SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - Gov. Gavin Newsom recently appointed Richard C. Miadich, of Sacramento County, to the Sacramento Superior Court bench.

“The court welcomes the addition of Mr. Miadich and the experience he will bring to the Sacramento County bench,” Presiding Court Judge Bunmi O. Awoniyi said.

Miadich has served as chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission since 2019. The commission is responsible for regulating statewide campaign finance, governmental ethics, and lobbying activity.

Prior to his appointment to the FPPC, Miadich worked at Olson Hagel & Fishburn LLP from 2005 to 2018, where he held several positions including managing partner, partner, and associate. The practice focused on litigation matters involving election and campaign finance law, education law, government and administrative law, and constitutional law. He also assisted in the firm’s political advising, primarily in areas of elections and initiatives.

Miadich has litigated matters at the trial and appellate levels in California, including the California Supreme Court, and has represented clients before state administrative agencies. He has also participated in matters before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Ninth Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of California.

Miadich was an at-large director of the Sacramento County Bar Association Board of Directors. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Sacramento County Bar Foundation, the charitable arm of the Sacramento County Bar Association. Previously, Miadich also served on the Executive Committee of the Public Law Section of the California State Bar and was the assistant editor of the State Bar’s Public Law Journal. 

Miadich earned his law degree from the University of California at Davis in 2002. While there, he served as a member of the U.C. Davis Law Review, externed with the California State Assembly Judiciary Committee, and participated in the school’s trial practice program. He received his bachelor’s degrees in political science and history from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1998.

Miadich fills the vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Daniel J. Calabretta to the federal bench.