Governor Brown Makes Appointments to San Bernardino and Riverside Superior Courts

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. has announced four new appointments to the Superior Courts in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, two to fill vacancies. Brown has appointed Corey G. Lee and Charles J. Umeda to judgeships in the San Bernardino County Superior Court. Lee, 43, of Claremont, has been deputy chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California Riverside Branch Office since 2012, where she has 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 from 2007 to 2008 and at the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office from 2004 to 2007. Lee served as a law clerk at the U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review from 2003 to 2004. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School Los Angeles, a Master of Science degree from the Columbia University School of Social Work and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Larry W. Allen. Umeda, 56, of Loma Linda, has served as a deputy district attorney at the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office since 1993. He was an attorney in private practice from 1991 to 1993, an associate at Bruce R. Bailey and Associates from 1990 to 1991 and served as a deputy district attorney at the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office from 1985 to 1991. Umeda earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Redlands. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Shahla S. Sabet. In Riverside County, Brown has appointed Chad W. Firetag and Bambi J. Moyer to judgeships in the Riverside County Superior Court. Firetag, 38, of Riverside, has served as the assistant public defender at the Riverside County Public Defender’s Office since 2013. He was a partner at the Law Offices of Grech and Firetag from 2002 to 2013 and an associate at Rutan and Tucker LLP from 2001 to 2002. Firetag earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Riverside. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Sherrill A. Ellsworth. Moyer, 53, of Riverside, has served as a commissioner at the Riverside County Superior Court since 1996. She served as a deputy district attorney at the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office from 1988 to 1996 and was an associate at the Law Offices of Blumenthal and Milliken from 1987 to 1988 and at Heslin and Rothenberg PC from 1986 to 1987. Moyer earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Albany Law School of Union University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Union College. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Elisabeth Sichel. The compensation for each of these positions is $184,610.