Asian Americans and the Judiciary

Judge Stuart Hing

Judge Stuart Hing was appointed to the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, in July 2008 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Prior to that, he was a deputy district attorney in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office for twenty-three years, conducting forty-nine jury trials, from misdemeanor to death-penalty cases, and thirty-seven non-jury trials. He also trained and supervised colleagues in over 102 jury trials. He received his juris doctorate degree from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.

Judge Hing and his wife, Rhoda, are active in the Community and Education Foundation of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association, Asian American Bar Association, Women Lawyers of Alameda County (in which he served as the only male board member), Charles Houston Car Association, Alameda County Bar Association, and also his own outreach and mentoring program. He also had an early career as a musician, and played lead guitar in a band that opened for Earth, Wind & Fire.

Judge Lucy Koh

Judge Lucy Koh was appointed to the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, in January 2008 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She is the first Korean American woman to be appointed to the bench in the Bay Area. Prior to her appointment, Judge Koh was a partner at McDermott, Will and Emery since 2002, working as a litigator in the intellectual property department with a focus on patent and trade secrets cases. Prior to that, she was a senior associate at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati from 2000 to 2002, and an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Major Frauds Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California from 1997 to 2000. A jury instruction from one of her trials is a Ninth Circuit Model Criminal Jury Instruction. From 1994 to 1997, she worked at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. as a Special Assistant to the U.S. Deputy Attorney General and as a Legislative Affairs Special Counsel. She was a Women's Law and Public Policy Fellow on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee staff from 1993-1994. Judge Koh received her undergraduate and juris doctorate degrees from Harvard.

Justice Mihara

Associate Justice Mihara was appointed to the California State Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District in 1993 by Governor Wilson, after serving as a judge for the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara from October 1988 and also a judge for the Municipal Court of California, Santa Clara County from June 1985 to October 1988. Prior to that, he had a private law practice in Menlo Park until he joined the California State Attorney General's office as a Deputy Attorney General in San Francisco until 1985. He received his juris doctorate degree from UC Hastings College of Law.

Justice Mihara is an active member of the California Judges Association, the California Asian American Judges Association, and the Asian Pacific Bar Association of Silicon Valley. He has co-chaired the Santa Clara County Bar Association's Appellate Section and has served on its Law Related Education Committee and Minority Access Committee. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Sentencing Alternatives Program in San Jose since 1985. Justice Mihara is also active in his community with Little League Baseball, the American Youth Soccer Association and his church. He is married and has one son