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Brian M. Hoffstadt↗

Presiding Justice, Division 5
First vote as Presiding JusticeTrellis trial record

Former federal prosecutor and U.S. Supreme Court clerk; author of a criminal discovery treatise. In 2024 publicly criticized a Supreme Court decision reversing one of his opinions.

Trellis profile ↗
On your ballot. Vote Yes or No on keeping Brian M. Hoffstadt on the court (first vote as presiding justice). Appears on ballots in Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura.

Qualifications

Appointment. Appointed by Gov. Schwarzenegger (trial court, 2010), Gov. Brown (Court of Appeal, 2014) and Gov. Newsom (Presiding Justice, 2024).
Outside rating. None found. The State Bar rates nominees before appointment, but we could not find this rating in public sources.
Before the bench. First in his class at UCLA Law; clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor; federal prosecutor; Jones Day partner. Author of the treatise California Criminal Discovery; teaches Evidence at USC.

Conduct

In 2024 he publicly criticized a California Supreme Court decision that reversed one of his opinions, which is unusual for a sitting judge.

What others recommend

In this district, we found published positions mainly from conservative and Republican groups. Most Democratic, progressive and newspaper groups here had not published positions on these justices as of October 16.
Robyn Nordell's conservative guide repeats Craig Huey's picks, so it is not listed separately.
Trellis does not make recommendations. These are positions published by outside groups as of October 16, 2026. Labels describe each group's general leaning.

Notable rulings

No widely reported rulings found.

From the trial court record

Heard a mix of cases, most often injury and civil-harm cases (36%). Granted motions at about the same rate as other judges in the county, and cases moved faster than the county average, which usually reflects the kind of cases assigned.

Their trial court record, compared with other judges in the county

Bars compare this judge with county and state averages. Differences usually reflect the kinds of cases a judge was assigned.

Motions granted
This judge: 53.5%
County avg: 54.4%
State avg: 54.8%
Average case length
This judge: 268 days
County avg: 545 days
State avg: 651 days
Time to trial
This judge: 512 days
County avg: 565 days
State avg: 531 days
Caseload mix
Torts 35.7%, Family 18.7%, Property 15.9%
Motion typeGrantedRulingsCounty avg
Temporary restraining order42.5%4778.6%
Short trial tenure (2010 to 2014); limited motion data.
LA County Superior CourtUpdated 2026-10-02 · Full profile →
Sources: Court bioHorvitz & Levy

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