Ana C. Reyes

Ana Cecilia Reyes (born 1974) is an Uruguayan-born American lawyer who has served as United States district judge of the District Court for the District of Columbia since 2023. Nominated to the position by President Joe Biden, Reyes is both the first Latina and the first openly LGBT person to serve as a district court judge in Washington, D.C. Prior to this, Reyes was a partner at law firm Williams & Connolly, where she worked on cross-border legal issues and international arbitration.

Early life and education
Reyes was born in 1974 in Montevideo, Uruguay. She moved to Spain soon thereafter, and would immigrate to Louisville, Kentucky, as a child. After her arrival in the United States, her first-grade teacher helped her learn English. She received media attention in 2020 for reuniting with her first-grade teacher after over fory years.

Reyes graduated from Transylvania University in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude. From 1996 to 1997, Reyes worked for Feminist Majority Foundation on its unsuccessful drive to defeat the 1996 California Proposition 209, which sought to prohibit state governmental institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity, specifically in the areas of public employment, public contracting, and public education.

Reyes then attended Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and a semi-finalist in the Ames Moot Court Competition. She graduated in 2000 with a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude.

Reyes later received a master's in international public policy from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, with honors, in 2014.

Legal career
After law school, Reyes served as a law clerk for Judge Amalya Kearse of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2000 to 2001. She then entered private practice at the law firm Williams & Connolly, becoming a partner in 2009. Reyes focused on cross-border legal issues and international arbitration, while also taking on pro bono work to represent asylum seekers and refugee organizations.

The Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia named her "Woman Lawyer of the Year" in 2017. In September 2021, Chief Judge Beryl Howell asked Reyes to serve as the Chair of the Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel.

Notable cases as lawyer
In 2008, on behalf of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, Reyes filed a brief in support of three Guinean women seeking asylum in the U.S.

In 2018, Reyes was part of the legal team challenging the Trump administration's restrictions on refugees entering the United States through ports of entry.

In 2021, Reyes represented Spain in a dispute over the company's decision to withdraw economic incentives for renewable projects.

In 2021, Reyes represented pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. in a suit alleging that diabetes drugs manufactured by the company cause pancreatic cancer.

In 2022, Reyes represented a Medtronic subsidiary in a court case by patients alleging they were injured by the company's hernia mesh products.

Judge of the District Court for the District of Columbia
On April 27, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Reyes to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She had been recommended for the position by Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

On May 19, 2022, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Reyes to the seat being vacated by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who announced her intent to assume senior status upon confirmation of a successor. A hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 22, 2022.

On August 4, 2022, her nomination reported out of committee by a 11–9–2 vote. On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate; she was renominated later the same day. On February 2, 2023, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–9 vote. On February 15, 2023, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 52–47 vote. Later that day, her nomination was confirmed by a 51–47 vote. She received her judicial commission on February 21, 2023.

Tenure
Reyes was sworn in on February 22, 2023. She became the first Hispanic woman and openly LGBTQ person to serve as a district court judge in Washington, D.C.

Position on Hunter Biden investigation
Reyes criticized the Department of Justice in the House Select Committee on April 5, 2024, for refusing to allow attorneys involved in the Hunter Biden investigation to comply with subpoenas issued by House Republicans. She accused the Department of Justice of hypocrisy in prosecuting Trump administration official Peter Navarro, noting that he had been imprisoned for not complying with House committee subpoenas.

Trump tax return whistleblower case
In January 2024, Reyes sentenced Charles Littlejohn, who leaked the tax returns of Donald Trump along with several other wealthy taxpayers to the media, to five years in prison. Reyes denounced Littlejohn's decision to leak Trump's tax returns as a "an attack on our constitutional democracy", stating:"“When you target the sitting president of the United States, you’re targeting the office and when you’re targeting the office of the president of the United States, you’re targeting democracy — you’re targeting our constitutional system of government.”"Reyes added that Trump was under no legal obligation to release his tax returns, compared the whistleblower's actions to the January 6 United States Capitol attack. During the trial, Reyes told Littlejohn that "I have reacted so strongly to your case because it engenders the same fear that Jan. 6 does". Reyes' decision to sentence Littlejohn to five years in prison received attention for being over six times longer than the four-to ten-month sentence recommended United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Assa Abloy antitrust case
In 2023, Reyes presided over an antitrust case brought by the DOJ against Assa Abloy's acquisition of Spectrum Brands’ hardware and home improvement (HHI) division. Reyes reportedly favored the lawsuit ending in a settlement rather than a trial. During the trial, Reyes indicated interest in reinterpreting the burden of proof in 'litigate-the fix' merger cases: while the burden is generally on merging companies to prove a deal would not harm competition, Reyes expressed interest for putting the burden of proof on DOJ lawyers.

Personal life
Reyes is the first openly LGBTQ person to be appointed district court judge in Washington, D.C. She is known to bring her pet Golden Retriever, Scout, to work.