Frederick S. Chung

Candidate for Court of Appeal Justice, California Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District, Seat 6

Frederick S. Chung earned his B.A. from Harvard College. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He then served as a law clerk to Judge Karen Nelson Moore of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, from 1995 to 1996. He spent more than two decades in private practice in Silicon Valley. He was an associate at Morrison & Foerster LLP, from 1996 to 2003. He then moved to Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, from 2003 to 2018. There, he was an associate from 2003 to 2007, and a partner starting in 2008. Gov. Jerry Brown put him on the Santa Clara County Superior Court on October 11, 2018. That seat had come open when Judge Margaret Johnson retired. He has served on that court since 2018. He has also been a member of the California Supreme Court's Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions. On August 7, 2026, Gov. Gavin Newsom put Judge Chung's name up to be an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District, in San Jose. This is for the seat of Justice Adrienne M. Grover, who retires when her term ends on January 4, 2027. The Commission on Judicial Appointments held a public hearing on August 19, 2026. It confirmed the nomination, with no votes against, by the three-member commission. Because his term would begin on January 4, 2027, Chung's name appears on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot. It is a yes or no voter-confirmation question about the appointee, not a retention vote about a sitting appellate justice. If voters approve, his term as Associate Justice would begin on January 4, 2027. As of August 21, 2026, no group had been found campaigning for or against his confirmation.

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