Monday, February 23, 2026
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Newsom Taps Goorvitch for Court of Appeal Seat
Governor Also Appoints Two to Los Angeles Superior Court, Selects Motoike for Presiding Justice
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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STEPHEN GOORVITCH Court of Appeal nominee |
VICTORIA SHAPIRO LASC appointee |
ANASTASIA ZYKANOVA LASC appointee |
Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced his nomination of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephen Goorvitch as a justice of this district’s Court of Appeal.
If confirmed, he will replace Justice Judith T. Ashmann-Gerst, who retired from Div. Two in October.
The jurist’s selection was one of three nominations to courts of appeal made Thursday, including the tapping of Justice Joanne Motoike to serve as presiding justice of the Fourth District’s Div. Three. Newsom also made seven appointments to superior courts throughout the state, two of which will serve on the bench in Los Angeles County.
Goorvitch’s Background
Goorvitch, a former assistant U.S. attorney who served at the Central District of California office from 2007-15, was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 2015 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. He secured re-election in 2022 after winning outright in the primary campaign.
A graduate of the UC Berkeley School of Law, Goorvitch worked at O’Melveny and Myers LLP from 2003-07, and he served as a law clerk for this district’s Court of Appeal as well as for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California between 2001-03. He was employed as a staff attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 1998 to 2001.
On Thursday, the governor also announced the nomination of Fresno Superior Court Judge Amy Guerra to fill a Fifth District vacancy. Goorvich, Motoike, and Guerra are all Democrats. All appellate nominations must be confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Victoria Shapiro will fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patrick T. Madden. She earned a law degree from the University of Virginia and served as the lead judicial attorney, among other roles, for this district’s Court of Appeal from 2015-26.
Prior to her time with the Court of Appeal, Shapiro, who was appointed as a commissioner earlier this year, worked for the firms Arnold & Porter, between 2002-10, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, from 1998 to 2000, and Covington & Burling LLP, for the years 1996-98.
She also served as general counsel and vice president at The Brain Technologies Corporation, a Los Angeles-area software development and information technology services company, from 2000-02.
Deputy Public Defender
Also selected for the Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday was Anastasia Zykanova, who will replace retired Judge Ana Luna. Zykanova has served as a deputy public defender at the Orange County Public Defender’s Office since 2018.
Before her time in Orange County, Zykanova briefly worked for the Kern County Public Defender’s Office in 2018 and served as an associate with the Newport Beach-based criminal defense firm Ferentino & Associates Inc., from 2012-17. Her law degree is from UC San Francisco.
Shapiro and Zykanova are Democrats, as are the five appointees to superior courts for the counties of Santa Clara, San Francisco, Riverside, and Contra Costa.
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