Commission Confirms Five Appointments to Courts of Appeal

Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, chair of the Commission on Judicial Appointments, announced today that the commission confirmed five appointments to California’s Courts of Appeal in Los Angeles, Santa Ana, Fresno, and San Diego:

• Judge Stephen Goorvitch, as associate justice of the Second Appellate District, Division Two (Los Angeles)
• Justice Joanne Motoike, as presiding justice of the Fourth Appellate District, Division Three (Santa Ana) 
• Judge Amy Guerra, as associate justice of the Fifth Appellate District (Fresno)
• Judge Eran M. Bermudez, as associate justice of the Fourth Appellate District, Division One (San Diego) 
• Judge Deborah C. Servino, as associate justice of the Fourth Appellate District, Division Three (Santa Ana)

The appointees were confirmed by unanimous vote of the three-member commission, which includes: California Chef Justice Patricia Guerrero (Chair); California Attorney General Rob Bonta; Presiding Justice Frances Rothschild (for the Second Appellate District, Division Two, hearing); Presiding Justice Manuel Ramirez (for the Fourth Appellate District, Divisions One and Three, hearings); and Administrative Presiding Justice Brad R. Hill (for the Fifth Appellate District hearing). 

You can learn more in the public documents available for this hearing. 

Appointee Biographies

Judge Stephen Goorvitch fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Judith T. Ashmann-Gerst. He has served as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge since 2015. Before joining the bench, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, from 2007 to 2015. He was counsel at O’Melveny and Myers from 2003 to 2007. He served as a law clerk in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California from 2001 to 2003. He served as a staff attorney in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 1998 to 2001. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. 

Justice Joanne Motoike fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Presiding Justice Kathleen E. O’Leary. She has served as an associate justice in the Fourth Appellate District, Division Three, since 2022. She served as an Orange County Superior Court judge from 2013 to 2022. Before joining the bench, she was a senior deputy public defender in Orange County from 2008 to 2013. She also worked as a trial attorney at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal from 2006 to 2008. She received her Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School. 

Judge Amy Guerra fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Bruce Smith. She has served as a judge in the Fresno County Superior Court since 2018. Before joining the bench, she worked as the chief defense attorney at the Fresno County Alternate Defense Office from 2014 to 2018 and as an associate with the office from 2007 to 2014. She received her Juris Doctor from the San Joaquin College of Law. 

Judge Eran M. Bermudez fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Richard D. Huffman. She has served as a judge in the Imperial County Superior Court since 2018. Before joining the bench, she worked as a compliance resolution officer at the University of California, San Diego, from 2016 to 2018 and in private practice from 2005 to 2016. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. 

Judge Deborah C. Servino fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Thomas M. Goethals. She has served as a judge in the Orange County Superior Court since 2009. Before joining the bench, she served as a deputy attorney general at the California Attorney General’s Office from 1997 to 2009. Previously, she worked in private practice and as a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1995 to 1997. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.  

View the full photo album on the California Court's Flickr.