Matthew A. ScherbIncumbent

Candidate for Court of Appeal Justice, California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division 8, Seat 3

Matthew A. Scherb is an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Eight, in Los Angeles. He earned a B.S. in computer science from Yale University. He earned a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. After law school, he was a clerk for Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, from 2004 to 2005. He then went into litigation practice at a firm called Winston & Strawn LLP, in San Francisco, from 2005 to 2011. There, he worked on copyright and trademark matters. He spent much of his later career as a staff lawyer for the appeals courts. He was a senior and lead appellate court attorney for Justice Kathleen M. Banke of the First District Court of Appeal, Division One, from 2011 to 2017. He then worked as a deputy in the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, handling civil appeals and writs, from 2017 to 2021. During that time, he also gave his time to Public Counsel's Appellate Clinic for Self-Represented Litigants. He was chambers attorney for Justice Martin J. Jenkins of the Supreme Court of California, from 2021 to 2025. Gov. Gavin Newsom put his name up for the Court of Appeal on August 7, 2025. The Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed him, with no votes against, on November 17, 2025. That commission was Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Presiding Justice Arthur Gilbert. He fills a seat that came open when Justice Elizabeth A. Grimes chose to retire. This is his first job on the bench. He faces his first nonpartisan retention vote on the November 3, 2026 ballot. If most voters mark yes, he keeps his seat.

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