Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced the appointment of OCBA members Scott B. Cooper, Andre De La Cruz, and Katherine E. Lewis to judgeship in the Orange County Superior Court.

Scott B. Cooper, 48, of Irvine, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Orange County Superior Court. He has been managing attorney at the Cooper Law Firm since 2007. He was a partner at Cooper, Jones and Cooper LLP from 2003 to 2006 and an associate at Cooper and Jones LLP from 1999 to 2003 and at Latham and Watkins LLP from 1995 to 1999. Cooper served as a law clerk for the Honorable Alicemarie H. Stotler at the U.S. District Court, Central District of California from 1994 to 1995. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Carla M. Singer. Cooper is registered without party preference.

Andre De La Cruz, 42, of Fullerton, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Orange County Superior Court. De La Cruz has been of counsel at Troutman Sanders LLP since 2016. He was a senior associate at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton LLP from 2013 to 2016 and at Dickstein Shapiro LLP from 2012 to 2013. De La Cruz was director of intellectual property rights management at the Western Digital Corporation from 2011 to 2012, a managing associate at Orrick Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP from 2008 to 2011 and an associate at McDermott Will and Emery LLP from 2006 to 2008. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1993 to 1996. De La Cruz earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of La Verne. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Frederick P. Horn. De La Cruz is registered without party preference.

Katherine E. Lewis, 47, of Huntington Beach, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Orange County Superior Court. Lewis has served as a commissioner at the Orange County Superior Court since 2016. She served as a deputy public defender at the Orange County Public Defender's Office from 1996 to 2016. Lewis earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Clay M. Smith. Lewis is a Democrat.

For more information on recent appointments, visit the Office of Governor website.