Anne RichardsonIncumbent

Candidate for Court of Appeal Justice, California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division 2, Seat 4

Anne K. Richardson is an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal. She sits on the Second Appellate District, Division Two. That court hears appeals from four counties. They are Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo. She earned a B.A. in philosophy from Swarthmore College. She earned a J.D. with distinction from Stanford Law School. There she edited the Stanford Law Review. She began her career as a law clerk. She clerked for U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer, Central District of California. She then spent roughly two decades at a civil rights firm. That firm was Hadsell Stormer Keeny Richardson & Renick LLP and its predecessors. She was an associate there starting in 1993. She was a partner there from 1998 to 2014. She litigated civil rights, human rights, and employment cases. This was at trial and on appeal, in state and federal courts. From 2014 to 2018 she was a directing attorney. She worked at Public Counsel, a pro bono public-interest law firm. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. appointed her to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. That was in October 2018. There she presided over a family law home court. She also ran an independent-calendar civil courtroom. Governor Gavin Newsom nominated her to the Court of Appeal. That was on September 30, 2024. It filled the seat left by Justice Brian M. Hoffstadt's elevation. The State Bar's Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation rated her 'exceptionally well qualified.' The Commission on Judicial Appointments unanimously confirmed her. That was on November 25, 2024, and she took the oath that day. She was appointed since the last governor's election. So she appears on the November 3, 2026 ballot. It is a nonpartisan yes/no retention vote. A majority 'yes' vote keeps her on the court, for the term beginning January 2027.

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