Media Release from the United States Court for the Ninth Circuit, Office of the Circuit Executive. Contact: Katherine Rodriguez, mediarelease@ce9.uscourts.gov
December 11, 2024
Alameda County Judge Noël Wise Gets Senate Nod for Federal Judgeship in Northern District of California
SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Senate today voted 50-47 to confirm President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s nomination of Judge Noël Wise, Superior Court of California, Alameda County, to serve as a U.S. district judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
“Judge Wise’s new colleagues are excited to welcome her to the Northern District. Her stellar experience on the bench and in practice will be a tremendous addition to our busy Court,” said Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg, Northern District of California.
Judge Wise was nominated for the judgeship on June 13, 2024, and had her nomination hearing on July 10, 2024. Her nomination was reported to the Senate floor on Aug. 1, 2024. She fills a judgeship vacant effective today, when District Judge Edward J. Davila assumes senior status. She will maintain chambers in San Jose.
Judge Wise has served as an Alameda County Superior Court judge since 2014, when she was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown. She has served as the supervising judge for complex civil litigation since 2023 and has served since 2018 in the court’s Civil Division, where she has handled a range of cases, including antitrust, employment/labor, environmental, sexual abuse and product liability. From 2021 to 2022, Judge Wise sat on assignment for Division Seven of the California Second District Court of Appeal. Before her appointment to the bench, Judge Wise was in private practice as a partner and founder of Wise Gleicher in Alameda from 2006 to 2014 and was of counsel at Stoel Rives LLP in San Francisco from 2002 to 2004. She worked at PG&E Company in San Francisco, where she was acting director/manager of renewable power generation, from 2005 to 2006, and was in-house counsel from 2004 to 2005. Judge Wise served as a trial attorney from 1994 to 2002 at the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney General’s Honors Attorney Program, in the Environmental Division in Washington, D.C., where she received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award. From 1997 to 1998 was on special assignment from the U.S. attorney general as an assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California, Criminal Division.
Born in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Judge Wise received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas in 1989 and her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad College of Law, in Davie, Florida, in 1993. Judge Wise earned her Master of the Science of Law from Stanford Law School in 2002. Following law school, she clerked for the Honorable Harry Lee Anstead of the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal from 1993 to 1994. She was an associate professor for George Washington University Law School from 1995 to 1997; an adjunct professor for Vermont Law School from 1997 to 1998; an adjunct professor for Golden Gate University School of Law from 2000 to 2001; a teaching fellow for Stanford Law School from 2001 to 2002; and a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, from 2000 to 2006.
Judge Wise serves on numerous statewide committees, including as chair of the California Judicial Council’s Access, Ethics and Fairness Curriculum Committee and chair of the Qualifying Ethics Committee. She participates in new judge orientation and teaches judicial education courses, including at the B.E. Witkin Judicial College and has published articles on a variety of legal and ethical issues. Judge Wise is a member of the board of directors of the Alameda County Food Bank. She served as judicial liaison to Legal Access Alameda and Women Lawyers of Alameda County and was a member of the board of directors of Girls Incorporated of Alameda County.
Judge Wise has received several awards and was recognized by the National Judicial College as the 60th Anniversary Courageous Judge Honoree in 2023. Awards received include the Rose Bird Memorial Award in 2024, California Women Lawyers; the Alameda County Volunteer of the Year Award in 2023, Alameda County Office of Education; the Alba Witkin Humanitarian Award in 2022, California Judges Foundation; and the Jurist of the Year Award in 2015, Women Lawyers of Alameda County.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California had 8,740 new case filings in fiscal year 2024. The court is authorized 14 judgeships.
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.