The Hon. Tomson T. Ong (Ret.) was a judge for the Los Angeles County Superior Court in California. He was originally appointed to the Long Beach Municipal Court in 1997 by former governor Pete Wilson. Judge Ong was subsequently elevated to the Superior Court in 2000 as a result of the court's unification. Judge Ong retired on February 21, 2024.
Judge Ong graduated with his B.A. in speech communications from the University of Southern California in 1981. He went on to earn his J.D. from Loyola Law School in 1983 and his LL.M. in taxation from the University of San Diego School of Law. He also obtained his M.P.A. and Ph.D. in public administration from USC. During his post-doctoral studies, Ong served as a Fulbright Scholar.
Prior to his appointment to the Municipal Court, Ong was an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles from 1987 to 1997. He also served as a deputy city attorney for the Santa Ana City Attorney's Office from 1984 to 1987.
In 1999, Ong served as a Fulbright-SyCip lecturer where he taught at Philippine universities for one year.
During his time on the bench, Judge Ong served as the assistant supervising judge for the South District. He also presided over long cause cases in the Criminal Trial Court.
Judge Ong served his country in the United States Army JAG Corps, where he retired after 20 years of service, having reached the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel.
He has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law since 2016 and taught public policy as an adjunct professor at USC and USC Price since 1989. Prior to that, he taught business law at Pepperdine University.