Noël Wise
2024 - Present
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Noël Wise is a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on June 13, 2024, and confirmed by the United States Senate on December 11, 2024, by a vote of 50-47.[1][2] Wise was one of 235 Article III judges nominated by President Joe Biden (D) and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.
Prior to joining the court, Wise was a judge on the Superior Court of California in Alameda County.[3][4]
Judicial nominations and appointments
United States District Court for the Northern District of California (2024-present)
- See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden
On June 13, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Wise to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.[4] She was confirmed by a 50-47 vote of the U.S. Senate on December 11, 2024.[2] Wise received commission on December 19, 2024.[1] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Noël Wise |
| Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of California |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 181 days after nomination. |
| Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
| Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript |
| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
Confirmation vote
The U.S. Senate confirmed Wise by a vote of 50-47 on December 11, 2024.[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.
| Wise confirmation vote (December 11, 2024) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Yea | Nay | No vote | ||||||
| 47 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 0 | 46 | 3 | |||||||
| 3 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| Total | 50[5] | 47 | 3 | ||||||
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Wise's nomination on July 10, 2024. Wise was reported to the full Senate on August 1, 2024, after an 11-9 committee vote.[6] Click here for a list of other nominees awaiting a committee vote.
Nomination
On June 13, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Noël Wise to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Wise well qualified.[7] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.
Wise was nominated to replace Judge Edward J. Davila.[4]
Biography
Education
Wise was born in 1968 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. She received a B.S. from the University of Nevada, a J.D. from Nova Southeastern University, and a master's degree in law from Stanford Law School.[8][1]
Professional career
- 2014-Present: Judge, Superior Court of Alameda County
- 2023-2024: Supervising judge, Civil Complex Litigation
- 2023: Judge, Civil Division
- 2021-2022: Judge pro tem, California Court of Appeal, Second District
- 2019-2021: Supervising judge, Appellate Division
- 2018-2021: Judge and acting supervising judge, Civil Division
- 2018-2019: Panel judge, Appellate Division
- 2017:Assistant supervising judge, Family Law Division
- 2014-2016:Judge, Family Law Division
- 2006-2014: Principal & founding member, WG&R Law Group
- 2001-2013: Panel mediator, First District Court of Appeal
- 2004-2006: In-house counsel, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
- 2005-2006: acting director and manager of Renewable Power Generation
- 1994-2002: Trial attorney & assistant U.S. attorney, U.S. Department of Justice
- 1999-2002: Trial attorney, Environmental Enforcement Section
- 1998-1999: Trial attorney, Environmental Crimes Section
- 1997-1998: Assistant U.S. attorney, Southern District of California
- 1994-1997: Honors trial attorney, Environmental Enforcement Section
- 2000-2006: Adjunct professor, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
- 2002-2004: Private practice, Stoel Rives LLP
- 2001-2002: Teaching fellow, Stanford Law School
- 2000-2001: Adjunct professor, Golden Gate University School of Law
- 1997-1998: Adjunct professor, Semester in Washington Program, Vermont Law School
- 1995-1997: Associate professor, George Washington University Law School
- 1993-1994: Law clerk, Hon. Harry Lee Anstead, Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District[1][9]
About the court
| Northern District of California |
|---|
| Ninth Circuit |
|
| Judgeships |
| Posts: 14 |
| Judges: 14 |
| Vacancies: 0 |
| Judges |
| Chief: Richard Seeborg |
| Active judges: Vince Girdhari Chhabria, James Donato, Beth Labson Freeman, Haywood Stirling Gilliam Jr., Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, Eumi Lee, Rita Lin, Araceli Martinez-Olguin, P. Casey Pitts, Jacqueline Scott Corley, Richard Seeborg, Trina Thompson, Jon S. Tigar, Noël Wise Senior judges: |
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California is one of 94 United States district courts. It is headquartered in San Francisco, with courthouses in Oakland, San Jose, and Eureka. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse.
The Northern District of California has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.
There are three court divisions, each covering the following counties:
The Oakland Division, covering Alameda and Contra Costa counties.[10]
The San Francisco Division, covering Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Sonoma counties.[10]
The San Jose Division, covering Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties.[10]
To read opinions published by this court, click here.
The federal nomination process
Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:
- The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
- The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.
- As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.
- After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.
- If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
- If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.
- The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.
- If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
- If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.
Elections
2022
See also: Municipal elections in Alameda County, California (2022)
Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Noël Wise (Nonpartisan) won the election without appearing on the ballot.
2016
California held general elections for local judicial offices on November 8, 2016. There was a primary on June 7, 2016. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was March 31, 2016. A total of 351 seats were up for election. Incumbent Noël Wise ran unopposed in the election for Office 27 of the Alameda County Superior Court.
| Alameda County Superior Court Judge, Office #27, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
 Noël Wise Incumbent | ||
Selection method
- See also: Nonpartisan election
The 1,535 judges of the California Superior Courts compete in nonpartisan races in even-numbered years. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the June primary election, he or she is declared the winner; if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the top two candidates is held during the November general election.[11][12][13][14]
If an incumbent judge is running unopposed in an election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot. The judge is automatically re-elected following the general election.[11]
The chief judge of any given superior court is selected by peer vote of the court's members. He or she serves in that capacity for one or two years, depending on the county.[11]
Qualifications
Candidates are required to have 10 years of experience as a law practitioner or as a judge of a court of record.[11]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Noël Wise did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
- United States District Court for the Northern District of California
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- United States District Court for the Northern District of California
- Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
- Biography from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Federal Judicial Center, "Wise, Noël," accessed December 11, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Congress.gov, "PN1827 — Noel Wise — The Judiciary," accessed December 11, 2024
- ↑ The White House, "President Biden Names Fifty-First Round of Judicial Nominees," accessed June 12, 2024
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The White House, "Nominations Sent to the Senate," accessed June 13, 2024
- ↑ Note: The bolded number reflects the largest number.
- ↑ The White House, "Results of Executive Business Meeting – August 1, 2024," accessed August 1, 2024
- ↑ American Bar Association, "STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY," accessed July 9, 2024
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedappoint - ↑ Office of Governor Edmund G. Edmund, Jr., "GOVERNOR BROWN APPOINTS TWO TO ALAMEDA COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT" November 12, 2014
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Jurisdiction Map
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: California," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Safeguarding California's judicial election process," August 21, 2011
- ↑ California Elections Code, "Section 8203," accessed May 21, 2014
- ↑ California Elections Code, "Section 8140-8150," accessed May 21, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Edward J. Davila |
United States District Court for the Northern District of California 2024-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Superior Court of Alameda County 2014-2024 |
Succeeded by - |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Commissioned in 2025 | |||
| Commissioned in 2024 |
John Kazen • John Russell • Margaret Garnett • Cristal Brisco • Jacquelyn Austin • Gretchen Hess Lund • Micah Smith • Joshua Kolar • Karoline Mehalchick • Kirk Sherriff • Lisa Wang • David Leibowitz • Jacqueline Becerra • Julie Sneed • Melissa Damian • Kelly H. Rankin • Nicole Berner • Sunil Harjani • Leon Schydlower • Ernesto Gonzalez • Susan Bazis • Robert White • Ann Marie McIff Allen • Eumi Lee • Krissa Lanham • Eric Schulte • Camela Theeler • Angela Martinez • Jasmine Yoon • Nancy Maldonado • Meredith Vacca • Georgia Alexakis • Joseph Saporito • Amy Baggio • Stacey Neumann • Mary Kay Lanthier • Adam Abelson • Laura Provinzino • Mary Kay Costello • Dena Coggins • Kevin Ritz • Shanlyn A. S. Park • Byron Conway • Jeannette Vargas • Michelle Williams Court • Jonathan E. Hawley • April Perry • Mustafa Kasubhai • Sarah Russell • Amir Ali • Rebecca Pennell • Anthony Brindisi • Elizabeth Coombe • Cynthia Valenzuela • Anne Hwang • Brian Murphy • Noël Wise • Sanket Bulsara • Tiffany Johnson • Sparkle Sooknanan • Gail Weilheimer • Embry Kidd • Melissa DuBose • Sharad Desai • Serena R. Murillo • Benjamin Cheeks • Sarah Davenport | ||
| Commissioned in 2023 | Kai Scott • Tamika Montgomery-Reeves • Margaret R. Guzman • Daniel Calabretta • Matthew Garcia • DeAndrea G. Benjamin • Cindy Chung • Adrienne Nelson • Lindsay Jenkins • Gina Méndez-Miró • Araceli Martínez-Olguín • Jamar Walker • Ana Reyes • Jamal Whitehead • Gordon Gallagher • Matthew Brookman• Maria Araujo Kahn• James Simmons • Robert Ballou• Andrew Schopler • Jonathan Grey• Colleen Lawless • Arun Subramanian • Jessica Clarke • Robert Kirsch • Michael Farbiarz • Anthony Johnstone • Orelia Merchant • Wesley Hsu • Bradley Garcia • LaShonda A. Hunt • Nancy Gbana Abudu • Amanda Brailsford • Darrel Papillion • Jeremy Daniel • Hernan D. Vera • Julie Rikelman • Nusrat Choudhury • P. Casey Pitts • Myong Joun • Kymberly Evanson • Tiffany Cartwright • Rachel Bloomekatz • Natasha Merle • Dale Ho • Philip Hadji • Rita Lin • Brendan Hurson • Vernon D. Oliver • Matthew Maddox • Julia Munley • Brandy McMillion • Susan DeClercq • Julia Kobick • Ramon Reyes, Jr. • Ana de Alba • Kenly Kiya Kato • Mónica Ramírez Almadani • Jeffrey M. Bryan • Jamel Semper • Irma Ramirez • Richard Federico • Loren AliKhan • Brandon Long • Jerry Edwards Jr.• Sara Hill • Joseph Laroski | ||
| Commissioned in 2022 |
David Herrera Urias • Gabriel Sanchez • Holly Thomas • Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong • David Ruiz • Charles Fleming • Bridget Brennan • Leonard Stark • Alison J. Nathan • John Chun • Julie Rubin • Jacqueline Scott Corley • Ruth Bermudez Montenegro • Victoria Calvert • Georgette Castner • Anne Traum • Cristina Silva • Ketanji Brown Jackson (Supreme Court) • Sarah Geraghty • Hector Gonzalez • Fred Slaughter • Jennifer Rochon • Robert Huie • Sunshine S. Sykes • Stephanie Dawkins Davis • Evelyn Padin • Sherilyn P. Garnett • Ana de Alba • J. Michelle Childs • Trina Thompson • Elizabeth Hanes • Nancy Maldonado • Nina Morrison • Gregory Williams • John Z. Lee • Sal Mendoza, Jr. • Lara Montecalvo • Florence Pan • Andre Mathis • Sarah A.L. Merriam • Jennifer Rearden • Roopali Desai • María Antongiorgi-Jordán • Camille Vélez-Rivé • Doris Pryor • Frances Kay Behm • Dana Douglas • Mia Roberts Perez • Anne Nardacci • Jeffery P. Hopkins | ||
| Commissioned in 2021 |
Ketanji Brown Jackson • Zahid Quraishi • Julien Xavier Neals • Deborah Boardman • Regina Rodriguez • Candace Jackson-Akiwumi • Lydia Kay Griggsby • Tiffany Cunningham • Eunice Lee • Angel Kelley • Florence Pan • Veronica Rossman • David G. Estudillo • Sarah A.L. Merriam • Gustavo Gelpí • Christine O'Hearn • Margaret Strickland • Karen McGlashan Williams • Patricia Tolliver Giles • Toby Heytens • Michael Nachmanoff • Sarala Nagala • Beth Robinson • Omar A. Williams • Myrna Pérez • Jia Cobb • Tana Lin • Lauren King • Lucy H. Koh • Jennifer Sung • Samantha Elliott • Katherine Menendez • Mary Dimke • Linda Lopez • Shalina Kumar • Jane Beckering • Jinsook Ohta • Jennifer L. Thurston • Stephen Locher • Charlotte Sweeney • Nina Nin-Yuen Wang • Arianna Freeman • Jerry Blackwell | ||
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California
State courts:
California Supreme Court • California Courts of Appeal • California Superior Courts
State resources:
Courts in California • California judicial elections • Judicial selection in California