Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero

Chief Justice Guerrero first joined the California Supreme Court as an associate justice in March 2022, making her the first Latina on the state’s high court. In December 2017, her appointment was confirmed as an associate justice on the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One in San Diego. From 2013 to 2017, she served as a judge on the Superior Court of San Diego County and was the supervising judge of its Family Law Division in 2017.

Prior to her appointment to the bench, Chief Justice Guerrero worked as an associate at Latham & Watkins LLP starting in 1997 and became an equity partner in 2006. She served as an assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California from 2002 to 2003.

During her legal career, Chief Justice Guerrero has contributed many hours of volunteer work, including as a member of the Advisory Board of the Immigration Justice Project, which promotes due process and access to justice at all levels of the immigration and appellate court system. She has also assisted clients on a pro bono basis in immigration matters, including asylum applications and protecting vulnerable families by litigating compliance with fair housing laws. While a justice on the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Chief Justice Guerrero was chair of the State Bar’s Blue Ribbon Commission on the Future of the Bar Exam and chair of the Judicial Council of California’s Advisory Committee on Criminal Jury Instructions.

Chief Justice Guerrero is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and was born and raised in California’s Imperial Valley. She attended the University of California, Berkeley as an undergraduate and earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School in 1997.