Chhaya Malik (Santa Clara County)
Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara
insufficient Left–Right record (FairPAC / Wake the Bench assessment — not an official court label): Insufficient public record. Insufficient cite depth for ideology.
Judge matrix ThinNot enough public cites yet
Cite-only multi-axis Soft. FairPAC assessment — not an official court label. Evidence depth: Thin. Legacy letter alias: C (transitional only). How the matrix works.
- 1 · Role fidelity
- Thin · Thin
No sourced pattern attached yet. - 2 · Judicial craft
- Thin · Thin
No sourced pattern attached yet. - 3 · Rights & liberty
- Thin · Thin
No sourced pattern attached yet. - 4 · Public safety
- Thin · Thin
No sourced pattern attached yet. - 5 · Separation of powers
- Thin · Thin
No sourced pattern attached yet. - 6 · Ethics & fitness
- No public discipline on file · N/A
Absence of attached public CJP discipline is not a purity claim.
Research status: grades use public cites only; thin records stay C until sourced. How we research.
- Court
- Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara
- Office
- District / seat
- Santa Clara County Superior Court
- County
- Santa Clara County
- Appellate district
- District 6
- Election
- unknown
- Composite
- ThinNot enough public cites yet Researchable but unsourced — default until cites land. Alias of legacy C when thin.
- Legacy letter
- C Mixed / thin record (alias only)
- Record lean
- insufficient
Public decisions (chronological · cite-only)
Voting / case record: limited public data
This section will grow chronologically as published opinions / CJP decisions are Soft-attached. We never invent case holdings or a complete trial docket.
California published opinions · CJP decisions
About this listing
Superior Court judge, Santa Clara County — from official Governor judicial appointments HTML.
Deep dive Deep
Cite-only career / advocacy Soft profile. FairPAC / Wake the Bench assessment — not an official court label.
Background
Judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court (Governor appointment announcement).
Education
Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (per Governor appointment announcement).
Prior professional work
Malik has served as Deputy Director of Dispute Resolution at the California Civil Rights Department since 2022. She worked as a Mediator at Devi Legal Mediation Services from 2020 to 2022. Malik worked as a Special Counsel at Ehrlich & Craig from 2012 to 2022. Malik served as a Policy Liaison in the U.S. State Department from 2011 to 2012. She worked as a Staff Attorney at the Advancement Project from 2009 to 2011. Malik worked as an Associate at Hogan Lovells from 2005 to 2009 — per Governor appointment announcement.
Advocacy / public roles
Not yet sourced — researchable.
Appointment / elevation
Appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the Santa Clara County Superior Court; She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Socrates P. Manoukian. (per Governor appointment announcement).
Wave 2 deepen from primary Governor judicial appointments HTML. deepDive=Deep. Grade C until opinion/CJP cites. Never invent holdings/ideology.
Cite-only. We never invent career history or advocacy.
Why this grade — metrics
See methodology.
Public discipline (CJP)
Check the Commission on Judicial Performance before relying on any grade. We do not invent findings.
cjp.ca.gov decisions by judges
Sources
- Source · — source
- Commission on Judicial Performance — public decisions
- Grade methodology — methodology.html