News Release

Commission Confirms Appointments to Courts of Appeal

Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, chair of the Commission on Judicial Appointments, announced that the commission today confirmed three nominations to the California Courts of Appeal in Los Angeles and Ventura.
Apr 17, 2023

Public documents are available here.

Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, chair of the Commission on Judicial Appointments, announced that the commission today confirmed three nominations to the California Courts of Appeal in Los Angeles and Ventura.

The nominees were confirmed by unanimous vote of the three-member commission, which includes: Chief Justice Guerrero (Chair); Attorney General Rob Bonta; and Presiding Justice Arthur Gilbert.

The nominees confirmed were:

  • Judge Audra Mori as an associate justice of the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Four (Los Angeles)
  • Judge Tari Cody as an associate justice of the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Six (Ventura)
  • Judge Rashida Adams as an associate justice of the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Three (Los Angeles)

Appointee Biographies

Judge Audra Mori fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Thomas Willhite. Judge Mori has served as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge since 2018. Judge Mori was managing partner of the Los Angeles Office of Perkins Coie LLP from 2017 to 2018, where she was a partner from 2005 to 2018. She was a partner at Piper Rudnick LLP from 2002 to 2004 and at Preston, Gates and Ellis LLP in 2002, where she was an associate from 1998 to 2001. Judge Mori was an associate at Andrews Kurth LLP from 1996 to 1998 and served as a law clerk to Senior Judge Richard W. Goldberg at the U.S. Court of International Trade from 1994 to 1996. She was an associate at Brobeck, Phleger and Harrison from 1992 to 1994. Mori earned a Juris Doctor degree from Cornell Law School.

Judge Tari Cody fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Steven Z. Perren. Judge Cody has served as a Ventura County Superior Court judge since 2000. Judge Cody was an associate at Lemieux & O’Neill from 1994 to 2000. She was an associate and partner at Nordman, Cormany, Hair & Compton from 1985 to 1994. Judge Cody earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School.

Judge Rashida Adams fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Halim Dhanidina. Judge Adams has served as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge since 2017. She served as a senior appellate court attorney at the Second District Court of Appeal from 2009 to 2017, where she was an appellate court attorney from 2008 to 2009. She was an associate at Caldwell Leslie and Proctor PC from 2005 to 2007 and at Bernabei and Katz PLLC from 2002 to 2005. Judge Adams earned a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School.

Images