Governor Gavin Newsom has made significant strides in diversifying the judiciary by appointing four esteemed Fil-Am judges in California – to the Los Angeles and Orange County Superior Court, respectively.
Among the 16 judicial appointments announced this month, three accomplished attorneys – Christina Legaspi, Lowrie Mendoza, and Bryan Clavecilla – have been designated as judges in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Additionally, Clavecilla has been appointed as a Superior Court judge in Orange County.
Christina Legaspi, a senior deputy county counsel in the Los Angeles County Counsel’s Office since 1999, fills the vacancy left by the retirement of Judge Monica Bachner. Lowrie Mendoza, serving as assistant head deputy district attorney at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, steps into the role vacated by Judge Terry A. Green.
Bryan Clavecilla, previously a commissioner at the Orange County Superior Court, now assumes the position of Superior Court judge in Orange County, succeeding Judge Linda Marks. Commissioner Christine Gonong, representing Los Angeles County, was also appointed as a judge, filling the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Wesley Hsu to the federal bench.
These appointments underscore Governor Newsom’s commitment to promoting diversity and representation within California’s judicial system, building on the historic appointment of Robert Andres Bonta as the state’s first Filipino-American attorney general in 2021.
