Ana Isabel de Alba
How Judge Alba rules, drawn from 15 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Alba
Ana Isabel de Alba is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Judge de Alba received a commission on November 15, 2023. Judge de Alba previously served on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, commissioned there on July 7, 2022.
Judge Alba's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Alba's own (checked October 11, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 11, 2026).
How Judge Alba decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In United States v. Manney, de Alba affirmed a conviction for a false statement during a firearm purchase after holding that the federal statute did not violate Manney’s Second Amendment right as applied to the facts of her case.
“We affirm her conviction. ... Taking all of this into consideration, as applied to the facts of her case, Section 922(a)(6) did not violate Manney's Second Amendment right.”
In Lerner & Rowe v. Brown Engstrand & Shely, de Alba affirmed summary judgment for the defendant law firm because the plaintiff had not shown a genuine factual dispute over whether consumers were likely to confuse the firms’ advertising.
“As explained below, we disagree and affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment. ... Lerner & Rowe failed to establish a genuine dispute of material fact regarding the likelihood of confusion element of a claim for trademark infringement.”
Procedural preferences
In United States v. Bowers, de Alba affirmed revocation of supervised release after holding that circuit precedent foreclosed Bowers’s claim to a jury trial under Article III and the Sixth Amendment.
“Bowers' Article III claim is foreclosed by circuit precedent, and we affirm the revocation of his supervised release.”
In her Reach dissent, de Alba treated likely irreparable harm as a threshold for a stay of a preliminary injunction and would end the inquiry when the movant failed to make that showing.
“Our inquiry should begin and end with irreparable harm when the movant has not shown a likelihood of irreparable harm absent a stay.”
In her Dickinson separate writing, de Alba would enforce the requirement that a stay request and its irreparable-harm basis be properly presented to the district court before appellate review.
“The government ultimately failed to properly move for a stay, and argue irreparable harm, before the district court.”
In Schmidt v. City of Pasadena, de Alba upheld denial of reconsideration of an employee’s dismissed claims because his supporting exhibits were available before the dismissal.
“Because the evidence Schmidt relied on in his motion to reconsider was available prior to the district court’s TAC dismissal, it was appropriate for the district court to deny the motion.”
Cautions
In Payan v. Los Angeles Community College District, de Alba reversed a remittitur of damages in a disability discrimination case and remanded with instructions to reinstate the jury’s award because the district court had abused its discretion.
“Because the district court abused its discretion in granting remittitur, we reverse, vacate, and remand with instructions to reinstate the jury's damages award.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“We affirm her conviction. ... Taking all of this into consideration, as applied to the facts of her case, Section 922(a)(6) did not violate Manney's Second Amendment right.”
“[W]e hold that the pro rata method is inconsistent with the Bankruptcy Code. ... We therefore reverse and remand this case to the district court to require the bankruptcy court to determine the final allocation amounts under a tax-first method.”
“As explained below, we disagree and affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment. ... Lerner & Rowe failed to establish a genuine dispute of material fact regarding the likelihood of confusion element of a claim for trademark infringement.”
“Bowers' Article III claim is foreclosed by circuit precedent, and we affirm the revocation of his supervised release.”
“We hold that the district court correctly applied the PPL framework to the evidence and did not violate any PPL mandate. We therefore affirm the district court's judgment.”
“We therefore vacate the final order of garnishment.”
“For the reasons explained supra, we affirm in part, reverse in part, vacate in part, and remand to the district court to enter judgment in accordance with this opinion.”
“Because the district court abused its discretion in granting remittitur, we reverse, vacate, and remand with instructions to reinstate the jury's damages award.”
“We hold that the district court erroneously concluded that Panelli could not be deceived as a matter of law under California consumer protection laws, and we therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings.”
De Alba dissented from the emergency order and would have denied the government’s stay and administrative-stay motions because its arguments were forfeited and it had not shown likely irreparable harm.
De Alba agreed that the plaintiffs had standing but would have denied the government’s emergency motions because the stay request and irreparable-harm argument were not properly presented below.
“Therefore, we reverse, conditionally vacate Mr. Tovar- Duran’s conviction, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
Draft for Judge Alba with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Alba, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Alba's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace