Professor La Belle earned her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her J.D. from the University of California, Davis, School of Law. After law school, Professor La Belle served as a law clerk to the Honorable Stephen S. Trott on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and to the Honorable Margaret M. Morrow on the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before joining the faculty, Professor La Belle spent several years as a commercial litigator with the Los Angeles law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson.