Friday, March 27, 2009
Page 3
Schwarzenegger Names 23 New Judges, Including Two in Los Angeles
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday named 23 people to superior court judgeships in 12 counties throughout the state, including two to the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Locally, the governor appointed attorney Mark A. Borenstein of Overland Borenstein Scheper & Kim and Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Christian R. Gullón to fill respective vacancies created by the Sept. 15 retirements of Judges Coleman Swart and Suzanne Person.
Borenstein, 57, has served as partner and previously attorney at his current firm since 2004, and was partner in the law firm of Overland & Borenstein in the preceding two years, and at Shapiro Borenstein & Dupont from 2000 to 2001.
A Democrat, he was admitted to the State Bar in 1978 after attending the University of Buffalo and the George Washington University School of Law. Borenstein served as an associate and then partner with Tuttle & Taylor from 1978 to 2000, and also holds a Master of Laws degree from Georgetown University Law Center
Gullón, 40, has served as a deputy district attorney since 1995, and was previously a sole practitioner from 1994 to 1995, and an attorney for the U.S. Small Business Administration in 1994. He also served as an associate for Porter, Scott, Weiberg and Delehant in 1993 and for Archer, McComas & Lageson in 1991.
A Republican, Gullón was admitted to the State Bar in 1992 after graduating from Pacific Union College and the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.
The compensation for each position is $178,789.
Schwarzenegger also made the following judicial appointments:
•Alameda Superior Court Commissioner Paul Seeman, a Democrat, to the Alameda Superior Court;
•Cameron Park attorney Nelson Keith Brooks, registered decline-to-state, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Melikian of the Eastern District of California, a Republican, to the El Dorado Superior Court;
•Bakersfield attorney Lorna H. Brumfield, a Democrat, and Kern Deputy District Attorney Bryan K. Stainfield, a Republican, to the Kern Superior Court;
•San Francisco attorney Andrew Sweet, a Democrat, to the Marin Superior Court;
•Merced Chief Deputy District Attorney David Moranda, a Democrat, to the Merced Superior Court;
•Alturas attorney David Mason, registered decline-to-state, to the Modoc Superior Court;
•San Juan Capistrano attorney David L. Belz, and Orange Superior Court Commissioners Michael J. Cassidy and Maria D. Hernandez, all Republicans, to the Orange Superior Court;
•Riverside Supervising Deputy Public Defender Samuel Diaz Jr., San Bernardino Deputy Public Defender David A. Gunn, Riverside Chief Deputy District Attorney Kelly L. Hansen and Riverside Senior Deputy Public Defender Mark E. Johnson to the Riverside Superior Court. Diaz, Gunn and Hansen are Republicans, while Johnson is a Democrat;
•Fair Oaks attorney Benjamin G. Davidian, Sacramento attorneys Thadd A. Blizzard and Geoffrey A. Goodman, and Luis R. Mauro, chief deputy legal affairs secretary of the governor’s Office of Legal Affairs, to the Sacramento Superior Court. Blizzard, Goodman and Mauro are Democrats, while Davidian is a Republican;
•San Luis Obispo attorney Linda D. Hurst, a Republican, to the San Luis Obispo Superior Court;
•Siskiyou Superior Court Commissioner Donald Langford, a Republican, to the Siskiyou Superior Court.
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