Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero: Career, Role, and Initiatives

Patricia Guerrero is the 29th Chief Justice of California and the first Latina to hold the position, having taken office on January 2, 2023 after being nominated by Governor Gavin Newsom and unanimously confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.¹ She leads the largest state court system in the country, one that serves more than 39 million people and handles roughly 5 million cases each year.²

From Imperial Valley to Stanford Law

Guerrero grew up in Imperial, a small town in California’s Imperial Valley near the Mexican border. Both her parents were immigrants from Mexico. Her father worked his way up from farm labor to become a foreman at a local feedlot; her mother stayed home to raise two daughters and cared for neighborhood children as well. Neither parent finished school, but both pressed the value of education on their children.

She graduated as co-valedictorian of Imperial High School in 1990 and went on to the University of California, Berkeley, working through college to help pay her way. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies in 1994, along with an award given to the top two students in the major. She then attended Stanford Law School, won the Hilmer Oehlmann Jr. Award for excellence in legal writing, and received her Juris Doctor in 1997.³

Legal Career Before the Bench

Guerrero joined Latham & Watkins in 1997, handling complex commercial and environmental litigation and government enforcement matters. From 2002 to 2003, she stepped away from private practice to serve as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, prosecuting federal criminal cases.⁴ She returned to Latham & Watkins afterward and was later elevated to equity partner.⁵ In all, she spent about 15 years in private practice before moving to the bench.

Rising Through All Three Levels of the California Courts

Her judicial career began in 2013 with an appointment to the San Diego County Superior Court, where she handled a mix of civil and criminal matters. By 2017 she was the supervising judge of the court’s Family Law Division, one of the busiest family law calendars in the state.⁴

In December 2017, she was confirmed as an associate justice on the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One, in San Diego.⁶ She reviewed trial court decisions, authored appellate opinions, and chaired statewide judicial committees including the Judicial Council’s Advisory Committee on Criminal Jury Instructions and the State Bar’s Blue Ribbon Commission on the Future of the Bar Exam.⁷

In March 2022 she joined the California Supreme Court as an associate justice, becoming the first Latina to sit on the state’s highest court.⁸ Her tenure as associate justice lasted only months. When Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye decided not to seek re-election, Newsom nominated Guerrero to the top post, and California voters approved her overwhelmingly at the November 2022 general election.¹ Having served at trial, appellate, and supreme court levels is unusual among chief justices and gives her direct familiarity with the work at every tier.

What the Chief Justice of California Does

The role goes well beyond hearing cases. Guerrero chairs the Commission on Judicial Appointments and the Judicial Council of California, the policymaking body for the state court system.³ The Judicial Council sets administrative policy, adopts rules of court, and allocates funding to trial and appellate courts across all 58 counties.⁹ The system employs roughly 1,800 judicial officers and more than 17,000 court staff.²

The Chief Justice also has constitutional authority to reassign judges temporarily across courts to cover vacancies, illnesses, or calendar congestion. The Temporary Assigned Judges Program handles the logistics, but the reassignment orders come from the Chief Justice.¹⁰ It is one of the more practical levers for keeping backlogs from spiraling in courts that lose a judge to retirement or recusal.

Each year, the Chief Justice delivers a State of the Judiciary Address to the Legislature. In her 2025 address, Guerrero emphasized the branch’s commitment to public service and access to justice for all Californians.⁴

Signature Initiatives

Generative AI in the Courts

In May 2024, Guerrero created a judicial branch task force to evaluate how generative artificial intelligence could be used in California courts while protecting the integrity of the judicial process.¹¹ The task force was charged with developing rules of court, technology policies, and educational programs. By mid-2025, the branch had adopted a formal standard governing how judicial officers use generative AI and a separate rule of court establishing generative AI use policies for court operations.¹² The branch’s stated position is that AI can improve court administration, research, and access to justice, but is not a substitute for judicial decision-making or due process.

Language Access

California courts serve speakers of more than 200 languages, and the Judicial Council maintains a statewide program to provide interpretation and translated materials for people with limited English proficiency. Under Guerrero’s leadership, the branch continues to expand its interpreter workforce through a training pipeline. As of 2026, the third cohort of a Workforce Pilot Program is accepting applications, and the branch is offering certified language testing opportunities.¹³

Judicial Approach and Retention

Her record on the Court of Appeal offers the clearest window into her temperament. During roughly four years on that bench, she authored or joined the majority opinion in nearly every case. She diverged from her colleagues only three times, and two of those instances were concurrences in the result rather than outright disagreements. Her one truly separate opinion addressed a legal question the California Supreme Court had not yet settled. The pattern is one of consensus-building rather than ideological line-drawing.

California voters approved her retention overwhelmingly at the November 2022 general election.¹ Like all California Supreme Court justices, she will face periodic uncontested retention elections in which voters decide whether she continues serving.¹⁴

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Supreme Court of California. New California Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero Takes Office
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California Courts Newsroom. About the Judicial Branch
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Judicial Branch of California. Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero
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Supreme Court of California. Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero
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Judicial Branch of California. Profile of Patricia Guerrero
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California Courts. Profile of Patricia Guerrero
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State Bar of California. Joint Blue Ribbon Commission on the Future of the California Bar Exam Holds First Meeting
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Supreme Court of California. Justice Patricia Guerrero Confirmed to California Supreme Court
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California Courts Newsroom. Judicial Branch Governance
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Judicial Council of California. Temporary Assigned Judges Program Fact Sheet
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California Courts Newsroom. Chief Justice Creates Task Force on Use of Generative AI in the California Courts
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Judicial Branch of California. Artificial Intelligence Task Force
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California Courts. Language Access Services
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California Courts. Appellate Retention Elections