Hoge Fenton Alumnus James E. Towery Appointed to Bench

Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel is pleased to announce that former shareholder James E. Towery has been appointed by Governor Brown to serve on the bench in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, with swearing-in expected in December.

Towery, a renowned expert in legal ethics, has a decades-long history of commitment to the legal profession. He recently served as Chief Trial Counsel to the State Bar of California, was President of the State Bar in 1995-96, chaired the Board of Governors Discipline Committee in 1994, served on the California Chief Justice’s Commission on Multi-Jurisdictional Practice, and chaired its Task Force on Insurance Disclosure. In 2008 he was selected as a Lawyer Representative to the federal Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. Towery also served in the American Bar Association House of Delegates for many years and has been selected to the American Board of Trial Advocates.

In his 21 years at Hoge Fenton, Towery demonstrated a similar commitment to leadership, serving on the firm’s Executive Committee, acting as its risk management counsel, and chairing its litigation practice group. He acted as a mentor to young litigators and was instrumental in ensuring that the firm’s associates were afforded a high level of ongoing training in trial advocacy skills.

Daniel W. Ballesteros, a shareholder and member of Hoge Fenton’s Executive Committee, commented, “Jim exemplifies Hoge Fenton’s commitment to the legal profession and to serving our community. He joins a very distinguished class of Hoge Fenton alumni who have been so honored to serve, and we could not be more proud of his appointment. We wish him the very best in this next phase of his career.”