Judge Jose Scher Castillo: Professional Background and Legal Expertise

Overview

The Hon. Jose S. Castillo is an associate justice of the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One, in California.[1] Castillo was appointed to the San Diego County Superior Court by Governor Gavin Newsom on December 8, 2020, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. David B. Oberholtzer, and Newsom later appointed him to the Court of Appeal in February 2023.[2][3]

Before joining the Court of Appeal, Castillo served on the San Diego County Superior Court, where he was assigned to family law matters.[1] His judicial committee service has included membership on the Judicial Council of California's Appellate Advisory Committee and its Advisory Committee on Providing Access and Fairness.[1]

Educational background

Castillo first received a degree from Santa Rosa Junior College.[1] He later graduated from California State University, Sacramento.[1] At the University of California, Davis School of Law, he completed a J.D. in 2006.[1]

Before attending college, Castillo served as a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps from 1996 to 2000.[1] He enlisted at age seventeen, was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, and was honorably discharged.[1] He was admitted to the State Bar of California (December 2006).

Career history

Following law school, Castillo served for one year as a law clerk to Micaela Alvarez of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.[1] He then worked as a staff attorney at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco from 2007 to 2010.[1]

In parallel with that appellate work, Castillo taught legal research and writing and moot court as an adjunct professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly the University of California, Hastings College of the Law), from 2009 to 2010.[1] In 2010, he joined the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California as an assistant United States attorney. Castillo remained there through 2020, prosecuting matters involving cartels, gangs, and narcotics and immigration offenses.[1]

Personal life

Born in Mexico, Castillo moved to the United States as a child.[1] He was the first in his family to graduate from college and become a lawyer.[1]

Outside the courtroom, his community work has included volunteering with Judges in the Classroom, the San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association Scholarship Fund, Lawyers Club of San Diego, and the San Diego County Bar Association.[1] He also helped launch the San Diego Summer Legal Institute with Just the Beginning — A Pipeline Organization, a program designed to introduce high school students to the legal profession.[1]

In his personal life, Castillo has been a long-distance runner and completed the Boston Marathon in just over three hours. He has also enjoyed spending time outdoors with family and friends.[1]

Castillo is registered as a Democrat.

References

[1] Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One — Biography of Justice Jose S. Castillo
[2] Governor of California Press Release (December 8, 2020)
[3] Governor of California Press Release (February 17, 2023)