Chief Justice Guerrero to Speak at Commencement
The Chief Justice of California, Patricia Guerrero, will be keynote speaker at UC Davis School of Law’s Class of 2023 commencement on Saturday, May 13.
Chief Justice Guerrero became California’s first Latina chief justice on Jan. 2. Gov. Gavin Newsom nominated then-Associate Justice Guerrero to the position after former Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye ’84 announced plans to retire. The Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed the nomination by unanimous vote.
Chief Justice Guerrero was sworn in as an associate justice in March 2022, making her the first Latina to serve on the state's high court. The new chief justice was confirmed by California voters in the November 2022 general election. Before her elevation to the Supreme Court, Justice Guerrero served from 2017 to 2022 as an associate justice at the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One.
A native of the Imperial Valley raised by immigrant parents from Mexico, Chief Justice Guerrero began working in a grocery store at age 16 and graduated as co-valedictorian in high school. She continued working to help pay for her education at the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford Law School. During law school, Justice Guerrero was active in the Latino Law Students Association and helped fellow students at the recruitment and retention center.
Chief Justice Guerrero served as a San Diego Superior Court judge from 2013 to 2017 and as supervising judge for the court’s Family Law Division in 2017. Justice Guerrero previously was a partner at Latham & Watkins and an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California.
Chief Justice Guerrero has contributed many hours to pro bono work, including as a member of the Advisory Board of the Immigration Justice Project. She has assisted clients on a pro bono basis in immigration matters, including with asylum applications.
As a Fourth District justice, she chaired the State Bar’s Blue Ribbon Commission on the Future of the Bar Exam and the Judicial Council of California Advisory Committee on Criminal Jury Instructions. Chief Justice Guerrero has been active in former Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye's “Judges in the Classroom” civics program. In July 2022, Justice Guerrero was elected to the American Law Institute.
Former Alameda Superior Court Judge Kelli Evans ’94 will fill the associate justice vacancy created by Chief Justice Guerrero’s new appointment.