Judge Sallie Kim
Individual Rules, Standing Orders & Policies
- Rules last changed:
Limits & Logistics
Document Limits
Courtesy Copies
Courtesy copies
- 1 copy
Adjournments
- Telephone attendance at case management conferences requires 2-week advance written request showing good cause.
Communication
Chambers
Phone
Page & Word Limits6 rules
The moving party may attach exhibits to the declaration, but the declaration and exhibits combined may not exceed seven pages.
- Page limit
- Up to 7 pages in total
Absent of a showing of good cause, the Court will address only one motion for summary judgment per side.
Joint discovery letter brief limited to 8 double-spaced pages, no exhibits except specified documents, no footnotes.
- Page limit
- Up to 8 pages
- Discovery letter brief
Exception
More pages with leave of court
Court's wording
The joint letter shall not exceed eight (8) double-spaced pages, excluding the cover page, without leave of Court, and may not be accompanied by exhibits or affidavits other than exact copies of interrogatories, requests for production of documents and/or responses, privilege logs, and relevant deposition testimony. In addition, the joint letter shall not contain any footnotes.
The opening and opposition briefs shall not exceed 25 pages; the reply brief shall not exceed 15 pages.
Opening briefs must be filed at least 6 weeks before claim construction hearing.
Court's wording
Opening briefs in support of claim construction must be filed at least six weeks before the date of the claim construction hearing, and the briefing schedule set forth at Patent Local Rule 4-5 will apply.
The claim construction hearing generally will be scheduled for no longer than two hours. The Court will set the hearing date at the initial case management conference.
Document Format Requirements5 rules
All pleadings should be punched with three holes on the side.
Formatting
- •Three-hole punched on side
If parties submit excerpts of deposition transcripts in support of or opposition to a motion for summary judgment, they shall highlight the relevant portions for ease of reference.
All chambers copies should bear the ECF filing “stamp” (case number, docket number, date, and ECF page number) along the top of the page.
All exhibits shall be clearly separated by tabs.
- Exhibits
Formatting
- •Exhibits separated by tabs
Chambers copies must be marked “Chambers Copy” and submitted to the Clerk’s Office in an envelope clearly marked “Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim,” and include the case number on the envelope.
Formatting
- •Marked “Chambers Copy”
- •Include case number on envelope
Document Filing Requirements12 rules
Lead trial counsel or pro se party must attend case management conferences with full authority to enter stipulations.
- Document
- Case management conference
Must include
- •Authority to enter stipulations
Court's wording
Each party shall be represented in person at the Case Management Conference by lead trial counsel (or a party if pro se), who shall be (1) prepared to address all of the matters referred to in the Northern District of California’s General Standing Order on Joint Case Management Statements; and (2) have full authority to enter stipulations and make admissions pursuant to that order.
Parties shall propound disclosures and discovery in accordance with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26 through 37 and the corresponding Civil Local Rules for the Northern District of California.
Request for telephonic conference must include declaration of meet and confer attempts and available dates.
Court's wording
The written request shall include a declaration which states any attempt to meet and confer and/or obtain the joint letter, the reasons for the inability to comply with the standing order, and (if possible) three dates and times at which all parties are available for a telephonic conference.
Protective order filings must include declaration about model order compliance or modifications.
Court's wording
Parties shall file one of the following with their proposed protective order: (a) a declaration stating that the proposed order is identical to one of the model orders except for the addition of case-identifying information or the elimination of language denoted as optional; (b) a declaration explaining each modification to the model order, along with a redline version comparing the proposed protective order with the model order; or (c) a declaration explaining why use of one of the model orders is not practicable.
Any stipulation or proposed order in a case subject to e-filing should be submitted in Microsoft Word format by email to skpo@cand.uscourts.gov on the same day the document is e-filed.
- Document
- Stipulation
Should include
- •Proposed order
The joint letter must be e-filed under the Civil Events category of “Motions and Related Filings>Motions--General>Discovery Letter Brief.”
Joint Case Management Statement required 7 days before case management or status conferences.
Court's wording
No later than seven (7) days prior to the any scheduled case management or status conference, the parties shall file a Joint Case Management Statement in full compliance with the Northern District of California’s General Standing Order for civil cases entitled “Contents of
All exhibits to motions and/or discovery dispute letters should be separately filed on ECF. For example, if the motion is Docket No. 30, and the declaration with ten exhibits is Docket No. 31, Exhibit A should be filed as Docket No. 31-1, Exhibit B should be Docket No. 31-2, and so on. All exhibits should be filed in a searchable OCR format where possible.
Subsequent Case Management Report due within 30 days of claim construction ruling.
Court's wording
Within thirty days of the filing of the claim construction ruling, the parties shall file following topics: a) whether either party wishes to certify the claim construction ruling for immediate appeal to the Federal Circuit; b) the filing of dispositive motions and timing of those motions; c) if willful infringement has been asserted, whether the allegedly-infringing party wishes to rely on the advice of counsel defense. If so, the parties should be prepared to address proposals for resolving any attorney-client privilege issues that arise, and whether the parties believe bifurcation of the trial into liability and damages phases would be appropriate; d) anticipated post-claim construction discovery; e) any other pretrial matters; and f) the progress of settlement discussions, if any.
Separate statements of undisputed facts will not be considered by the Court.
Demonstrative exhibits must be exchanged 48 hours before hearing.
Court's wording
Demonstrative exhibits and visual aids are permissible at the hearing as long as they are based on information contained in the papers already filed. Counsel shall exchange copies of exhibits no later than forty-eight hours prior to the hearing.
Joint statements of undisputed facts are not required, but are helpful if completely agreed upon.
Filing & Service rules
Courtesy Copy Requirements
Chambers copies required for all filings except consent/declination to magistrate judge assignment.
Under Civil L.R. 5-1 and 5-2, parties must lodge an extra paper copy of any filing, with the exception of the written consent/declination to the assignment of a United States Magistrate Judge.
Sealing & Redaction Procedures
Sealing requests must include prior request history and unredacted chambers copy with highlighted confidential material.
Any party who submits a request to file under seal pursuant to Civil Local Rule 79-5 shall include a statement to inform the Court: (1) whether the document, or portion thereof, has been the subject of a previous request to file under seal; and (2) if so, provide the docket numbers of the request and order on the request, and describe whether the request was granted or denied. Parties shall also submit a complete unredacted chambers copy of any brief or supporting papers lodged under seal with all confidential material highlighted. Parties are admonished that all requests to seal shall be narrowly tailored to seal only those specific portions that the parties contend are confidential.
Sealing requests must include prior request history and unredacted chambers copy.
All stipulated protective orders and filings shall comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Any party who submits a request to file under seal pursuant to Civil Local Rule 79-5 shall include a statement to inform the Court: (1) whether the document, or portion thereof, has been the subject of a previous request to file under seal; and (2) if so, provide the docket numbers of the request and order on the request, and describe whether the request was granted or denied. Parties shall also submit a complete unredacted chambers copy of any brief or supporting papers lodged under seal with all confidential material highlighted.
Civil cases
Pre-Motion Conference Requirements
Discovery disputes require meet and confer in person or by phone before filing any discovery-related letter.
Meet and confer requirement for discovery disputes. As an initial matter, the parties must comply with Section 9 of the Northern District’s Guidelines for Professional Conduct regarding discovery (available at http://cand.uscourts.gov/professional_conduct_guidelines). Prior to filing any discovery-related letter, lead trial counsel for all parties shall meet and confer in person, or telephonically if an in-person conference is not feasible, regarding the discovery dispute(s) in an effort to resolve these matter(s).
Page 4 | CIVIL DISCOVERY
Unresolved discovery disputes may be filed as joint letter after meet and confer.
If unable to resolve all disputes through this procedure, the party seeking Court intervention may file an appropriate joint letter.
Page 4 | CIVIL DISCOVERY
Adjournment & Extension Requirements
Parties cannot stipulate to continue case management, status, or pretrial conferences without court approval.
Parties may not stipulate to continue a case management, status, or pretrial conference without Court approval.
Page 3 | CIVIL CASE MANAGEMENT
Request for telephone attendance must include facts establishing good cause.
The facts establishing good cause must be set forth in the request.
Page 3 | CIVIL CASE MANAGEMENT
Good cause required to excuse meet and confer requirement.
The Court will not excuse a party from the requisite in-person or telephonic meeting unless good cause is shown.
Page 4 | CIVIL DISCOVERY
Exceptions to discovery limitations require stipulation or court order.
No exceptions to the limitations established in the Federal and Local Rules shall be permitted except pursuant to stipulation of the parties or order of the Court.
Page 4 | CIVIL DISCOVERY
Telephone attendance at case management conferences requires 2-week advance written request showing good cause.
Permission for a party to attend by telephone may be granted, in the Court’s discretion, upon written request made at least two (2) weeks in advance of the hearing, if the Court determines that good cause exists to excuse personal attendance and that personal attendance is not needed in order to have an effective conference.
Page 3 | CIVIL CASE MANAGEMENT
Chambers Communication Rules
Approved telephonic appearances must be arranged through CourtCall by 3:00 p.m. the day before hearing.
If the Court grants a party’s request for telephonic appearance, the party shall arrange for the appearance by calling CourtCall at (888) 882-6878 not later than 3:00 p.m. the court day prior to the hearing date.
Page 3 | CIVIL CASE MANAGEMENT
Stipulations and proposed orders must be emailed in Word format to skpo@cand.uscourts.gov on same day as e-filing.
Any stipulation or proposed order in a case subject to e-filing should be submitted in Microsoft Word format by email to skpo@cand.uscourts.gov on the same day the document is e-filed.
If meet and confer fails, moving party may request telephonic conference to enforce requirement.
In the rare event that the parties are unable to meet and confer as directed above, or a moving party is unable to obtain the opposing party’s portion of a joint letter after the meet and confer session, the moving party shall file a written request for a telephonic conference for the purpose of enforcing the Court’s meet and confer requirement, or for the Court to fashion an alternative procedure.
Page 4 | CIVIL DISCOVERY
Zoom hearings are recorded; in-person hearings are audio recorded unless court reporter requested in advance.
All motion hearings, case management, status and pretrial conferences conducted on Zoom are recorded on Zoom. The hearing and conferences that are held in person are audio recorded. They are not reported by a court reporter unless counsel requests a court reporter in advance.
Page 3 | CIVIL CASE MANAGEMENT
Junior Lawyer Participation Incentives
Court encourages junior lawyers (under 5 years) to participate in hearings/trial and will extend time limits.
The Court strongly encourages parties to permit less experienced lawyers to have an important role in hearings and at trial. The Court will extend the time limits for an associate with fewer than five years.
The Court will extend the time limits for an associate with fewer than five years.
The Court will extend the time limits for an associate with fewer than five years.
Civil cases