SACRAMENTO – Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday announced the appointment of Bruce G. Iwasaki to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Iwasaki, 61, of Los Angeles has been a partner at Lim Ruger and Kim LLP since 2006. He was executive director of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles from 1997 to 2006 and was an associate at O’Melveny and Myers LLP from 1988 to 1997.
From 1980 to 1988, he served in multiple positions at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, including senior counsel and staff attorney. He was a staff attorney at San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services from 1976 to 1980.
Iwasaki earned a juris doctorate degree from the UCLA School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from UCLA.
Among other honors, Iwasaki has received the Loren Miller Legal Services Award from the State Bar of California, the Judge John Minor Wisdom Public Service Award from the American Bar Association Section of Litigation, and the Antonia Hernandez Public Interest Award from the UCLA School of Law.
He has served with a number of organizations dedicated to access to justice, including the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants, the California Bar Foundation, and the State Bar of California Legal Services Trust Fund Commission.
Iwasaki has also been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the Board of Governors of the Japanese American Bar Association of Greater Los Angeles.
Also appointed to the Superior Court were:
Debra A. Cole, 50, of Long Beach, of the Los Angeles County Alternative Public Defender’s Office;
Halim Dhanidina, 39, of Los Angeles, a deputy district attorney in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the first Muslim on the bench in California, according to the Muslim Public Affairs Council;
Peter A. Hernandez, 42, of Alhambra, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California;
H. Clay Jacke II, 53, of Los Angeles, a sole criminal defense practitioner;
Virginia Keeny, 50, of Los Angeles, a partner at Hadsell Stormer Keeny Richardson and Renick LLP;
David B. Walgren, 43, of Calabasas, a deputy district attorney in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office;
Jeffrey K. Winikow, 47, of Los Angeles, a sole practitioner.
The compensation for each position is $178,789.