This week in California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger filled nine Superior Court judgeships in San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties: Schwarzenegger names 9 judges in Bay Area.

In San Francisco, the new judges are criminal defense attorney Jim Collins; Andrew Y.S. Cheng, deputy chief of the civil division of the U.S. attorney's office; and civil attorneys Samuel Feng, Jeffrey S. Ross and Monica Wiley.

Cheng, a Democrat, has served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the U.S. Attorney's Office since 2003 and as deputy chief of the civil division since 2006. He has also been an adjunct professor of law at University of California Hastings, College of the Law since 2006, and served as a deputy city attorney for the City and County of San Francisco from 1997 to 2003.

Feng, a Republican, has been a partner at the firm Feng and Lee since 1998, and also has experience as the house counsel for the California State Automobile Association. Feng earned his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California.

Each judge will receive an annual salary of $178,789. More here: SF: SCHWARZENEGGER APPOINTS FIVE NEW JUDGES TO COUNTY BENCH.