Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday appointed local class action attorney Shelley Kaufman as a judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court to fill a vacancy created by a retiring judge.

Kaufman, 56, heads the civil litigation department at Geragos and Geragos in downtown Los Angeles. She was a lead attorney in two class action settlements for $37.5 million against two prominent insurance companies on behalf of Armenian genocide descendants.

Prior to joining Geragos and Geragos in 1997, Kaufman was in private practice and had also worked at several local firms.

Kaufman earned her bachelor’s degree from Pitzer College in Claremont and her Juris Doctorate from Southwestern University School of Law. She lives in West Hollywood and is a registered Democrat.