Judge Monica Wiley
San Francisco, CA
Appointed by California Judges Association
Current Term Extends Through June 30, 2026
The Honorable Monica F. Wiley was appointed to the San Francisco Superior Court Bench on September 1, 2009, by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Judge Wiley is the second African-American female judge appointed to the San Francisco bench. During her tenure with the San Francisco Superior Court, Judge Wiley has presided in the civil, criminal, family, delinquency, and dependency departments in both trial and calendar courtrooms. Judge Wiley is currently the Supervising Judge of the Unified Family Court and serves as a member of the Court’s Executive Committee, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, the Personnel Committee, the Public Outreach Committee, the Technology Committee, and the Events/Collegiality Committee. Judge Wiley is a member of the 2021-2023 Judicial College Steering Committee, a member of the faculty for the California Center for Judicial Education (CJER) for New Judges Orientation (NJO), and a faculty member for the B.E. Witkin Judicial College. She serves on the CJER Juvenile Curriculum Committee and is an Adjunct Professor at U.C. Hastings College of the Law where she teaches an advanced Trial Advocacy course.
Prior to her appointment, Judge Wiley was a senior associate at the law firm of Carlson, Calladine & Peterson LLP in San Francisco, handling catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases for individual and corporate defendants. Before joining the private sector, Judge Wiley worked as a Deputy City Attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office for over ten years, litigating complex personal injury matters and civil rights actions. She served as lead trial counsel in 27 jury trials both in state and federal court.
Judge Wiley earned her J.D., cum laude, from Howard University School of Law. She received her bachelor’s degree in Political Economies of Industrial Societies from the University of California at Berkeley and is a four-year letter winner as a member of the women’s intercollegiate basketball team. Go Bears!
As a practicing attorney, Judge Wiley was admitted to the United States District Court, the Northern District of California, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Wiley currently serves as a task force member on statewide committees focused on civility and eliminating bias in the legal profession and on the advisory committee of Centro Legal De La Raza’s Youth Law Academy. Judge Wiley is a life member of the California Association of Black Lawyers (CABL), the Association of African American California Judicial Officers (AAACJO), and is the immediate past Chair of the Judicial Council of CABL. Judge Wiley is also an associate member of the San Francisco Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and the 2022-2023 President of the Lawyers Club of San Francisco.