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Erica R. Yew, a second-year member of the State
Bar Board of Governors, was named to the Santa Clara County Superior
Court last month by Gov. Gray Davis.
Yew, 41, is one of two representatives of
District 3, which includes Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda and Contra
Costa counties.
 She was one of four appointments to northern
California courts announced by the governor.
San Jose lawyer Randolf Rice also was named to
the Santa Clara bench, Santa Rosa City Attorney Rene A. Chouteau was
named to the Sonoma County bench and Monterey County deputy district
attorney Lydia Villareal will re-join the Monterey County Superior
Court after losing her seat in a special election.
Yew has been a partner with the San Jose law firm
of McManis, Faulkner & Morgan since 1999. From 1985 to 1999, she
was an associate and shareholder with Robinson & Wood Inc., also
in San Jose.
Her practice has emphasized insurance defense
work, including the defense of personal injury, defamation, legal and
medical malpractice, civil rights, wrongful termination, and patent
and trademark infringement. Yew also has served as a volunteer judge
pro tempore in the Superior Court and as a court-appointed arbitrator
in civil cases. Since 1997, she has participated as a faculty member
in the Stanford Law School Trial Advocacy Program.
In addition to her work with the State Bar, Yew
is active in a variety of civic and professional groups, including
serving on the boards of the Asian Law Alliance, Santa Clara County
Law Library and Pro Bono Project of Silicon Valley. She is a past
president of the Asian Pacific Bar Association of the Silicon Valley
and was honored in the early 1990s for her pro bono work. In 1991, the
California State Bar presented her with the Wiley Manuel Award for pro
bono legal services.
A graduate of the University of California,
Berkeley, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree with honors, Yew
received her law degree from Hastings Law School. She will receive a
salary of $133,051.
It was not immediately clear how her seat on the
bar board would be filled. |
