[img]2863|right|Michael Whitaker||no_popup[/img]Michael Whitaker, a familiar face among Culver City community activists, took a giant career step today when he was appointed a judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court by Gov. Brown, along with five other attorneys.
For the past eight years, the 47-year-old Mr. Whitaker has been supervising deputy attorney general at the state Dept. of Justice, Office of the Attorney General.
During that time, he has been notably visible in various Culver City roles.
Formerly a member of the Civil Service Commission, he served on the Charter Review Committee, he was legal counsel for Friends of the Culver City Dog Park, he was a campaign manager for City Councilman Jeff Cooper.
Tracing the trajectory of Mr. Whitaker’s career, he was a deputy attorney general for eight years prior to his supervisorial appointment.
During the ‘90s, he was an associate at the Law Offices of Richard S. Kim, a staff attorney at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and an associate at Bronson, Bronson and McKinnon.
Mr. Whitaker earned his juris doctor degree from the University of Oregon School of Law, where he was a managing editor of the Oregon Law Review from 1989 to 1991, and gaining his B.A. at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Mr. Whitaker, who has not identified a political party preference, will earn $184, 610 as will fellow appointees, Hector Gutierrez, Colin Leis, Lillian Vega Jacobs, Rob Villeza and Shirley Watkins.
