Sole practitioner, minority bar supporter named governor’s judicial appointments secretary

Luis A. Céspedes, a sole practitioner best known for co-founding an influential association of Sacramento minority bar groups, was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as his judicial appointment secretary on Thursday.

He succeeds Justice Martin J. Jenkins, who was sworn in last week to a position on the state Supreme Court, and will be the governor's chief adviser in filling judicial vacancies in the state.

The appointment of Cespedes, 68, won praise from judges who have known him for years, several of whom said he's had an eye for judicial talent -- and especially minority applicants -- for decades.

"He has a keen insight into people," said U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley of the Eastern District of California, who first met Cespedes as an attorney who subsequently assisted him when he applied to be a Sacramento County Superior Court judge.

"I knew about Luis when I got to Sacramento and then struck up a conversation with him on the street in 1998," Nunley said in a phone interview. "He was influential in helping me get appointed."

Nunley, who is Black and was a member of the Wiley W. Manuel Bar Association, said Cespedes -- then president of the La Raza Lawyers Association (now the Cruz Reynoso Bar Association) -- helped pull together Sacramento's annual Unity Bar along with leaders of the Black lawyers' group and an Asian-American lawyers association.

The Unity Bar, started in the mid-1980s, is still going strong.

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge David F. De Alba said in an interview the group's annual dinner is "the most well-attended, energetic and diverse bar function in Sacramento."

Cespedes practices personal injury law, criminal law, and post-conviction relief, especially for convicted defendants who have immigration problems, De Alba said.

In 2018, Céspedes was named "Distinguished Attorney of the Year" by the Sacramento County Bar Association.

"Luis Céspedes has championed the cause of civil rights, equal justice, diversity and inclusion throughout his storied legal career," Newsom wrote in a statement announcing the appointment.

"From his days as a 15-year-old going on strike with the United Farm Workers alongside César Chávez, to his time as a Capitol staffer and decades as a lawyer, Luis' resilience and compassion have touched countless lives and earned the respect of countless others," the governor added.

He started his own solo practice in 1982.

Judicial appointments secretaries often end their tenures with a bench appointment of their own, but Céspedes could not be reached for comment Thursday about whether he was interested in doing that himself.

"I am very grateful that Governor Newsom has selected me for this extraordinarily important job," he said in a prepared statement. "The appointment of judges committed to public service and who reflect the diversity of our great state is critically important to the fair and equitable administration of justice."

Assemblyman Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, the vice chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, hailed the appointment.

"Vetting attorneys for judicial appointments is an extraordinary responsibility and should be handled by someone with impeccable legal credentials, the respect of fellow attorneys, and a deep commitment to justice and diversity -- all of which Mr. Céspedes exemplifies," Rivas wrote in a prepared statement.

San Diego County Presiding Judge Lorna A. Alksne interviewed Cespedes a couple of months ago when he was under consideration for the job and said she asked him about his judicial philosophy and the different needs faced by her court.

"I thought he was thoughtful and compassionate," the judge said in a phone interview.

Céspedes, a Democrat who lives in Carmichael, is a graduate of UC Berkeley School of Law and has a master's degree in urban studies from Occidental College.

The position does not require Senate confirmation. His salary will be $207,000 per year.