Elena Gonzales was appointed Chief Administrative Law Judge and Executive Director of CUIAB in September 2013. Chief Gonzales joined CUIAB in 2004 as an Administrative Law Judge, and has served as an Assistant Chief handling judicial complaints, ethical issues, operational standardization, and best practices. She also has served as a Presiding Judge in Field Operations and an Acting Presiding Judge in the Office of Tax Petitions, the Oakland Office of Appeals, and the San Jose Office of Appeals.

After graduating from UC Davis, King Hall School of Law in 1978, Chief Gonzales worked as a Deputy District Attorney for Riverside County. She worked for a small land use law firm in San Diego County, and later, she was a litigator for a major international law firm in Los Angeles, defending wrongful termination and insurance bad faith defense matters. Prior to coming to CUIAB, Chief Gonzales was an Assistant Chief for the State Bar of California in Los Angeles, where she was responsible for the prosecution of attorneys for ethical misconduct.