Gov. Jerry Brown Appoints Gassia Apkarian Orange County Superior Court Judge

SACRAMENTO—California Governor Jerry Brown today appointed Gassia Apkarian Judge in the Orange County, California Superior Court.

Apkarian has been senior attorney and president at Apkarian Defense APC since 2007. She served as a deputy public defender at the Orange County Public Defender’s Office from 2000 to 2007, public relations advisor to President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan from 1998 to 1999 and was executive director of Democrats 2000 from 1997 to 1998.

Apkarian served as special assistant to the ambassador at the Embassy of Armenia in Washington, D.C from 1996 to 1997 and was western regional director of the Armenian Assembly of America in 1995, where she was deputy executive director from 1994 to 1995 and country executive director from 1992 to 1994.

She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of La Verne College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Irvine. Apkarian fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Francisco F. Firmat. Apkarian is a Democrat.