SACRAMENTO (CN) — California has 21 new superior court judges, Governor Jerry Brown’s office announced Friday, including 10 in Los Angeles County and the first American Muslim judge ever appointed in Kern County Superior Court.
In Alameda County
Richard L. Seabolt, 68, of Piedmont, fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Alice Vilardi. Seabolt has been a partner at Duane Morris LLP since 2006, and was a partner at Hancock, Rothert and Bunshoft from 1982 to 2005. He is a Democrat.
Jenna M. Whitman, 45, of Oakland, fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge George C. Hernandez Jr. Whitman has been a court appellate attorney at the First District Court of Appeal since 2017. She was a research attorney at Alameda County Superior Court from 2007 to 2017, an associate at Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann and Bernstein LLP from 2005 to 2007 and at Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk and Rabkin from 2001 to 2004. She is a Democrat.
Humboldt County
Timothy A. Canning, 59, of Arcata, fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge John T. Feeney. Canning has been a commissioner at Humboldt County Superior Court since 2017, where he was a research attorney from 2016 to 2017. He was a sole practitioner from 1999 to 2015 and an associate at the Sapiro Law Firm from 1990 to 1999. He is a Democrat.
Inyo County
Stephen M. Place, 52, of Bishop, fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Dean T. Stout. Place has been a sole practitioner since 2013. He was a partner at Hardy and Place from 2006 to 2013 and at Place and Christensen from 2004 to 2006. He is registered with the Green Party.
Kern County
Gregory A. Pulskamp, 49, of Bakersfield, fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge William D. Palmer. The first American Muslim judge ever appointed to the Kern County Superior Court, he has been a supervising deputy district attorney at the Kern County District Attorney’s Office since 2014, where he had been a deputy district attorney since 1996. He is registered without party preference.
Los Angeles County
Wendy W.Y. Chang, 47, of Los Angeles, fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Frank J. Johnson. Chang has been a partner at Hinshaw and Culbertson LLP since 2008, where she was a senior associate from 2004 to 2008. She is a Democrat.
William A. Crowfoot, 61, of Pasadena, fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Anne H. Egerton to the Court of Appeal. Crowfoot has been an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California since 2003. He was a member of the Pasadena City Council from 1993 to 2001 and a senior associate at Paul Hastings LLP from 1997 to 2001, where he was an associate and of counsel from 1987 to 1995. He is a Democrat.
Christopher W. Dybwad, 43, of Los Angeles, fills the vacancy created by the death of Judge Ross M. Klein. He has been chief deputy federal public defender in the Federal Public Defender's Office, Central District of California since 2014, where he held several positions since 2005, including supervising deputy federal public defender and deputy federal public defender. He was an associate at Debevoise and Plimpton from 2001 to 2003 and 2004 to 2005. He is a Democrat.