Two UC Law SF Alumni Appointed to the California Bench 

UC Law SF alumni Jeffrey El-Hajj ’09 and Eunice W. Lee ’09 bring extensive public service and private practice experience to their new roles as Superior Court judges in Santa Clara County.

Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed two UC Law San Francisco alumni to serve as Santa Clara County Superior Court judges. They join more than 500 living UC Law SF graduates who have served on state and federal courts nationwide.   

Jeffrey El-Hajj ’09 has been appointed to the Santa Clara County Superior Court. El-Hajj has served as a research attorney for the Sixth Appellate District Court of Appeal since 2013. He previously clerked for the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and began his legal career in private practice with Angel Law. He takes a position left vacant by retiring Judge Peter H. Kirwan.  

Eunice W. Lee ’09 will also join the Santa Clara County Superior Court. Lee has been a deputy district attorney for the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office since 2015. Prior to joining the DA’s office, she spent seven years in private practice at Minami Tamaki LLP. Lee fills the seat vacated by the retirement of Judge Vanessa Zecher.   

Newsom also appointed John D. Echeverria, a former UC Law SF adjunct professor, to the San Francisco County Superior Court. Echeverria has served as a supervising deputy attorney general in the California Attorney General’s Office since 2024 and was a deputy attorney general from 2016 to 2024.