Ana Isabel de Alba

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit circuit Appointed by Joe Biden (Democratic) 9 signed orders read

How Judge Alba decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

Affirms convictions against as-applied Second Amendment challenges to federal firearms statutes where the statute is constitutional as applied to the defendant's facts.

“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 trademark-infringement appeals, affirms summary judgment for the defendant where the plaintiff fails to establish a genuine dispute on the likelihood-of-confusion element.

“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

Applies binding circuit precedent strictly, affirming where a claim is foreclosed by prior decisions.

“Bowers' Article III claim is foreclosed by circuit precedent, and we affirm the revocation of his supervised release.”

Cautions

Reverses or vacates where the district court applied the wrong remedy or abused its discretion — for example, reversing and remanding to reinstate a jury's damages award after an improper remittitur.

“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.

United States v. Gail Manney
23-716 · 2024-08-19
Appeal (appellant (defendant Gail Manney)) Denied

“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.”

United States v. Jackson Daniel Bowers
23-902 · 2025-03-04
Appeal (appellant (defendant Jackson Daniel Bowers)) Denied

“Bowers' Article III claim is foreclosed by circuit precedent, and we affirm the revocation of his supervised release.”

United States v. Steven Zinnel
22-16128 · 2025-06-09
Appeal (appellant (Steven Zinnel)) Granted

“We hold that the proper remedy was to vacate the final garnishment order. ... [W]e VACATE the district court's final order of garnishment.”

In re: Michael A. Leite; Andrea C. Carvalho -- United States v. Robert A. MacKenzie, Trustee
23-15825 · 2024-09-03
Appeal (appellant (United States / IRS)) Granted

“[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.”

Lerner & Rowe PC v. Brown Engstrand & Shely LLC
23-16060 · 2024-10-22
Appeal (appellant (plaintiff Lerner & Rowe PC)) Denied

“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.”

State of Montana v. Talen Montana, LLC
23-3050 (consolidated with 23-3353) · 2025-03-04
Appeal (appellant (State of Montana) and cross-appellants (Talen Montana, LLC / NorthWestern Corporation)) Denied

“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.”

Jeffrey Powers v. Denis Richard McDonough
24-6338 (consolidated with 24-6576, 24-6578, 24-6603, 24-6888) · 2025-12-23
Appeal (appellants (VA defendants; also third-party lessees UCLA/Brentwood School/Bridgeland Resources)) Granted in part

“The panel affirmed in part, reversed in part, vacated in part, and remanded to the district court to enter judgment ... the district court did not err in finding that the VA denied Plaintiffs 'meaningful access' to their healthcare ... However, the district court erred in entering judgment against HUD ... and ... erred in finding that the West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016 ... imposed judicially enforceable fiduciary duties on the VA.”

Roy Payan v. Los Angeles Community College District
24-1809 · 2026-03-11
Appeal (appellants (plaintiffs Roy Payan and Portia Mason)) Granted

“Because the district court abused its discretion in granting remittitur, we reverse, vacate, and remand with instructions to reinstate the jury's damages award.”

Alexander Panelli v. Target Corporation
24-6640 · 2026-04-17
Appeal (appellant (plaintiff Alexander Panelli)) Granted

“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.”

Put Judge Alba's record to work

Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Alba actually rules, not a generic AI guess.

Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Alba's own signed orders and cites them.