Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointment of 11 California superior court judges, which include: One in Contra Costa County; one in Imperial County; one in Kings County; two in Los Angeles County; one in Orange County; one in San Diego County; two in San Francisco County; one in San Mateo County; and one in Santa Cruz County.
Contra Costa County Superior Court
Linda Lye, 45, of Berkeley, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Contra Costa County Superior Court. Lye has been a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California since 2015, where she was a staff attorney from 2010 to 2015. She was a partner at Altshuler Berzon LLP from 2008 to 2010, where she was an associate from 2002 to 2007. Lye served as a law clerk for the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the U.S. Supreme Court from 2000 to 2001 and for the Honorable Guido Calabresi at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit from 1999 to 2000. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale College. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Bruce C. Mills. Lye is a Democrat.
Imperial County Superior Court
Eran Marie Bermudez, 38, of San Diego, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Imperial County Superior Court. Bermudez has been a complaint resolution officer at the University of California, San Diego since 2016. She was a partner at Garcia Hernandez and Sawhney LLP from 2011 to 2016 and an associate at Best Best and Krieger LLP from 2005 to 2011. Bermudez earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Irvine. She fills the vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Ruth B. Montenegro as a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California. Bermudez is a Democrat.
Kings County Superior Court
Randy L. Edwards, 65, of Hanford, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Kings County Superior Court. Edwards has been a partner at Griswold, LaSalle, Cobb, Dowd and Gin LLP since 1995, where he was an associate from 1991 to 1995. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps on active duty as a judge advocate from 1982 to 1991 and as an unrestricted line officer from 1975 to 1979. He retired from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1998. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, a Master of Arts degree from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colorado State University. He fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Thomas DeSantos to the Court of Appeal. Edwards is registered without party preference.
Los Angeles County Superior Court
Cherol J. Nellon, 56, of La Cañada Flintridge, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Nellon has served as a commissioner at the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 2016. She served as a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office from 1997 to 2016. Nellon earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Fullerton. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Mary Thornton House. Nellon is registered without party preference.
Jana M. Seng, 43, of South Pasadena, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Seng has been a head deputy at the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender’s Office since 2016, where she has served as a deputy alternate public defender since 2005. She served as a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office from 2002 to 2005. Seng earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Washington, School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Long Beach. She fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Halim Dhanidina to the Court of Appeal. Seng is a Democrat.
Orange County Superior Court
Michael E. Perez, 51, of San Clemente, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Orange County Superior Court. Perez has served as an assistant public defender at the Orange County Public Defender’s Office since 2015, where he was a deputy public defender from 1997 to 2015 and a law clerk from 1996 to 1997. Perez earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on August 28, 2018. Perez is a Democrat.
San Diego County Superior Court
Shereen J. Charlick, 54, of El Cajon, has been appointed to a judgeship in the San Diego County Superior Court. Charlick has been acting executive director at the Federal Defenders of San Diego Inc. since 2018, where she has been chief trial attorney since 2005. She served as a supervisory assistant in the Office of the Federal Public Defender, Southern District of Florida from 2004 to 2005 and was a supervisory attorney and trial team leader at the Federal Defenders of San Diego Inc. from 1999 to 2004. Charlick was an associate at the Law Office of Tarlow and Berk from 1998 to 1999 and a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office in 1998. She served as a deputy public defender in the Office of the Federal Public Defender, Southern District of Florida from 1994 to 1998, as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice Honors Program from 1991 to 1994 and as a law clerk for the Honorable William J. Zloch at the U.S District Court, Southern District of Florida from 1989 to 1991. Charlick earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Kerry Wells. Charlick is a Democrat.
San Francisco County Superior Court
Alexandra Robert Gordon, 49, of San Francisco, has been appointed to a judgeship in the San Francisco County Superior Court. Gordon has served as a deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General since 2009. She served as a staff attorney and supervisor at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 2003 to 2009 and was an associate at Heller Ehrman LLP from 1999 to 2001. She served as a law clerk for the Honorable Robert W. Sweet at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1998 to 1999. Gordon earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Ronald E. Quidachay. Gordon is a Democrat.
Michael B. McNaughton, 56, of San Francisco, has been appointed to a judgeship in the San Francisco County Superior Court. McNaughton has been a partner at Hanson Bridgett LLP since 2002, where he was an associate from 1993 to 2002. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of San Francisco. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Donald S. Mitchell. McNaughton is a Democrat.
San Mateo County Superior Court
Amarra A. Lee, 37, of Oakland, has been appointed to a judgeship in the San Mateo County Superior Court. Lee has served as a deputy district attorney at the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office since 2012. She held several positions at Farella, Braun and Martel LLP from 2006 to 2012, including senior associate and associate and was an extern for the Honorable Teri L. Jackson at the San Francisco County Superior Court in 2006. Lee earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on August 28, 2018. She is the first African-American woman judge ever appointed to the San Mateo County Superior Court. Lee is a Democrat.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court
Syda K. Cogliati, 48, of Santa Cruz, has been named to an interim appointment for a judgeship in the Santa Cruz County Superior Court. Cogliati has served as senior appellate research attorney at the Sixth District Court of Appeal since 2012. She was a professor at the Monterey College of Law from 2006 to 2017 and a sole practitioner from 2006 to 2012. Cogliati was an associate at Kennedy, Archer and Harray from 2005 to 2006, an appellate research attorney at the Sixth District Court of Appeal from 1998 to 2004 and legal program director at Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence in 1997. She was an annual attorney for criminal central staff at the California Supreme Court from 1995 to 1996 and an associate at Chanler and Associates from 1994 to 1995. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Cogliati was elected in June, 2018 to fill the vacancy created by the announced retirement of Judge John J. Almquist, who then passed away in October, 2018. The Governor’s appointment allows her to immediately assume the position she was otherwise elected to begin in January, 2019. Cogliati is a Democrat.
The compensation for each of these positions is $200,042.
