James Stoelker, principal at Mount & Stoelker, PC, has been appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as a judge on the Santa Clara County Superior Court.
61-year old Judge Stoelker of Saratoga brings more than three decades of experience to the legal profession. He joined Mount in 1987 and practiced in the areas of real property and title insurance litigation.
Prior to joining Mount, he was a partner for Mount, Kraw, and Stoelker in 1987; Eller, Burt and Stoelker from 1984 to 1987; and Garrison, Townsend and Orser from 1983 to 1984.
Stoelker served as a staff litigation attorney for Western Title Insurance from 1976 to 1983 and an associate attorney for Atwood and Hurst from 1974 to 1975.
He has also acted as an arbitrator, mediator, referee and judge pro tem at the Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Stoelker is a frequent lecturer for Continuing Education of the Bar, on topics such as real property remedies, escrow, title insurance claims, mechanics liens, and boundary law.
He earned his law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law and Bachelor of Arts degree from Santa Clara University (SCU).
He is currently president of the SCU Law School Alumni Association. He is also past president and current member of the board of directors at the St. Thomas More Society of Santa Clara County – an association of Catholic judges and lawyers – receiving the St. Thomas More Award in 2004. Stoelker’s appointment fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge James C. Emerson.
Also appointed to the Santa Clara County Superior Court in this round were: Andrea E. Flint, Thomas E. Kuhnle, JoAnne McCracken, and Drew C. Takaichi.