News Release

Commission Confirms Appointments to Courts of Appeal

Aug 30, 2021

Reports on the nominees can be found here.

Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, chair of the Commission on Judicial Appointments, announced that the commission today confirmed four nominations to the California Courts of Appeal in San Francisco and San Jose. 

The hearings were held virtually for only the second time in the commission's history.

The nominees were confirmed by unanimous vote of the three-member commission, which includes Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye (Chair); Attorney General Rob Bonta; and either Presiding Justice J. Anthony Kline (for First Appellate District appointees), or Presiding Justice Mary J. Greenwood (for Sixth Appellate District appointees):

  • Justice Alison M. Tucher, as Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division 3 (San Francisco)
     
  • Justice Teri L. Jackson, as Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division 5 (San Francisco)
     
  • Judge Cynthia C. Lie, as Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District (San Jose)
     
  • Judge Charles E. Wilson II, as Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District (San Jose)
     

Appointee Biographies

Justice Alison M. Tucher fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Peter J. Siggins. She has served as an associate justice of the First District Court of Appeal, Division Four since 2018. Justice Tucher served as an Alameda County Superior Court judge from 2014 to 2018. She was a partner at Morrison and Foerster from 2004 to 2014 and a litigation associate there from 1998 to 2003. She served as a deputy district attorney at the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office from 1995 to 1998 and was assistant director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s White House Security Review Team from 1994 to 1995. Justice Tucher served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter and Judge William A. Norris at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School and a Master of Arts degree in engineering from the University of Cambridge.

Justice Teri L. Jackson fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Barbara J. R. Jones. She has served as an associate justice of the First District Court of Appeal, Division Three since 2019. Justice Jackson served as a San Francisco County Superior Court judge from 2002 to 2019. She was of counsel at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP from 1997 to 2002 and served as an assistant district attorney in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office from 1984 to 1997. She served as a deputy district attorney in the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office from 1981 to 1984. Justice Jackson was an adjunct professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law from 2006 to 2019 and at the University of San Francisco School of Law from 2004 to 2019. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Judge Cynthia C. Lie fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Nathan D. Mihara. She has served as a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge since 2015. Judge Lie served as an assistant federal public defender at the San Jose Branch of the Office of the Federal Public Defender, Northern District of California from 2003 to 2014. She served as a staff attorney at the City and County of San Francisco Office of Citizen Complaints from 2002 to 2003 and was a Sole Practitioner from 2001 to 2003. Judge Lie was a litigation associate at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton LLP in 2000 and served as a deputy public defender at the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office from 1995 to 2000. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. 

Judge Charles E. Wilson II fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Eugene M. Premo. He has served as a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge since 2014. Judge Wilson served as a deputy district attorney at the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office from 2007 to 2014. He was an associate at Gordon and Rees LLP from 2003 to 2007 and at Phillips, Spallas and Angstadt in 2003. Judge Wilson earned Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of San Francisco. 

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