Anthony W. Ishii
How Judge Ishii rules, drawn from 22 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Ishii no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Ishii
Anthony W. Ishii served on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California after his 1997 appointment by President Bill Clinton. He served as chief judge from 2008 to 2012 and assumed senior status on October 31, 2012. In May 2023, the court reassigned his cases in anticipation of his inactive retirement.
How Judge Ishii decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Phillips-Kerley v. City of Fresno Fire Department, Ishii granted the city's partial summary-judgment motion in part, leaving the plaintiff's specified promotion and retaliation theories for further proceedings.
“Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant City of Fresno’s motion for partial summary judgment (Doc. No. 129) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part as follows:”
Cautions
A bare affirmative defense does not provide fair notice when it invokes discretionary-act immunity without identifying the policy decisions said to be protected; the defense may be stricken with leave to amend.
“Because no specific policy decision have been identified, the second affirmative defense does not provide ‘fair notice’ and will be stricken.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendant's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part as follows: ... e. Defendant is DENIED summary judgment on Plaintiff's FEHA claim alleging Failure to Accommodate. f. Defendant is DENIED summary adjudication on Plaintiff's Termination in Violation of Public Policy claim to the extent this claim is based on Defendant's Failure to Accommodate.”
“Based on the above memorandum opinion, the Court ORDERS that: 1. Defendants' motion to dismiss is DENIED;”
“2. Defendants' motion to quash service is GRANTED. 3. Plaintiff is directed to complete service on Defendants within thirty days of the date of this order.”
“Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 1. Respondent's Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED; 2. The Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus is DISMISSED as moot; and 3. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to enter judgment.”
“Defendants’ motions to exclude the testimony of Plaintiff’s experts Broadhead and Hayes are DENIED.”
“Defendants TRW AH, TRW AU, and TRW AI’s motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff’s first, second, third, and fourth causes of action is GRANTED and Plaintiff’s first, second third, and fourth causes of action against Defendants TRW AH, TRW AU, and TRW AI are dismissed with prejudice.”
“Defendant TRW VSSI’s motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff’s first cause of action, strict liability-design defect regarding the right rear seat belt buckle and right front seat belt retractor, is DENIED. ... Defendant TRW VSSI’s motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff’s fourth cause of action, breach of warranty, is GRANTED.”
“Defendant's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED as to defendant City of Hanford only with respect to the claims alleged in Plaintiff's first claim for relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. section 1983. ... Except as granted in item #1, above, Defendants' motion for summary judgment is DENIED as to all claims against all individual Defendants.”
“Defendants' motion for summary judgment is GRANTED; ... The Clerk shall enter judgment in favor of Defendants and against Plaintiff and CLOSE this case.”
“Defendants' motion for summary judgment is GRANTED except as to Defendant Chamalbide on the failure to protect claim;”
“Plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration is DENIED”
“CDC Defendants' motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part; ... Defendant Ugwu-Oju's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part; ... Defendant Madera's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part;”
“Defendant's Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss Plaintiff's second cause of action is GRANTED and that cause of action is DISMISSED with leave to amend; Defendant's Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss Plaintiff's third cause of action is DENIED;”
“Countrywide and CTC's motion to dismiss is DENIED;”
“LaSalle and Nevada Trust's motion to dismiss is DENIED in part and GRANTED in part; LaSalle and Nevada Trust are DISMISSED from all causes of action other than the fourth cause of action for the return of funds;”
“CUSD's motion will be granted in part and denied in part.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 105 days (N = 1).
During his senior service, Ishii handled a reduced docket that included civil-rights, disability-access, prisoner, and older criminal matters. Many sampled civil cases settled, were voluntarily dismissed, or were remanded. The durations below measure filing to termination within that limited sample.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Ishii was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of March 31, 2024.
| 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 | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2024 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 15 | 23 |
| Sep 2022 | 9 | 29 |
| Mar 2022 | 20 | 30 |
| Sep 2021 | 7 | 23 |
| Mar 2021 | 13 | 18 |
| Sep 2020 | 21 | 13 |
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.
A historical record
Judge Ishii no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.