Tuesday, June 30, 2026

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Newsom Appoints Four to Los Angeles Superior Court

By a MetNews Staff Writer

Gov. Gavin Newsom is giving Irene Lee, a special assistant to District Attorney Nathan Hochman, a head start on her judicial career, conferring on her an interim appointment to the Los Angeles Superior Court rather than her having to wait until Jan. 4 when the term begins to which she was elected on June 2.

Lee was among four persons placed on the county’s trial court in the latest round of judicial selections. Newsom’s office also announced late Friday the appointment of downtown Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Stephen Meister, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Haaris Syed, and a sitting judge, Jennifer Lee of the Contra Costa Superior Court.

Those four, all Democrats, were among 14 appointees to superior courts in seven counties.

Prevailed in Primary

Irene Lee was in a two-person primary-election contest for an open seat, receiving 56.91% of the vote. Her opponent was Deputy District Attorney Angie Christides.

She has been a special assistant to Hochman since 2025, returning to the District Attorney’s Office after a serving in the County Counsel’s Office from 2021-25 (the period during which George Gascón was district attorney). From 2008-21, she had been a deputy district attorney.

Irene Lee’s law degree is from Chicago-Kent. She fills the vacancy created by the April 14 retirement of Judge Christina Hill.

Hill’s decision not to seek reelection created the open seat to which Irene Lee was elected.

Meister was in private practice from 1998-99, served as a political/media aide to then-Los Angeles City Council member Laura Chick from 1999-2001 and for a short time after she became city controller, and has been in private practice again since 2002.

Earlier, he was a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney from 1990-98.

While in fulltime practice, he provided, with frequency, on-air commentary on cases and other legal matters on Los Angeles television stations KCBS and KCAL, as well as KNX radio, primarily from 2002-17, but extending into 2019 with less regularity.

His law degree is from Loyola. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Thomas C. Falls.

Elevation of Commissioner

Syed has been a commissioner since 2026 and was a Los Angeles County deputy public defender from 2005-26. A graduate of the Loyola Law School, he fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Keith H. Borjon.

Jennifer Lee has been a judge of the Contra Costa County Superior Court since 2021 and was a commissioner of that court from 2019-21, following service as security counsel at Apple from 2018-19. The transfer allows her to reestablish her contact with Los Angeles where she was a county deputy district attorney from 2006-18 and a Los Angeles deputy city attorney in 2002.

Her law degree is from Pennsylvania State University. She succeeds Judge Chestopher L. Taylor who retired.