Senate Confirms Ana Isabel de Alba for Federal Judgeship in Eastern District of California

 

 

N E W S  R E L E A S E
FROM THE US COURT OF THE NINTH CIRCUIT

June 21, 2022                                                                                  Contact: Bill Cracraft
                                                                                                         mediarelease@ce9.uscourts.gov
 

SAN FRANCISCO – The United States Senate today voted 53-45 to confirm President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s, nomination of Fresno County Superior Court Judge Ana Isabel de Alba to serve as a U.S. district judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

Judge de Alba was nominated for the judgeship on Jan. 19, 2022. She had her nomination hearing on April 27, 2022, and had her nomination was reported to the Senate Floor on May 26, 2022. Upon taking her oath, she will fill a judgeship vacant since Dec. 17, 2019, when District Judge Morrison C. England, Jr., assumed senior status. Once she has taken her oath of office, Judge de Alba will be the first Latina to serve on the Eastern District of California, and the Eastern District of California will have achieved gender parity, with half of its authorized judgeships held by women. She will maintain chambers in Fresno.

“We welcome Judge de Alba to the federal trial bench with open arms!” said Chief District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller, of the Eastern District of California. “A daughter of California’s great Central Valley, her decision to return home to the Fresno area after college and law school continues to pay dividends for the Valley’s residents, and now in particular the parties in hundreds of federal civil and criminal cases. Given Judge de Alba’s excellent record as a Fresno County Superior Court judge, her prior success as a business and employment lawyer, and her proven work ethic we know she will hit the ground running in handling a very heavy and challenging caseload.”

Judge de Alba has served as a California Superior Court judge, Fresno County, since 2018. She was an adjunct professor for the San Joaquin College of Law in Clovis, California, in 2021. Judge de Alba was a partner, from 2013 to 2018, and an associate, from 2007 to 2013, at Lang Richet & Patch, where her practice focused on employment, business, tort and construction litigation.

Born in Merced, California, Judge de Alba received her Juris Doctor from the University of California Berkeley School of Law in 2007 and her Bachelor of Arts, with highest honors, from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2002. Since 2012, she has been a board member of the Central Valley Access to Justice Coalition. From 2017 to 2018, she was an executive board member of the California Lawyers Association. She has held numerous other board memberships including the Rape Counseling Services of Fresno (2016-2018); California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (2015-2018); Legal Aid at Work (2014-2018); Fresno County Bar Association (2013-2015); California Bar Foundation (now known as California ChangeLawyers) (2013- 2014); Central California Legal Services (2011-2013); State Bar of California (2009-2013).

In 2018, Judge de Alba received a “Thank You” Award from the Rape Counseling Services of Fresno; Honoring Your Passion to Protect the Rights of Workers and Families” recognition from Centro La Familia Advocacy Services; and the “Champion of Justice” Award from Central California Legal Services, Inc. In 2017, Judge de Alba received the Justice Pauline Hanson Award from the Fresno County Women Lawyers’ Association Board of Directors, and the U.C. Berkeley Chicano Latino Alumni Association-Central Valley Chapter, Alumni of the Year Award. She has received numerous other awards dating back to 2011including the California Young Lawyers’ Association, Jack Berman Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession and Public in 2012.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California had 4,464 new case filings in calendar year 2021. The court is authorized six judgeships and currently has one vacancy. Appointed under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, federal district court judges are nominated by the president, confirmed by the Senate and serve lifetime appointments upon good behavior.