Professional Biography

Courtney Thom is an associate attorney with Manly, Stewart & Finaldi. As a career sex crimes prosecutor, her practice is focused on representing survivors of sexual abuse, assault, and harassment.

Before joining Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, Courtney served as an Orange County Deputy District Attorney for more than a decade. There, she represented the People of California in the prosecution of criminal cases, including sexual assault, rape, child molestation, child pornography, kidnapping, robbery, domestic violence, attempted murder, aggravated assault, and burglaries, among others. She conducted over 50 criminal trials during her career in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Starting in 2016, Courtney worked in the District Attorney’s Sexual Assault Unit where she exclusively prosecuted felony sexual assaults, including child molestation and forcible sex crimes. Many of the survivors in those cases were children as young as infants, adults abused as children, and vulnerable elder adults. Courtney worked closely with law enforcement agencies to investigate sexual assault crimes, filed criminal charges, directed criminal discovery, met with survivors, and conducted jury trials and sentencing hearings.

Waymakers, a prestigious Orange County foundation that provides critical services to survivors, presented Courtney their Sexual Assault Victim Service Award in 2019.  Further, she has provided Sexual Assault Investigations training to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Representative Sample of Notable Cases

Ms. Thom has tried and convicted several sexual offenders throughout her career as a sex crimes prosecutor. Here is a small representative sample of her trial and litigation experience:

  • People v. Kauffman (2019) Orange County Superior Court – Ms. Thom tried and convicted Mr. Kauffman, a member of the UC Irvine Alumni Association’s Board of Directors, of molesting three young girls whom he met through his daughter and while helping coach a youth softball league. Ms. Thom successfully argued for the maximum sentence of 170 years to life in prison, which the judge imposed. On appeal, the Court found notably  no issues nor errors, and affirmed the sentence which it acknowledged was the “functional equivalent of a death sentence.”
  • People v. Callender (2020) Orange County Superior Court – Ms. Thom tried and convicted Mr. Callender for molesting a baby, filming those heinous acts, and posting and sharing those images on the internet to trade for other images of child pornography. The case was the result of an extensive investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles and the Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force. Ms. Thom successfully argued for the maximum sentence of 50 years to life in prison, which the judge imposed, and was subsequently affirmed on appeal.

Bar Admissions

  • State Bar of California
  • United States District Court, Central District of California
  • Pro Hac Vice in Arizona, Oregon, and Pennsylvania

Professional Associations & Memberships

  • Orange County Bar Association