Anne Hwang
How Judge Hwang rules, drawn from 20 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Hwang
Anne Hwang is a judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Judge Hwang received a commission on December 6, 2024.
Judge Hwang's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Hwang, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- Judge's Procedures and Schedules ↗
- AH-Civil Order Setting Scheduling Conference (09-25-26).pdf ↗
- AH-Civil Pretrial Schedule and Trial Order (09-25-26).pdf ↗
- AH-CIVIL Standing Order for Civil Cases (09-25-26).pdf ↗
- AH-CR Standing Order for Criminal Cases (09-25-26).pdf ↗
- AH-UNDER SEAL CRIMINAL PILOT PROJECT REQUIREMENTS (09-25-26).pdf ↗
- AH-TEMPLATE - Final Pretrial Conference Order ↗
Key rules
Filing
Email proposed orders for stipulations in Microsoft Word format to chambers.
“Stipulations. When seeking approval of a stipulation, counsel are reminded to email the proposed order in Microsoft Word to [email protected]. Once a stipulation has been approved and filed, the information may be obtained by checking the docket on PACER. Telephonic inquiries regarding the status of a stipulation, as well as a motion, may not be returned.”
Discovery
Calendar discovery matters before the assigned magistrate judge and mark discovery filings “DISCOVERY MATTER”.
“Discovery Matters. All discovery matters are referred to the assigned Magistrate Judge and to be calendared before the Magistrate Judge. All documents relating to discovery matters must include the words ‘DISCOVERY MATTER’ in the caption to ensure proper routing. Counsel must follow the Magistrate Judge’s procedures for scheduling matters for hearing.”
Conferences
Civil hearings are held in person unless the court orders otherwise.
“CIVIL matters are heard on Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. ALL HEARINGS SHALL PROCEED IN PERSON, UNLESS OTHERWISE ORDERED BY THE COURT.”
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 8, 2026).
- General Order 11-10: Alternative Dispute Resolution Program ↗
- General Order 19-01: Criminal Duty Matters Electronic Filing Pilot Project ↗
- General Order 20-13: Criminal Duty Matters Electronic Filing Pilot Project ↗
- General Order 18-02: Submission of Certain Prisoner Filings Through Electronic Mail ↗
- General Order 24-07: Criminal Justice Act Plan ↗
How Judge Hwang decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On an Endangered Species Act citizen suit Hwang granted the plaintiff summary judgment and then a permanent injunction and declaratory relief, rejecting a prudential-mootness argument, finding ongoing irreparable take, and applying the Ninth Circuit ESA injunction framework (presuming legal remedies inadequate and that the public interest favors protecting the species).
“Having considered the parties' submissions on the remedy, the relevant law, and the record in this case, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff's request for permanent injunction and declaratory relief.”
Procedural preferences
Handling the remedies phase of an inherited SEC enforcement action, she granted the Commission's motion for disgorgement and civil penalties in part and granted its motion to strike a defendant's improper opposition declaration.
“The Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART the SEC's Motion for Remedies. The court ORDERS Plaintiff to lodge a proposed judgment consistent with this Order within ten (10) days of the date of this Order.”
In Bulkin, Hwang remanded a quiet-title suit because the removing defendants did not establish the citizenship of a Delaware statutory trust; they supplied no trust agreement or information about its members or beneficiaries.
“Defendants do not attach the trust agreement, nor do they discuss OBX Trust’s members or beneficiaries.”
In Hupf, Hwang remanded a removed civil-rights action after the plaintiff amended the complaint to remove its federal claims.
“Here, although Defendant removed this matter based on the federal claims in the original complaint, Plaintiff amended her complaint to remove those claims. Therefore, the Court no longer has jurisdiction over this matter.”
In Sampson, Hwang dismissed a civil action for return of seized property without prejudice after an indictment and forfeiture allegation made the criminal case pending before her court.
“However, because an indictment has now been returned and the criminal case (with a criminal forfeiture allegation) is currently pending before this Court, the Court lacks jurisdiction over this civil case and therefore dismisses this case without prejudice.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“On November 20, 2025, the Court granted Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment. Dkt. No. 64.”
“Having considered the parties' submissions on the remedy, the relevant law, and the record in this case, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff's request for permanent injunction and declaratory relief.”
“The Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART the SEC's Motion for Remedies. The court ORDERS Plaintiff to lodge a proposed judgment consistent with this Order within ten (10) days of the date of this Order.”
“MINUTES (IN CHAMBERS) ORDER GRANTING in Part and DENYIN in Part The SEC's Motion for Remedies [Dkt. 160] and GRANTING The SEC's Motion to strike [Dkt. 199] by Judge Anne Hwang”
“ORDER OF DISMISSAL WITH PREJUDICE 104 by Judge Anne Hwang. (SEE DOCUMENT FOR FURTHER DETAILS.) Case Terminated. Made JS-6.”
“Following discussion with counsel, the Court advises counsel that the Ex parte application for Temporary Restraining Order is GRANTED 3 for the reasons stated on the record.”
“IT IS ADJUDGED that the Petition is granted in part and Respondents are ordered to provide Petitioner (A# 249-411-612) with a bond hearing before an immigration judge within seven (7) days at which the burden will be on the Government to justify Petitioner’s detention through clear and convincing evidence that Petitioner is an unacceptable danger or unacceptable risk of flight.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus is 22 GRANTED”
“IT IS ORDERED that Judgment be entered denying the Petition 26 without prejudice as moot.”
“Granting the Petition, in part, with Respondent ORDERED to:”
“For the reasons stated at the hearing, the Court denies Petitioner’s request for immediate release without prejudice but grants Petitioner’s request for a bond hearing.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand is GRANTED.”
“IT THEREFORE IS ORDERED that Judgment be entered: ... ordering Petitioner, Carlos Ivan Castro Castrillo’s (A 029-212-737), immediate release from custody and reinstating his previous conditions of supervision”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Judge Hwang's initial calendar consisted of cases filed from 2020 through 2023 and transferred after her December 2024 commission, so their full durations span predecessor judges' tenure and are not attributed to her.
- Her own June-July 2026 intake is heavily weighted toward pending immigration-detention habeas petitions, with additional employment, copyright, immigration-mandamus, consumer, and criminal matters.
- Cases filed during her tenure remain too new to support a duration measure.
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 1 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 1 | 2 |
| Sep 2025 | 1 | 5 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 5 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the Central District of California, not for Judge Hwang: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 15,190 | 3.9 months |
| Closed with no court action | 4,414 | 3.1 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 10,538 | 4.3 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 103 | 17.9 months |
| Closed during trial | 135 | 25.7 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 15,190 | 3.9 months |
| Sep 2024 | 15,348 | 3.9 months |
| Sep 2023 | 13,583 | 4.4 months |
| Sep 2022 | 12,887 | 4.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 14,213 | 4.7 months |
| Sep 2020 | 14,205 | 5 months |
| Sep 2019 | 13,478 | 4.9 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
Draft for Judge Hwang with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Hwang, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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