Alumni

Johnene Stebbins ’96 won election to the Santa Clara County Superior Court in November.

A longtime Santa Clara County deputy district attorney, Stebbins defeated Chief Assistant District Attorney Jay Boyarsky, receiving 55% of the vote to Boyarsky’s 45%.

Stebbins filled a vacancy on the court created by Judge Vincent Chiarello’s retirement.

Rithwik Gupta ’25 and Steven Li ’26 made a strong showing at the invite-only MAC Cup II: American Bar Association M&A Negotiations Competition. The pair advanced from October’s initial round of 64 teams to November’s second round of 32 teams.

Gupta and Lee skillfully negotiated a draft purchase agreement and issues list from both buyer and seller perspectives. 

The Daily Journal has recognized Cheryl Wei ’11 as one of its “Top 40 Under 40” for 2024.

A partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Los Angeles, Wei focuses on entertainment law. She often has worked as production counsel, including for HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”

In Nov. 5 California Assembly races, James Gallagher ’07 (R-Yuba City) was elected to a sixth term, Esmeralda Soria ’11 (D-Madera) won a second term, and Maggy Krell ’03 won a first. 

Gallagher, the Assembly's Republican Leader, defeated challenger Aaron Draper in District 3.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Benjamin Azar ’12 as an Orange County Superior Court judge.

Azar has served as an Orange County deputy public defender since 2013.

Read governor’s full press release on new judicial appointments.

On May 9, the Daily Journal profiled Magistrate Judge and  UC Davis Law adjunct professor Dennis Cota ’86 of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

In the story, Cota discusses his devotion to teaching and coaching trial practice students at UC Davis Law, and how Professor Emeritus Edward Imwinkelried “really inspired me to be a litigator.”

United States Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed Sarah F. Torres ’07 as an immigration judge at the new Concord Immigration Court in Contra Costa County.

For five years, Torres served as managing attorney for the immigration legal services program at the Opening Doors nonprofit in Sacramento. Before that, she was a partner at Tomlinson & Torres PC. 

Dean Kevin R. Johnson and Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin spoke on the panel “Contemporary Civil Rights Issues: 2024 and Beyond,” on May 18 at the Unity Bar Summit at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Clara Levers '03 to serve as a Yolo County Superior Court judge on an interim basis.

Levers won election in March to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge and fellow King Hall alum David Rosenberg ’74. The governor’s appointment allows Levers to take the bench before her official January 2025 start date.

A Woodland native, Levers has served as a California deputy attorney general since 2008.

Dean Kevin R. Johnson and Maggy Krell ’03 spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Raheem Hosseini for a May 19 story about how former President and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appears to be encouraging Christian nationalism,  which was once considered a fringe element of Christianity.

Michelle Lauron ’94 was elected as a San Bernardino Superior Court judge in March. 

Lauron, a San Bernardino County supervising deputy district attorney, defeated Dieter Carlos Dammeier, a California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board administrative law judge, in a landslide victory.

Lauron joined the San Bernardino District Attorney’s office just after law school, in 1995. 

The Georgetown Environmental Law Review published an article by Sarah Chen Small ’23 titled “Toxic Film: Analyzing the Impact of Films Depicting Major Contamination Events on the Regulation of Toxic Chemicals.”  

Professor Christopher Elmendorf appeared on KQED’s Forum radio program on Feb. 15 to discuss San Jose’s efforts to move from car-heavy sprawl to denser, more walkable neighborhoods.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Saul Garcia ’94 and Richard Miadich ’02 as Superior Court judges. Garcia and Miadich will serve in Stanislaus and Sacramento counties, respectively.

Garcia is a veteran deputy public defender for San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties and former directing attorney at California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.

Miadich has served as chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission since 2019.

Professor Elizabeth Joh spoke to Politico on Jan. 19 after a group of Democratic senators demanded the Justice Department examine police use of facial recognition tools and potential violations of civil rights laws.

UC Immigrant Legal Services Center attorneys Christopher Relos ’11 and Rachel Ray ’11 wrote a Nov. 23 op-ed for the Sacramento Bee urging the Biden administration to adjudicate humanitarian parole applications quickly for tens of thousands of Afghans endangered by the Taliban takeover.

“For Afghan citizens, humanitarian parole can save lives,” Relos and Ray wrote before relaying the personal account of an Afghan woman the center assisted.

The Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento honored California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District Justice Shama Hakim Mesiwala ’98 with its ABAS President’s Award at its annual gala in November.

Judge Kara Ueda ’00 introduced Mesiwala. The ABAS recognized Ueda and fellow Sacramento Superior Court Judge Stephen Lau ’02 for their judicial appointment in 2020 and 2022, respectively.

Deputy Attorney General Emmanuel Salazar ’05 serves as ABAS secretary.

Professor Lisa R. Pruitt and Lake County family law facilitator Kaly Rule ‘17 spoke to Law360 for a Dec. 1 story headlined “A Mountain to Climb: The Inaccessibility of Rural Courts.”

The story addressed challenges faced by rural residents in traveling to courthouses, and further barriers facing residents with mobility issues once they arrive.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Miguel Valdovinos ’96 as a Madera County Superior Court judge.

Valdovinos is a veteran deputy district attorney who worked most recently in  Fresno County. He worked for the Madera County District Attorney’s office from 2020-2023 and from 2011-2015.

Read the governor's full press release. 

The State Bar of California released a video interview with Lucasfilm Legal Counsel/Senior Vice President of Business Affairs Rhonda Thomas Hjort ’89.

The state bar’s Council on Access and Fairness collaborated on the video with Disney, Lucasfilm’s parent company.

Dean Kevin R. Johnson and Professor Amagda Pérez ’91 co-wrote the article “Cruz Reynoso’s Fight for Justice” for a UCLA Chicanx-Latinx Law Review special issue devoted to the late California State Supreme Court justice and UC Davis Law professor, who died in 2021 at age 90.

Professor Brian Soucek and Ryan Chen ’23 have published an article in the Fordham Law Review titled “Misunderstanding Meriwether.” In the abstract, they write:

Yolo Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg ’74 has announced he will retire at the end of the year after 20 years of service, the Davis Enterprise/Winters Express reported.

Then-California Gov. Gray Davis appointed Rosenberg, a former Yolo County supervisor and Davis mayor, to the bench in October 2003. He served for three terms as the court's presiding judge.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Stephen Hicklin ’88 as an Orange County Superior Court judge.

Hicklin has been a sole practitioner since 2018 and of counsel at Bonial & Associates PC since 2020.

Read the governor’s press release here.

The Pacific Juvenile Defender Center conference, held earlier this month in King Hall, served as a reminder of the long tradition of UC Davis Law graduates becoming public defenders.

They include PJDC Executive Director Brooke Harris ’10 and Elizabeth Braunstein ’99. Braunstein, who works for the  Los Angeles County Public Defender’s office, is a recipient of the PJDC Attorney of the Year Award.