Patricia Guerrero (born 1971/1972) is an American judge serving as an associate justice of the

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

since March 2022. Guerrero was previously an associate justice of the

California Court of Appeal The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts.

for the Fourth District, Division One from 2017 to 2022, a judge on the

San Diego County Superior Court The Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, is the branch of the California superior court with jurisdiction over San Diego County. History San Diego County was one of the original counties formed when California gained statehood in ...

from 2013 to 2017 and an assistant U.S. attorney in the

United States District Court for the Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

from 2002 to 2003. On August 10, 2022, Guerrero was nominated to the position of Chief Justice of California by Governor Gavin Newsom. She is a Democrat.

Education

Guerrero was born in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to parents from Mexico. She was raised in the

Imperial Valley, California , photo = Salton Sea from Space.jpg , photo_caption = The Imperial Valley below the Salton Sea. The US-Mexican border runs diagonally across the lower left of the image. , map_image = Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg , map_caption = Map of Imperial ...

. At the age of 16, Guerrero worked at a grocery store. Guerrero graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1994. She earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...

in 1997.

Career

Guerrero performed

pro bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

work as a member of the Immigration Justice Project advisory board. From 2002 to 2003, Guerrero served as an

assistant U.S. attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

in the

Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

. She joined the law firm of

Latham & Watkins Latham & Watkins LLP is an American multinational law firm. Founded in 1934 in Los Angeles, California, Latham is the second-largest law firm in the world by revenue. As of 2021, Latham is also one of the most profitable law firms in the world ...

as an associate and was promoted to partner in 2006.

Judicial service

In 2013, Guerrero became a judge on the

and served as the supervising judge for its

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage, ...

division in 2017. Later in 2017, she became an appellate justice on the Court of Appeal for the Fourth District, Division One, the state intermediate appellate court with jurisdiction over appeals from San Diego and Imperial counties. In February 2022, Guerrero was nominated by California Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fr ...

to replace Associate Justice

Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar Mariano-Florentino "Tino" Cuéllar (born July 27, 1972) is an American scholar, academic leader, public official, jurist, and nonprofit executive currently serving as the 10th president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. A former ...

on the

. Guerrero was approved by a 3-0 vote of the Commission on Judicial Appointments on March 22, 2022 and is the first Latina to serve on the

. On August 10, 2022, Governor Newsom nominated Guerrero to serve as the Chief Justice of California. On August 26, she was confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. , following the 2022 election, she was retained by California voters to be elevated as the chief justice with 70% of an affirmative vote.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Guerrero, Patricia 1970s births Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century women judges American judges of Mexican descent American lawyers of Mexican descent American people of Mexican descent American women judges Assistant United States Attorneys California Democrats California state court judges Chief Justices of California Judges of the California Courts of Appeal Justices of the Supreme Court of California People associated with Latham & Watkins Stanford Law School alumni Superior court judges in the United States University of California, Berkeley alumni