Biography

The Hon. William A. Mayhew (Ret.) was a judge for the Stanislaus County Superior Court in California. He originally presided on the Stanislaus County Municipal Court beginning in 1994. He was elevated to the Superior Court in 1995. He retired from the bench in 2017 and his vacancy was filled by the Hon. Kellee C. Westbrook.

Mayhew received his B.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1961. He went on to earn his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law in 1964.

Mayhew served as a Major in the U.S. Army National Guard, Judge Advocate General's Corps from 1966 to 1977.

His legal career included serving first as a deputy attorney general for the California Department of Justice's Office of the Attorney General from 1964 to 1967.

Mayhew then entered private practice, where he worked as a partner with Thompson, Mayhew, and Michel from 1968 until 1982 when he became a professor of law at the Mississippi College School of Law. Four years later, Mayhew returned to private practice, where he served as a partner at Sarhad and Mayhew for two years before becoming a managing partner at Borton, Petrini, and Conron in 1988. He remained in that capacity until assuming the Municipal Court bench in 1994. While in private practice, Mayhew specialized in general civil litigation with an emphasis on probate, oil and gas, banking, insurance, taxation, and labor matters. He also practiced corporation, municipal and real estate law.

Mayhew also served as an associate professor at The University of Toledo College of Law.

His memberships included the Turlock High School Board of Trustees, the American Board of Trial Advocates, and the Turlock Rotary Club.

Mayhew was born in Pueblo, Colorado.