Judicial Assignments Shifted in Westside Courts

Judges in Westside courts have been given new posts as part of a rotation of judicial assignments that occurs each year.

Judge Leonard S. Wolf has been named supervising judge of Santa Monica Superior Court, succeeding Judge Raymond Choate.

Judge James A. Albracht has been transferred from Van Nuys Superior Court to Santa Monica. Albracht replaces Judge David D. Perez, who has been reassigned to Van Nuys.

Albracht of Malibu Canyon is a graduate of the UCLA School of Law. Before his appointment to the bench in 1982, he served 14 years as a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney.

Judge Joseph W. Chandler has succeeded Judge Laurence D. Rubin as presiding judge of Santa Monica Municipal Court.

Judge Sherman W. Smith is the new presiding judge in West Los Angeles Municipal Court, succeeding Ronald R. Schoenberg.

Charles G. Rubin is now the presiding judge at Beverly Hills Municipal Court, succeeding Judge Charles D. Boags. Rubin was elected to the Beverly Hills court in 1982, defeating incumbent Judge Jill Jakes.

Harold I. Cherness has been named presiding judge in Culver City Municipal Court. He was appointed to the bench in 1975.

Recent assignments to the West Los Angeles Municipal Court include judges Gregg Marcus, Keith Groneman and John H. Reid.

Groneman was appointed to the bench in November, 1985, after eight years as an assistant research attorney. His first assignment was Traffic Court. Groneman, who graduated from Princeton and the UCLA School of Law, is a member of the New York and California state bars.

Marcus was appointed to Los Angeles Municipal Court last March and later was assigned to West Los Angeles. He spent 11 years as a Los Angeles deputy district attorney. Marcus holds a degree in business administration from the University of Denver and a law degree from the California Western School of Law.

Reid, a Malibu resident, was chief deputy district attorney in Beverly Hills before he was appointed to Municipal Court last February, moving to West Los Angeles in March. Reid, who was a deputy district attorney for 13 years, received his law degree from Southwestern Law School.

Judge Judith Stein was appointed to Beverly Hills Municipal Court last spring, after the retirement in 1985 of Judge Andrew J. Weisz. Stein came to the bench with a background in both civil and criminal law. She served as a deputy city attorney from 1974 to 1976. Stein earned her law degree from USC.