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Jul. 22, 2026

Dot-com bust set Judge Justin Glenn-Leistikow on path to the bench

Orange County Superior Court Judge Justin Glenn-Leistikow never intended to become a lawyer. After the dot-com crash derailed his programming career, he found his way to the public defender's office, where nearly two decades of trial work shaped the judicial philosophy he now brings to the criminal bench.

Read more about Justin Glenn-Leistikow...
Dot-com bust set Judge Justin Glenn-Leistikow on path to the bench

Justin Glenn-Leistikow

Orange County Superior Court

Career Highlights: Appointed Orange County Superior Court judge by Gov. Gavin Newsom, June 2023; senior deputy public defender, Orange County, 2005-23

Law School: University of San Francisco School of Law, 2005
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SANTA ANA - Fresh out of college, Superior Court Judge Justin Glenn-Leistikow was writing computer code for FreeMerchant.com, a San Francisco startup hoping to become the next eBay, when the dot-com bubble burst.

"Our badges stopped working," he recalled with a laugh.

The company's sudden collapse forced him to reconsider his future.

Although he never planned to become a lawyer, the profession surrounded him growing up. After his paren... (continued)

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