Introduction
During Judge David De Alba’s 21 years on the Sacramento Superior Court, he gained a statewide reputation for flexibility and fairness. In addition to serving as a Presiding Judge, he has sat in the probate, criminal, and civil trial courts and complex and settlement conference departments. In general civil, he presided and settled cases including but not limited to lemon law, personal injury, TBI injuries, and real estate matters. In complex civil, he presided over hundreds of claims involving wage and hour, mass torts, employment, and many other class actions.
Prior to being appointed, he was an attorney at the Office of the Attorney General defending the state in personal injury, civil rights violations, wrongful death, and inverse condemnation lawsuits. Most notably, he defended the State of California in hundreds of lawsuits alleging inverse condemnation as a result of the historic 1986 floods in Northern California. Having spent his 43-year legal career in the Capital City, he tried and settled cases with lawyers from all over California; there is not much he hasn’t seen over the course of his career.
Judge De Alba has been involved with many organizations and bar groups for dozens of years and is greatly admired by lawyers and the community at large. Many comment on how he always gives of himself and “he is the type of guy, you want to go to a baseball game with.” Judge De Alba said, “I was fortunate to have gained a broad and extensive experience both as a trial judge and settlement conference judge. My most rewarding days were when I was able to help litigants settle cases- I am here to listen and help!”
Practice Areas
- All types of Personal Injury including Wrongful Death and Sexual Assault
- Civil Rights
- Employment
- Lemon Law
- Professional Negligence
- Products Liability
- Real Estate
Experience Summary
During the course of a legal career spanning four decades, Judge De Alba has been involved in a wide variety of cases as both a Superior Court Judge for Sacramento County, and as a lawyer with the Office of the Attorney General.
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Hobbies & Interests
Judge De Alba enjoys swimming, reading, politics, and exploring the California coasts! His parents were born in Mexico, and he is fluent in Spanish. The eldest of six, Judge De Alba and his siblings were all born and raised in Northern California.
Experience Summary
CIVIL RIGHTS
• Presided over jury trials alleging unlawful use of excessive force, wrongful death, and unlawful police practices.
CONSTRUCTION DEFECT
•Presided over dozens of Construction Defect cases.
EMPLOYMENT
• Presided over jury trials alleging wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, failure to promote, and hostile work environment claims in both private and public employment.
•Notably, Judge De Alba was the trial judge in the landmark case of Miller v. California Department of Corrections, a precedent-setting hostile work environment case.
•He also presided over a six-week jury trial in which four female deputies sued the Sacramento County Sherriff with claims of a hostile work environment.
INVERSE CONDEMNATION
Experience as both a lawyer and as a judge in cases that allege the taking of private property by public entities.
• As an attorney representing the State of California, defended against hundreds of claims of inverse condemnation as a result of the historic Northern California floods in 1986.
• As a judge, presided over similar claims brought by property owners against various California agencies.
PERSONAL INJURY
• Presided over dozens of jury trials involving claims of personal injury arising from accidents involving claims of catastrophic injuries, wrongful death, and traumatic brain injuries.
PRODUCTS LIABILITY
•Presided over two judicial council coordinated actions alleging the manufacture and distribution of defective products in violation of the Song-Beverly Warrant Act and Business and Profession Code Section 17200.
•Presided over the Ford Explorer Rollover Class Action cases in a 57-day bench trial impacting 430,000 consumers.
•Presided over all of the Northern California Ford Focus/Fiesta Defective Transmission cases, regarding the DPS26 transmissions.
PROFESSIONAL MALPRACTICE
• Presided over multiple jury trials alleging medical, legal, and dental malpractice.
PUBLIC ENTITY LIABILITY
•Presided over various jury trials alleging public entity liability for employment matters, injury cases, wrongful termination of contracts and privacy violations.
REAL ESTATE DISPUTES
•Experience with a variety of real property disputes involving homeowners’ associations to multi-million-dollar disputes between land developers.
TRADE SECRETS
•Presided over a four-week bench trial involving claims of misappropriation of alleged removal of an investment brokerage account information by a broker who transferred to a multi-national investment firm.
