Stephen Goorvitch Confirmed as Justice of Court of Appeal

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

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Stephen Goorvitch Confirmed as Justice of Court of Appeal

By a MetNews Staff Writer

Stephen Goorvitch, who has served as a member of the Los Angeles Superior Court since 2015, was confirmed yesterday as an associate justice in Div. Two of this district’s Court of Appeal.

The three-member Commission on Judicial Appointments—comprised of Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, state Attorney General Rob Bonner, and Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Frances Rothschild—approved Gov. Gavin Newsom nomination of Goorvitch as the successor to Justice Judith T. Ashmann-Gerst, who retired in October.

He served as a staff attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 1998 to 2001, was a law clerk for then-U.S. District Court Judge Nora M. Manella of the Central District of California (now retired) from 2001-02, served in that capacity for Second Circuit California Court of Appeals Judge Rosemary S. Pooler (now deceased) from 2002-03, and was with the law firm of O’Melveny and Myers LLP from 2003-07. Goorvitch then joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California where he remained until his appointment to the Superior Court by then-Gov. Jerry Brown.

Also confirmed on Friday were Joanne Motoike, as presiding justice of Div. Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal and Deborah C. Servino as associate justice of that panel, Amy Guerra as an associate justice of the Fifth District Court of Appeal, and Eran M. Bermudez as an associate justice of the Fourth District’s Div. One.