judicial Profiles
Wightman, Rebecca
COURT: San Francisco Superior
ASSIGNMENT: Commissioner, child support
APPOINTED: 2000 by the court
LAW SCHOOL: UC-Hastings
PREVIOUS JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE: Marin County Superior Court: juvenile court hearing officer, 1996 to 1997; judge pro tem, 1997 to 2000; part-time child support commissioner, 1999 to 2000
AGE: 56
PLACE OF BIRTH: Staten Island, N.Y.
POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Democrat
CLE: Family law
Wong, Garrett
COURT: San Francisco Superior
ASSIGNMENT: Mental health court
APPOINTED: 2005 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
LAW SCHOOL: University of Pennsylvania Law School
PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT: San Francisco public defender?s office (1984 to 1987); Kaufman & Logan (1987 to 1990); Jaffe Trutanich, Scatena & Blum (1990 to 1992); Law Offices of Wong & Lee (1992 to 1996); Padilla, O?Leary & Wong (1997 to 1998); Chan, Doi, Marshall & Leal (1999 to 2001); senior counsel, AT&T/SBC Communications Inc. (2001 to 2005)
AGE: 57
PLACE OF BIRTH: San Francisco
POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Democrat
CLE: Insurance, jury instructions
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Ross, Jeffrey
COURT: San Francisco Superior
ASSIGNMENT: Criminal trials
APPOINTED: 2009 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
LAW SCHOOL: Stanford Law School
PREVIOUS JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE: Judge pro tem, San Francisco Superior Court (2000 to 2009)
PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT: Friedman, Sloan & Ross, later known as Friedman, Ross & Hersh (1975 to 1999); Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro, later known as Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (1999 to 2009)
AGE: 60
PLACE OF BIRTH: New York
POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Democrat
Valencia, Jesus
COURT: Santa Clara County Superior
ASSIGNMENT: Juvenile justice
APPOINTED: 2009 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
LAW SCHOOL: Santa Clara University School of Law
PREVIOUS JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE: Commissioner, Santa Clara County Superior Court (2007 to 2009)
PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT: Solo practitioner, Law Office of Jesus Valencia (1986 to 2007)
AGE: 54
PLACE OF BIRTH: Salem, Ore.
POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Democrat
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McCoy, Michele McKay
COURT: Santa Clara County Superior
ASSIGNMENT: Domestic violence
ELECTED: 2007
LAW SCHOOL: UC-Hastings
PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT: Prosecutor for Santa Clara, Solano and Contra Costa counties (1970 to 2002)
AGE: 62
PLACE OF BIRTH: Lincoln, Neb.
POLITICAL AFFILIATION: None
Rolefson, Jon
COURT: Alameda County Superior
ASSIGNMENT: Presiding judge, civil calendar
APPOINTED: 1998 by court consolidation
LAW SCHOOL: UC-Hastings
PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT: Alameda County deputy district attorney (1973 to 1980); private practice (1980 to 1996)
AGE: 63
PLACE OF BIRTH: Modesto
POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Republican
Kolakowski, Victoria
COURT: Alameda County Superior
ASSIGNMENT: Criminal calendar
APPOINTED: Elected in 2010
LAW SCHOOL: Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center
PREVIOUS JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE: California Department of Insurance, ALJ (2006); California Public Utilities Commission, ALJ (2007 to 2010)
POLITICAL OFFICE: Former treasurer of Alameda County Democratic Party
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: Solo practice (1989 to 1990); McCubbrey, Bartels, Meyer & Ward, associate (1990 to 1993); solo practice (1993 to 1996); Ampex Corp., in-house counsel (1996 to 1997); solo practice (1997 to 1999); CPUC, analyst (1999 to 2000); Telegen Corp., general counsel and VP of legal affairs; CAO, chief patent counsel and VP of intellectual property (2000 to 2002); CPUC, engineer (2003); California Electricity Oversight Board, staff counsel (2003 to 2006)
AGE: 50
PLACE OF BIRTH: Queens, N.Y.
POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Democrat
McCarthy, Kristine
COURT: Santa Clara County Superior
2011 ASSIGNMENT: Commissioner ? small claims, domestic violence restraining orders
APPOINTED: Selected commissioner in 1987
LAW SCHOOL: Santa Clara University School of Law
PREVIOUS JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE: Temporary referee, Santa Clara County Superior Court (1983 to 1986)
PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT: Research assistant, American Justice Institute (1975); assistant staff director, Santa Clara Superior Court?s two-year judicial pilot program on criminal justice (1976 to 1978); director, traffic safety drinking driver program (1978 to 1981); consultant, Central Counties Safety Council alcohol programs (1981 to 1983); deputy county counsel, Santa Clara County (1986 to 1987)
AGE: 62
PLACE OF BIRTH: Los Angeles
POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Declined to state
Northway, Diane
COURT: Santa Clara County Superior
2011 ASSIGNMENT: Criminal calendar, jury trials
APPOINTED: 1990 by Gov. George Deukmejian
LAW SCHOOL: University of San Francisco School of Law
PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT: Deputy city attorney, San Jose (1970 to 1980); assistant city attorney, San Jose (1980 to 1981); city attorney, Palo Alto (1981 to 1990)
AGE: 67
PLACE OF BIRTH: New York
POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Independent
CLE: Jury instructions in criminal trials
Kahn, Harold
COURT: San Francisco Superior
2011 ASSIGNMENT: Law and motion
APPOINTED: 2001 by Gov. Gray Davis
LAW SCHOOL: University of Chicago Law School
PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT: Law clerk to U.S. District Judge Joseph Young (1982 to 1983); Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe (1983 to 1987); Law offices of Harold E. Kahn (1987 to 2001)
AGE: 55
PLACE OF BIRTH: Los Angeles
POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Democrat
CLE: Asbestos, substance abuse, collaborative courts, probation processing, domestic violence, family law, law and motion, civil procedure
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ADR Neutrals
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