Deputy Federal Public Defender Gary Rowe

Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the appointment of Gary Rowe, a Deputy Federal Public Defender with the Federal Public Defender, Central District of California, as Los Angeles County Superior Court judge.

Gary Rowe, of Los Angeles County, has been appointed to serve as a Judge in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Rowe has served as a Deputy Attorney General at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, Civil Rights Enforcement Section since June 2023. He served as a Deputy Federal Public Defender at the Office of the Federal Public Defender, Central District of California from 2014 to June 2023. He was an Associate at Greines, Martin, Stein and Richland LLP from 2011 to 2014. Rowe was a Visiting Associate Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School from 2009 to 2010 and at the University of Texas Law School from 2008 to 2009. He was an Acting Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law from 2001 to 2008 and served as Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget from 1994 to 1995. Rowe served as a Law Clerk for the Honorable William A. Norris at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1993 to 1994 and was an Associate at Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering from 1992 to 1993. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School, a Master of Arts degree in American History from Princeton University and a Master of Studies degree in Modern History from the University of Oxford. Rowe fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Christine Byrd. He is a Democrat.

Read the official announcement from the California Governor’s office here.

Judge Rowe joins an impressive list of former FPD-CDCA alumni who have become judges. See Former FPD-CDCA Attorneys Appointed to State and Federal Benches.