Natalie P. Stone

Justice Natalie P. Stone is an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Seven.  After Governor Gavin Newsom nominated her for the position, the Commission on Judicial Appointments unanimously confirmed her in May 2024.

Justice Stone grew up in Charleston, South Carolina before attending Duke University, from which she graduated cum laude.  She attended UCLA School of Law.  During law school, she externed at the ACLU of Southern California and was co-chair of El Centro Legal, the law school’s student-coordinated network of volunteer legal aid projects, including homeless youth, landlord-tenant, and disability rights clinics.

After law school, Justice Stone clerked for the Honorable A. Wallace Tashima of the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.  She then joined Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles, where she practiced complex civil litigation for 10 years.  She also spearheaded the creation of the Los Angeles Food from the Bar, an annual volunteer and fundraising drive benefiting the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank that has since raised over $7 million from legal organizations across Los Angeles.

Justice Stone served as an appellate court attorney to the Honorable Thomas Willhite of the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Four, for five years.  During her tenure in that position, she chaired Los Angeles County’s Food from the Bar steering committee and each year led the Court of Appeal’s award-winning participation in the campaign.

Justice Stone was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. in July 2015.  During her nine years as a superior court judge, she presided over juvenile dependency and criminal matters.  She was actively involved in various court committees and the court’s efforts to reform pre-arraignment bail procedures, and she presided over the Teen Court at Venice High School.  She also taught judicial education to California judges statewide.

Justice Stone is a member of the California Judge’s Association Appellate Committee, which vets new legislation that may affect the California Courts of Appeal. 

In her free time, Justice Stone enjoys gardening, traveling, and playing beach volleyball.