Gavin Newsom California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced his first trial court appointments of the year, naming 14 judges in counties from Alameda to Yolo.

Rebekah Evenson, director of litigation and advocacy for Bay Area Legal Aid since 2016, will join the Alameda County Superior Court. From 2008 to 2016, Evenson was a senior staff attorney at Prison Law Office, where she served as lead counsel in class actions challenging the state's running of prisons, including a successful suit targeting race-based lockdowns.

Evenson was an associate at Altshuler Berzon from 2002 to 2008, and a Skadden fellow for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area from 2000 to 2002.

Joining Evenson on the Alameda County bench will be Joscelyn Jones, who has served as a judge pro tem in the Alameda County court's probate division since 2016 and has been president, CEO and attorney at Jones Torru Law Offices since 1997. Jones ran unsuccessfully for a Contra Costa County judgeship in 2006.

In San Mateo County, court commissioner Rachel Holt was appointed to a judgeship. Holt has served as a commissioner since 2014 and now handles a family law calendar. She was a partner at Carr Yeley & Associates from 2006 to 2014 and a sole practitioner in the San Mateo County private defender program from 2003 to 2014. Holt served as a San Mateo county deputy district from 1998 to 2002.

Michael Wendler, a deputy district attorney for the last 14 years, will also join the San Mateo County court. He has served in the U.S. Marine Corps since 1998 and is currently a lieutenant colonel.

Brooke Blecher, a family law specialist who was named a Santa Clara County Superior Court commissioner in 2008, was elevated to a judgeship on the same court by Newsom. She was an attorney and owner at Blecher & Hubbell from 2008 to 2018.

In Los Angeles County, Newsom appointed Michelle DeCasas, Lisa Washington and John Weller to the superior court. DeCasas has served as a deputy city attorney for the city of Los Angeles since 2007. She was a civil litigation associate at Tesser & Ruttenberg from 2003 to 2007.

Washington has served as a deputy public defender in Los Angeles County since 1994. She was an associate at Dickson & Associates from 1993 to 1994 and at the Law Office of Leo James Terrell in 1994 and from 1992 to 1993.

Weller has served as a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County since 2007. He currently works in the cybercrime division. Weller was also a deputy district attorney in Ventura County from 2005 to 2007.

Robert Gerard, head of the labor and employment practice group at Friedman Stroffe & Gerard since 2000, was named to the Orange County Superior Court. Gerard was a partner at Pillsbury Madison & Sutro from 1997 to 2000 and was an associate there from 1994 to 1997.

Also appointed to the Orange County bench was Thomas Lo, an assistant public defender in Orange County since 2001. He was an associate at Hatton, Petrie & Stackler from 1999 to 2001 and at Cooksey, Howard, Martin & Toolen in 1999.

In Sacramento County, Carlton Davis, a Sacramento County Superior Court commissioner since 2017, was elevated to a judgeship in the same court. He served as a deputy district attorney in Sacramento County from 2006 to 2017 and in Riverside County from 2003 to 2006.

Joining Davis on the Sacramento County bench is Julie Yap, an assistant U.S. attorney in the affirmative civil enforcement unit in California's Eastern District since 2019. She was a partner at Seyfarth Shaw from 2016 to 2019, where she was an associate from 2012 to 2016.

Shannon Faherty was appointed to the San Bernardino County Superior Court. Faherty has served as a commissioner at the court since 2018. She was previously a deputy district in the county for 12 years.

Daniel Wolk, a Solano County deputy counsel since 2009, was named to the Yolo County Superior Court. He was an associate attorney at McDonough Holland & Allen from 2005 to 2008 and was founder and director of the Legal Clinic of Yolo County from 2006 to 2008. Wolk is the son of former state Sen. Lois Wolk and Bruce Wolk, professor of law emeritus at UC Davis School of Law. Dan Wolk was an unsuccessful candidate for the state Legislature.

Twelve of the 14 appointees are registered Democrats; the remaining two are registered with no party preference. All will be paid $214,601.

 

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