Court News

Our weekly roundup of updates from local courts. This post will be updated as new information comes across our desks.

Contra Costa County Superior Court

11.15.21: The Court is very pleased to announce the appointment of two new Superior Court Commissioners.

Commissioner Palvir Shoker (Department 50)
Commissioner Palvir Shoker will preside over the newly-established Department 50 in the Pittsburg courthouse. She will handle traffic, unlawful detainer, small claims, and restraining order matters, as well as misdemeanor arraignments. Since 2018, she has served as a temporary judge with the Contra Costa Superior Court covering similar calendars.
Commissioner Shoker practiced personal injury and employment law between 2001 and 2014 before starting her own mediation practice in 2014. She was the Court Mediation Program Director for The Congress of Neutrals, a non-profit organization providing free mediation services in Contra Costa Superior Court. She served as a volunteer mediator in hundreds of cases involving personal injury, neighbor disputes, civil harassment, landlord-tenant disputes small claims. She previously served as an Adjunct Professor at Chabot College and taught Contracts to Paralegal students. From 2020-2021, she was President of the ADR Section of Contra Costa Bar Association.

She earned her Juris Doctorate from Santa Clara University Law School and her Bachelors of Science in Accounting from California State University, Sacramento. Commissioner Shoker is fluent in Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu.

Commissioner Ayana K. Young (Department 54)
Commissioner Ayana K. Young will preside over Department 54, taking over from the Honorable Jennifer Lee who, following her appointment to the bench, has been assigned to Department 25. Sitting in both the Walnut Creek and Richmond courthouses, Commissioner Young will handle traffic, unlawful detainer, small claims, and restraining order matters, as well as misdemeanor arraignments.

Commissioner Young has served as Attorney III for Alameda Department of Child Support Services since 2021. Since 2008 through her appointment, she owned and managed The Law Office of Ayana K. Young where she maintained a broad civil litigation practice including personal injury, employment and labor law, family law and estate planning matters. She has served as a temporary judge in both Solano County and Contra Costa County since 2019.
Commissioner Young attended John F. Kennedy School of Law and received the Witkin Award in Wills and Trusts. She is also a member of Zeta Phi Beta Incorporated, a philanthropic organization.

11.16.21: The Contra Costa Superior Court has issued its Ninth Amended Civil Emergency Local Rules, to be effective November 17, 2021.  All Local Rules may be found on our Local Rules webpage.  Among the revisions:

• Civil restraining order paperwork shall be filed in Department 57 in Martinez between 9 and 10:30 a.m., rather than via drop box.
• Ex parte filings in civil matters should be brought directly to the assigned department at 11:00 a.m. Monday – Friday, excluding Court holidays; they should not be left in the drop box.   (Processes for ex parte matters in Family and Probate are governed by their specific rules.) 

Additionally, revisions to the unlawful detainer, small claims, and harassment sections conform to updated processes as reflected on the Court website for those departments.

Northern District of California 

Mark B. Busby, Deputy Circuit Executive for the U.S. Courts for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, has been selected as the Clerk of Court for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.  Mr. Busby will replace the Acting Clerk of Court, Kathleen M. Shambaugh, effective December 6, 2021. 

Mr. Busby comes to the court with 20 years of experience in federal court administration and management.  Prior to his tenure as Deputy Circuit Executive, Mr. Busby served as Chief Deputy Clerk for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California.  Mr. Busby also served as a Regional Administrator and Management Analyst for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and has previous experience at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for the Districts of Maine and Eastern Washington. 

The court congratulates and welcomes Mr. Busby back to the Northern District, and thanks Ms. Shambaugh for her service as Acting Clerk of Court.

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Please contact valerie@acbanet.org with any updates that are missing.