LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed two new Superior Court judges in Los Angeles County and one in Orange County.
Miguel T. Espinoza and Alison Mackenzie were named Friday to the Los Angeles Superior Court bench and Sheila Recio to Orange County Superior Court.
Espinoza, 39, of Los Angeles, has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney since 2017. He was a deputy district attorney at the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office from 2008-17 and held several positions for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2007-08, including statewide political director and deputy field director.
Espinoza was a transition aide in the Los Angeles Mayor's Office in 2005-06.
He was a senior adviser for Antonio Villaraigosa's mayoral campaign in 2004-05 and deputy policy director for Villaraigosa's City Council campaign in 2002-03.
Espinoza obtained a law degree from the USC School of Law, a master's degree in public administration from the Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, and a bachelor's degree from UC Santa Cruz. He fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Carl H. Moor to the Court of Appeal.
Mackenzie, 42, of Los Angeles, has been a partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP since 2017. She was a shareholder at Caldwell, Leslie & Proctor PC in 2017, where she was counsel in 2014-16 and an associate from 2007-13. Mackenzie served as a law clerk for the Judge Dean D. Pregerson at the U.S. District Court from 2005-06.
She obtained a law degree from Yale Law School and a bachelor's degree from Stanford University. She fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Helen I. Bendix to the 2nd District Court of Appeal.
Recio, 46, of Long Beach, served as a commissioner at the Orange County Superior Court since 2016. She served in several positions at the Orange County Superior Court in 2005-16, including deputy general counsel, senior research attorney and counsel to the presiding judge.
She was an associate at Morrison & Foerster in 2000-05 and a research attorney at the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1998-00.
Recio obtained a law degree from the USC School of Law and a bachelor's degree from UCLA. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Thierry P. Colaw.
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