Friday, December 3, 2010
Page 3
Governor Schwarzenegger Appoints Four to Superior Courts
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday appointed four judges to spots on the Fresno, Madera, Imperial and Nevada superior courts.
The governor tapped Fresno attorneys Rosemary McGuire and Dale J. Blea, respectively, to join the Fresno and Madera superior courts, named Imperial Superior Court Access Center Manager Diane B. Altamirano to a seat on that cour,t and made Nevada Superior Court Commissioner B. Scott Thomsen a judge of that corut.
McGuire, 58, has been a partner in Weakley, Arendt and McGuire since 2009. She was a partner in Weakley, Ratliff, Arendt and McGuire from 2001 to 2008 and was associated with Weakley and Ratliff from 1997 to 2000.
Before that, she worked for Eldridge, Anderson and Weakley as an attorney from 1994 to 1996. A Republican, McGuire joined the State Bar in 1994 after graduating from San Joaquin College of Law.
Blea, 50, has been a partner in Arnold and Blea since 2009. Previously, he was an attorney with Mount and Blea from 2005 to 2009; an associate, then partner, at Jamison, Chappel and Blea from 1998 to 2005; and a sole practitioner from 1997 to 1998.
He also served as a deputy district attorney in Madera County from 1996 to 1997 and was an associate at Linn, Lindley and Blate from 1993 to 1996. A Republican, Blea was admitted to the State Bar in 1993 after attending college and law school at Western State University .
Altamirano, 62, of Brawley, has been the Imperial Superior Court’s access center manager since 2009, and before that served the court as senior court managing attorney from 2007 to 2009, as self-represented litigant facilitator from 2005 to 2007 and as an independent contractor from 1998 to 2004. She was a sole practitioner from 1990 to 1998; an associate, then partner, at Boggust, Zimmerman and Altamirano from 1980 to 1989; and an associate at Mosten and Zipser in 1980.
She also served as a clinical professor of law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles from 1978 to 1980, and an associate of the Law Offices of Richard Morton from 1977 to 1978.
Altamirano is registered decline-to-state. She graduated from UCLA and Loyola Law School, and joined the State Bar in 1977.
Thomsen, 46, has served as a commissioner since 2005 on both the Nevada and Sierra superior courts, and was a sole practitioner from 1998 until he joined the bench. He was a partner in Kierney and Thomsen from 1990 to 1997 and an associate at Thompson and Heller from 1989 to 1990.
Registered decline-to-state, he attended Menlo College and McGeorge School of Law, and joined the State Bar in 1989.
Compensation for the positions is $178,789.
In other news, Schwarzenegger yesterday nominated attorney and real estate investor Robert N. Klein to continue serving as chair of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, which oversees the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
The institute was established in 2004 following the passage of Proposition 71, the “California Stem Cell Research and Cures” ballot initiative which provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at California universities and research institutions, and called for the establishment of a new state agency to make grants and provide loans for stem cell research, research facilities and other research opportunities.
Klein, who authored Proposition 71 and chaired its committee, has served as chairman of the ICOC since 2004.
The governor’s office said Klein’s nomination will go before the entire Independent Citizens Oversight Committee Governing Board later this month.
A Democrat, Klein has been president of Klein Financial Corporation, a real estate investment banking consulting company focused on affordable housing finance and development, since 1985. He attended college and law school at Stanford University, and joined the State Bar in 1974.
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