Deputy Attorney General Tops Commissioner List

Thursday, February 4, 2016

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Deputy Attorney General Tops Commissioner List

By a MetNews Staff Writer

A state deputy attorney general and a Superior Court probate attorney top the list of candidates for Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner, the MetNews learned yesterday.

The list was provided by a court source, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information. Efforts to confirm the information with the court by press time were unavailing.

The new list, of applicants screened by a judicial panel, will replace one that was adopted in May 2014. All candidates on that list were ultimately appointed to commissioner posts.

The court’s judges may, by rule, elect commissioners from the list in any order. But longstanding tradition provides that the candidates be elected in the order listed.

First on the list is Deputy Attorney General Timothy Weiner. A graduate of UC Santa Cruz and Southwestern Law School, he was admitted to the State Bar in 2000 and represents the state in criminal appeals and writ proceedings, and has handled felony prosecutions at the trial level as well.

Weiner is followed by Robert Wada, who was a probate attorney when he was elected commissioner in 2008, then went back to a probate attorney position in 2011. He explained at the time that he was afraid he might be given a non-probate assignment, and he wanted to remain focused on the area of the law in which he had always specialized.

Wada is followed by James Blancarte, a litigator and employment lawyer who is of counsel to AlvaradoSmith, APC. He is a past president of the City of Los Angeles Fire Commission and the Mexican American Bar Association.

Blancarte has been a frequent television commentator on legal issues, on both English- and Spanish-language stations.

Also on the list are, in order, Deputy District Attorney Karin Borzakian, Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Kristen Byrdsong; Deputy Public Defender Cherol Nellon, Deputy District Attorney Steven Ipson, Deputy District Attorney Maria Santos, Long Beach attorney Angela Villegas, Los Angeles attorney Peter Navarro, Alliance for Children’s Rights legal director Laura Streimer, Deputy Public Defender Victor Acevedo; Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Diego Edber; and Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Kjehl Johansen.

Also Cerritos attorney Danielle Gibbons; Pasadena attorney Jerry Marshak; Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Dotson; Century City attorney Dennis Hernandez; Assistant U.S. Attorney and former State Bar Board of Governors member Angela Davis; San Marino attorney Frank Chen; Los Angeles attorney Laura Cohen; former Superior Court Referee Stephanie Davis; mid-Wilshire attorney Jeffrey Korn; Deputy Public Defender Gia Bosley; Deputy Public Defender Lisa Brackelmanns; South Pasadena attorney Mark Priver; Encino attorney Eric Kingsley; Howard Yudkofsky; Beverly Hills attorney Maria Hamar, Palos Verdes Estates attorney S. Paul Bruguera, and Superior Court staff attorney Marcelo D’Asero.