A. Kravitch at the U.S. Court of Appeal, Eleventh Circuit from 1981 to 1982.

Justice Rothschild fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Presiding Justice Robert M. Mallano and has served as Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division One since 2005. She served as a judge at the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 1978 to 2005 and at the Los Angeles Municipal Court from 1975 to 1978. Justice Rothschild was of counsel at Bodle Fogel Julber Reinhardt and Rothschild from 1972 to 1975, where she was an associate attorney from 1967 to 1968. She was an attorney at the California State University and Colleges Office of General Counsel from 1968 to 1972.

Judge Collins fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Associate Justice Steven Suzukawa and has served as a judge of the U.S. District Court, Central District of California since 1994, where she served as Chief Judge from 2009 to 2012. She was an assistant district attorney at the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office from 1992 to 1994, where she served as deputy district attorney from 1978 to 1992. Judge Collins was a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles from 1977 to 1978.

Testimony and Comment

Anyone wishing to testify before the commission must state that request in writing and include a summary of the facts on which any testimony or opinion will be based. A request to be included on the speakers’ list must be received by the commission by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 10, 2014.

And all communications to the commission by persons who wish to comment on the appointment should be received by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 10, 2014.

The commission’s address is:

Commission on Judicial Appointments
c/o Chief Justice of California
Supreme Court of California
350 McAllister Street
San Francisco, California 94102
Attention: Secretary to the Commission on Judicial Appointments

The Guidelines for the Commission on Judicial Appointments are published as an appendix to the California Rules of Court and are available on the California Courts website.