The Voice of the California Asian Pacific American Judiciary
2023-2024 Officers
Hon. Terry Truong
Los Angeles County
President
Judge Terry T. Truong was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court by Governor Gavin Newsom in December 2022. Prior to that, she served as a commissioner and referee with the same court for a total of 14 years. She also worked at the Los Angeles County Counsel’s Office and as an attorney representing children and parents in the Dependency Court system in Los Angeles. Judge Truong is active in local and statewide committees, including the Judicial Council Advisory Committee on Providing Access and Fairness, California Judges Association Elimination of Bias and Inequality in the Judiciary, and the Judicial Council CJER Juvenile Law Curriculum Committee. Judge Truong received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Irvine and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.
Hon. Jayne Chong-Soon Lee
San Joaquin County
President-Elect
Judge Lee was appointed judge by Governor Newsom in December 2019, and is currently the Supervising Civil Judge at the Superior Court of California, San Joaquin County. She graduated from Yale University and UCLA School of Law. She has taught at Stanford Law School, published law review articles currently used in first year law school classes, and was an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University School of Law. She is the author of a Matthew Bender multi-volume treatise, as well as a contributor to various CEB treatises. She is a frequent lecturer for CEB, PLI, the California State Bar, and various law schools. She has served on curriculum committees for the Center for Judicial Education and Research, as well as executive committees of the California. State Bar. Currently, she serves as Chair of the Probate and Mental Health Advisory Committee of the Judicial Council.
Hon. Sonny Sandhu
Stanislaus County
Immediate Past President
The Honorable Sonny S. Sandhu was appointed to a judgeship to the Stanislaus County Superior Court on October 11, 2018 by Governor Jerry Brown. Judge Sandhu is the first Asian-Pacific American judge appointed to the Stanislaus County Bench. During his tenure with the Stanislaus County Superior Court, Judge Sandhu has presided in the Criminal Arraignment court and is currently assigned to a Civil courtroom.Prior to his appointment, Judge Sandhu served as the Public Defender of Stanislaus County. He served in several positions at the Stanislaus County Public Defender’s Office from 2003 to 2017, including Chief Deputy Public Defender and Deputy Public Defender.He earned a Juris Doctor degree from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. During his time there, Judge Sandhu was President of the Asian-Pacific American Law Students Association. He received his Bachelor of Arts degrees in Asian American Studies and Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.Judge Sandhu was elected to serve as Assistant Presiding Judge of the Stanislaus Superior Court and began his term on January 2023. Judge Sandhu served as President of the California Asian-Pacific American Judges Association (CAPAJA) from 2022-2023 and Judge Sandhu has served on the executive board of CAPAJA since 2019.Judge Sandhu has served on numerous committees since his appointment. He is currently the Chair of the California Judicial Mentorship Program for Stanislaus County, serves as Chair of the Stanislaus County Court Observer Program in conjunction with California State University, Stanislaus, and serves as the chair of the Judges in the Classroom for Stanislaus County. He has previously served on the Judicial Diversity Summit Advisory Committee, California Judges Association Midyear and Annual Planning Committee.
Hon. Michelle Ahnn
Los Angeles County
Secretary
Judge Michelle Ahnn is a judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court. She presides over a criminal misdemeanor calendar and trial court in Compton, CA. She was appointed to the bench by Governor Edmund Brown in Nov. 2015. Judge Ahnn graduated from Brown University and UCLA School of Law. She clerked for Judge Napoleon A. Jones Jr. at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (San Diego). From 1999-2001, she served as an E. Barrett Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. After her fellowship, she returned to Los Angeles and worked as a Deputy Alternate Public Defender from 2001 to 2015. She is a contributing author to the book, “Tough Cases: Judges Tell the Stories of Some of the Hardest Decisions They’ve Ever Made” (2018).
Hon. Sunil Kulkarni
Santa Clara County
Treasurer
Judge Sunil R. Kulkarni joined the bench in October 2013 and currently has a complex civil litigation assignment. He previously had a range of civil and criminal assignments. Judge Kulkarni also is currently the Supervising Judge of his court’s civil division, and co-chairs his court’s judicial mentorship program.Before becoming a judge, Judge Kulkarni worked as a senior litigation counsel for the University of California. Before UC, he was a partner (and associate) with the Palo Alto office of Morrison and Foerster LLP for 13 years, specializing in intellectual property and securities litigation. He also was a law clerk for the Honorable Oliver W. Wanger, U.S. District Court (E.D. Cal.), from 1996 to 1997. Judge Kulkarni received his law degree with high honors from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1996, and his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering with honors from the University of California, Berkeley in 1993. Judge Kulkarni is married and has two daughters (ages 17 and 14).
Hon. Benjamin Reyes II
Contra Costa County
1st District Representative
Judge Reyes was appointed as a Judge of the Superior Court by Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr. May 22, 2017. He is the first Filipino American appointed to the Contra Costa Superior Court and the second Filipino American judge appointed to the nine Bay Area Counties.
For most of his 24 years as an attorney, Judge Reyes managed a public agency practice. Judge Reyes was an Equity Principal at the boutique public agency law firm, Meyers Nave. He served on the firm’s Executive Committee and chaired the firm’s statewide public contracts practice group. Through Meyers Nave, he also served as City Attorney for the Cities of Pinole and Union City.
Judge Reyes is an Eagle Scout and is the past President of the Boy Scouts of America, Alameda Council. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves where he earned the coveted United States Army Parachutist Badge (Airborne).
Judge Reyes currently serves as the Supervising Judge of the Contra Costa Superior Court’s family law division and manages the Spinetta Family Law Center and courthouse. He also serves on the court’s Executive Committee. Judge Reyes is active in the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California, the Asian American Bar Association, the Contra Costa County Bar Association and the California Judges Association. He is past chair of the California Asian Pacific American Judges Association Political Action Committee. Judge Reyes sits on the faculty of Berkeley Law, where he teaches an advocacy course for LLM Students. Judge Reyes also serves on the faculty of the University of San Francisco School of Law’s Intensive Advocacy Program.
Judge Reyes earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Hon. Christopher Lui
Los Angeles County
2nd District Representative
Judge Christopher K. Lui was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 2014. He is currently assigned to an Independent Calendar civil courtroom in the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. Prior to his appointment, Judge Lui practiced in both civil and criminal contexts. After law school, he served as a law clerk to United States District Judge Dickran Tevrizian, and then worked as a civil litigator at O’Melveny & Myers until 2005, when he joined the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office in LA. He returned to private practice in 2011, where he worked at Crowell & Moring. Prior to his appointment to the bench in 2014, Judge Lui practiced civil litigation and white collar criminal defense at Browne George Ross. Judge Lui received his A.B. Degree from U.C. Berkeley and his J.D. from Loyola Law School.
Hon. Jana Seng
Los Angeles County
2nd District Representative
Judge Jana Seng was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 2018 by Governor Jerry Brown and became the first Cambodian American judge appointed to the bench in the state of California. She is currently assigned to Dependency Court at the Edelman Children’s Court in Monterey Park. Prior to her appointment, Judge Seng served as a Head Deputy and trial attorney at the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender’s Office. She sits on the Boards of the Asian Pacific American Woman Lawyers Alliance as well as the Criminal Law Section of the California Lawyers Association. Judge Seng received her Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University Long Beach, and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Washington.
Hon. Kara Ueda
Sacramento County
3rd District Representative
Judge Ueda was appointed to the Sacramento County Superior Court in August 2020 by Governor Gavin Newsom. She currently serves in a Family Law assignment. Prior to her appointment, Judge Ueda was a partner at Best Best & Krieger, where she practiced municipal law, and an adjunct law professor at the University of California Davis School of Law. Judge Ueda is a past president of the Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento and the UC Davis School of Law Alumni Board. She received a B.S. in Environmental Policy, Analysis, and Planning from UC Davis and a J.D. from UC Davis School of Law.
Hon. Nathan Vu
Orange County
4th District Representative
Judge Nathan Nhan Vu was appointed to the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Orange, in June of 2018 by Governor Jerry Brown. He is currently assigned to the Family Law panel. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Vu was a Deputy Attorney General in the California Department of Justice, a partner at a top litigation boutique, and a law professor at Chapman University School of Law. Judge Vu is a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School, and clerked for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Hon. Corey G. Lee
San Bernardino County
4th District Representative
Judge Lee was appointed to the San Bernardino County Superior Court in July 2015. She is currently assigned to a criminal trial court in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Before her appointment, Judge Lee was deputy chief of the Riverside Branch, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, where she served as an assistant U.S. attorney since 2008. She served as a deputy district attorney at the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office and at the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office from 2004 to 2008. Through the U.S. Attorney General’s Honor Program, Judge Lee served as a law clerk at the Executive Office of Immigration Review in Los Angeles from 2003 to 2004. Prior to her legal career, Judge Lee worked for the Office of Management and Budget, the Health Care Financing Administration, and as a legislative fellow at the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C. Judge Lee received her B.A. from University of Pennsylvania, M.S. from Columbia University School of Social Work, and J.D. from Loyola Law School.
Hon. Jeff Mangar
Stanislaus County
5th District Representative
Judge Jeff Mangar was elected to the Stanislaus County Superior Court in March 2020 and is currently assigned to the Misdemeanor Jury Trial Court. Both of his parents immigrated to the United States as young adults. His mother is a nurse who was born and raised on the Island of Cebu in the Philippines. His father was raised in Guyana, South America before being the first person in his family to graduate from college.Prior to being elected, Judge Mangar was a 22-year veteran prosecutor working most recently as a Chief Deputy District Attorney. He was voted the National Asian Pacific Islander Prosecutors’ Association (NAPIPA) 2019 Prosecutor of the Year. He was also a Certified Criminal Law Specialist by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization; and a past California Bar Exam grader.Judge Mangar has served as President of several professional associations including the Stanislaus County Bar Association; the Stanislaus County Peace Officers’ Association; and the Stanislaus County Prosecutors Association. Judge Mangar is also a private pilot, and certified advanced scuba diver. He is married to his wife, Lina.
Hon. Frederick Chung
Santa Clara County
6th District Representative
Frederick Chung currently serves in a civil law and motion assignment. He has previously served in the appellate, criminal, and juvenile divisions of the court. Before his appointment in October 2018, he was in private practice for 22 years, focusing on intellectual property litigation. He also worked on more than 70 pro bono cases at the trial and appellate level. He received his A.B. and J.D. degrees from Harvard University, and he was a law clerk for the Honorable Karen Nelson Moore of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He is a former officer of the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California and a former President of the International Association of Korean Lawyers. From 2008 to 2018, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Pro Bono Project, Silicon Valley.
Hon. Johnny Gogo
Santa Clara County
6th District Representative
Judge Gogo was appointed to the bench in October 2019 by Governor Gavin Newsom and is currently assigned to handle Domestic Violence cases. Prior to becoming a judge, he served as a prosecutor for 22 years with the Guam Attorney General’s Office and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Judge Gogo also worked as an associate at the law firm of Calvo & Clark, LLP in Guam. He has also been a long time member of the Asian Pacific Bar Association of Silicon Valley and also served as President and Treasurer for the National Asian Pacific Islander Prosecutors Association (NAPIPA). He also served as a Judge Pro Tem from 2011-2019 and as a volunteer with the Citizen Advisory Board for the Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center in San Jose from 2010-2019. Judge Gogo was also active with the Santa Clara County Bar Association and served as Co-Chair of their Judiciary Committee from 2014-2015.
Hon. Richard K. Sueyoshi
Sacramento County
Co-Chair, Judicial Appointments
Judge Richard K. Sueyoshi was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in September 2009. Judge Sueyoshi is currently the Supervising Judge for the Civil Division of his court. He presides over a Complex Civil Case Management Department and a general trial department, hearing both civil and criminal cases. Judge Sueyoshi previously presided over civil writ of mandate and CEQA cases and served in the court’s high-volume criminal felony and misdemeanor “home courts.” Judge Sueyoshi is a Past President of CAPAJA. Before joining the bench, as an attorney, Judge Sueyoshi was an officer and board member for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. He is a Past President of the Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento and former board member of the Sacramento Asian/Pacific Chamber of Commerce (SACC) and the SACC Scholarship Foundation.
Hon. Lee Tsao
Los Angeles County
Co-Chair, Judicial Appointments
Judge Lee Tsao attended the University of California at Berkeley and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1992. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law in 1996. Judge Tsao was a staff attorney for the Immigrants’ Rights Project at Public Counsel from 1996 to 1997. He joined the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office in 1997 and served as a deputy public defender until 2013 when he was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to the Los Angeles Superior Court. Judge Tsao has had criminal law assignments in Downey and Bellflower and is currently handling preliminary hearings in Norwalk. Judge Tsao is married with two sons, ages 10 and 12, both of whom enjoy playing volleyball and Pokemon cards.
Hon. Tiffany Tai
Los Angeles Superior Court
Subordinate Judicial Officer Liason
Commissioner Tai sits in the Whittier Courthouse. Prior to her election as a court commissioner in February 2022, she was a partner at Ritt, Tai, Thvedt & Hodges, LLP in Pasadena, where she started as a law clerk under the Firm’s original iteration, Bensinger, Grayson, Ritt & Gee, in 1995.
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A first-generation immigrant, Commissioner Tai has lived in Southern California since arriving in the USA at the age of 7. She is a graduate of the Gould School of Law at USC.
Hon. Dorothy Chou Proudfoot
San Francisco Rent Board
ALJ Liaison
Judge Proudfoot is an Administrative Law Judge at the San Francisco Rent Board, presiding over arbitration hearings in residential rent control cases and mediating landlord-tenant disputes. She earned her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. She practiced civil litigation at Heller Ehrman LLP before spending sixteen years as a Marin County Deputy District Attorney.She serves on the Executive Board of the Earl Warren American Inn of Court, of which she is a Past President, the Board of the Asian American Bar Association Law Foundation, and the Council of the California Band Alumni Association. She was also the first Asian-American President of the Marin County Bar Association. She was the recipient of the Alameda County Bar Association’s 2023 Distinguished Service Award for a Judicial Officer.