--- title: "Deborah C. Servino | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/deborah-c-servino" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-07" --- # Deborah C. Servino California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District · Associate Justice ## Profile - Court: California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District - State: California - Role: Associate Justice - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-28 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Associate Justice, California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three, 2026-present - Judge, Superior Court of California, County of Orange, 2009-present - Associate Justice of the California Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three, appointed in 2026 after a distinguished career as an Orange County Superior Court judge and Deputy Attorney General. - Judge, Superior Court of California, County of Orange, 2009-2026 - Deputy Attorney General, California DOJ (1997–2009): Lead counsel in 150+ California Court of Appeal cases, 16+ Ninth Circuit cases, 3 California Supreme Court cases, and 1 U.S. Supreme Court case - Private Practice: Associate at Rutan & Tucker, LLP (1996–1997) - Predecessor: Justice Thomas M. Goethals (retired) - Justice Servino was the second Asian Pacific American woman to serve on the Orange County Superior Court ### Education - University of California-Berkeley — J.D. (1995) - cum laude — Duke University — 1992 ### Additional information - Term: Ends January 4, 2027; subject to retention election on November 3, 2026 - Appointed: April 16, 2026, by Governor Gavin Newsom; confirmed May 22, 2026, by the Commission on Judicial Appointments - Orange County Superior Court (2009–2026): Appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; served on the Unlimited Civil Panel (2015–2026), presided over 180+ trials; presiding judge of the Appellate Division (2014–2015) - Judicial Council of California Advisory Committee on Civil Jury Instructions and Orange County Superior Court’s Judicial Extern Committee (16 years; chaired 2017–2023) - California Attorney General’s Award for Sustained Superior Accomplishment (2007) - Compensation: $280,052 annually - Her career spans trial law, appellate advocacy, judicial administration, and public service, with a strong record in civil litigation and jury instruction development. - Recognized by the Warren J. Ferguson American Inn of Court, American Board of Trial Advocates, Orange County Asian American Bar Association, and other legal organizations ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### courtroom equipment Scope: courtwide Orange County reports that most courtrooms have an overhead projector and wall-mounted screen. Counsel may connect their own equipment through VGA or HDMI, should bring required cables and adapters, and should confirm availability with the courtroom clerk with as much advance notice as possible. Evidence excerpt: Please check with the department's courtroom clerk for availability of equipment and give as much advanced notice as possible. [Evidence Presentation Equipment](https://www.occourts.org/general-information/lawyers-litigants/evidence-presentation-equipment) Source checked: 2026-07-28 ### audiovisual evidence Scope: statewide A party offering an electronic sound or sound-and-video recording must provide the court and opposing parties a transcript and provide opposing parties a duplicate of the recording. Evidence excerpt: the party must provide to the court and to opposing parties a transcript of the electronic recording and provide opposing parties with a duplicate of the electronic recording [California Rule 2.1040, Electronic recordings presented or offered into evidence](https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/two/rule2_1040) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### remote proceedings Scope: statewide California courts should permit remote participation in covered civil proceedings, subject to the statute, local rules, and controlling orders. Evidence excerpt: courts should permit parties to appear remotely at conferences, hearings, and proceedings in civil cases consistent with Code of Civil Procedure section 367.75 [California Rule 3.672, Remote proceedings](https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_672) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### remote participants and witnesses Scope: statewide Covered civil parties and witnesses may appear remotely, and the court may conduct proceedings in whole or in part using remote technology. Evidence excerpt: that party or witness may appear remotely and the court may conduct conferences, hearings, and proceedings, in whole or in part, through the use of remote technology [California Code of Civil Procedure section 367.75](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=367.75.&lawCode=CCP) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### recording and broadcasting Scope: statewide Court proceedings may not be photographed, recorded, or broadcast except as Rule 1.150 permits. Evidence excerpt: Except as provided in this rule, court proceedings may not be photographed, recorded, or broadcast. [California Rule 1.150, Photographing, recording, and broadcasting in court](https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/one/rule1_150) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### expedited jury trial presentations Scope: statewide In expedited jury trials, parties may use slides, electronic presentations, projections, exhibit notebooks, and other methods approved at the pretrial conference. Evidence excerpt: the parties may present summaries and may use photographs, diagrams, slides, electronic presentations, overhead projections, individual notebooks of exhibits for submission to the jurors, or other innovative methods of presentation approved at the pretrial conference [California Rule 3.1551, Case presentation](https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_1551) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### expedited jury trial pretrial agreements Scope: statewide Voluntary expedited jury trial submissions must identify party agreements concerning electronic presentations and other proposed presentation methods. Evidence excerpt: Any agreements of the parties to use photographs, diagrams, slides, electronic presentations, overhead projections, notebooks of exhibits, or other methods of presenting information to the jury [California Rule 3.1548, Pretrial submissions for voluntary expedited jury trials](https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_1548) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### exhibit admission Scope: statewide An exhibit must be admitted by the judge before it may be used in the case. Evidence excerpt: The judge must to allow you to admit the exhibit as evidence in order for you to use it in your case. [How to introduce exhibits at a trial](https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/how-introduce-exhibits-trial) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://courts.ca.gov/courts/superior-courts/judges-roster) - [Official roster](https://courts.ca.gov/courts/superior-courts/judges-roster) - [Judicial Branch of California official judicial roster](https://courts.ca.gov/courts/superior-courts/judges-roster) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/13651/deborah-chuang-servino/) - [California Rule 2.1040, Electronic recordings presented or offered into evidence](https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/two/rule2_1040) - [California Rule 3.672, Remote proceedings](https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_672) - [California Code of Civil Procedure section 367.75](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=367.75.&lawCode=CCP) - [California Rule 1.150, Photographing, recording, and broadcasting in court](https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/one/rule1_150) - [California Rule 3.1551, Case presentation](https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_1551) - [California Rule 3.1548, Pretrial submissions for voluntary expedited jury trials](https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_1548) - [How to introduce exhibits at a trial](https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/how-introduce-exhibits-trial) - [Evidence Presentation Equipment](https://www.occourts.org/general-information/lawyers-litigants/evidence-presentation-equipment) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/13651/deborah-chuang-servino/) - [Deborah C. Servino](https://appellate.courts.ca.gov/district-courts/4dca/bio/deborah-c-servino) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/13651/deborah-chuang-servino/) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/deborah-c-servino", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/deborah-c-servino", "name": "Deborah C. Servino | KnowJudges", "description": "Deborah C. Servino, California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District. Source-linked judicial identity, courtroom procedures, and presentation guidance.", "dateModified": "2026-10-07", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/deborah-c-servino#judge" } }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/deborah-c-servino#judge", "name": "Deborah C. 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