UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
SAN JOSE DIVISION
STANDING ORDER FOR SETTLEMENT CONFERENCES
MAGISTRATE JUDGE VIRGINIA K. DEMARCHI
Updated July 18, 2025
1. Scheduling
Unless a settlement conference has already been set by the Court, please contact Judge
DeMarchi’s courtroom deputy, Steven Chilton at (408) 535-5513 or
[email protected]
to schedule a conference. Judge DeMarchi prefers to conduct settlement conferences on
Wednesdays, Thursdays or Fridays.
Once set, a settlement conference may be continued only for a compelling reason. A
party seeking to continue a settlement conference must first confer with all other parties to the
conference regarding the continuance and then must file a request for continuance with Court
promptly following the circumstances giving rise to the request. The request must demonstrate
the compelling reasons for the continuance and state whether any other party objects to the
continuance. Any objections to the continuance must be filed within two days of the filing date
of the request for continuance.
Parties should expect to spend a full day at the settlement conference.
If a case settles before the settlement conference takes place, the parties must
immediately notify Judge DeMarchi’s courtroom deputy.
2. Format
Judge DeMarchi prefers to conduct settlement conferences in person at the courthouse in
San Jose, but she is willing to conduct the settlement conference by Zoom videoconference,
especially if all parties agree to proceed by Zoom videoconference. The parties shall confer and
advise Judge DeMarchi’s courtroom deputy, Steven Chilton, of their preference when scheduling
the settlement conference.
3. Required Attendees
All parties and their counsel are required to attend the settlement conference.
Corporations, government agencies and other non-natural persons must be represented at the
conference by a person with unlimited authority to negotiate a settlement. An insured party must
also attend the conference with a representative of the insurance carrier with full authority to
negotiate up to the limits of coverage. A person who must call another person not present at the
conference before agreeing to a settlement does not have unlimited authority.
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All required attendees must be present for the duration of the settlement conference
unless excused by the Court.
4. Settlement Conference Statement
No later than seven days prior to the settlement conference, each party participating in the
conference must lodge a Settlement Conference Statement with Judge DeMarchi’s chambers by
emailing the statement in text-searchable .pdf format to
[email protected] and
delivering a hard copy to chambers. The statement should not be filed. Each party must serve a
copy of its statement on all other parties participating in the conference.
The statement must include:
a. the identity of the party or party representative(s) and attorney(s) who will attend the
conference;
b. a brief statement of the facts of the case;
c. a brief statement of the claims and defenses raised, including statutory or other
grounds upon which the claims and defenses are founded;
d. the relief sought by the party;
e. a summary of settlement discussions, mediations, or evaluations to date, if any;
f. the party’s present demand or offer of settlement (if the party has not made a
demand or offer, the party must make one in advance of the date the party’s
statement is due and include the demand or offer in the statement);
g. any other matter the party believes may materially impact settlement of the case;
h. a summary of the proceedings to date, including the current case schedule; and
i. a list of all pending motions.
The statement should conform to the formatting requirements of Civil L.R. 3-4 and
should not exceed 10 pages of text. A party may include exhibits with its statement, but the
exhibits should not exceed 20 total pages. A party may refer to material filed on the docket (e.g.,
a motion or order) without attaching it to the statement.
5. Confidential Settlement Letter
No later than seven days prior to the settlement conference, each party participating in the
conference must lodge a Confidential Settlement Letter with Judge DeMarchi’s chambers by
emailing the letter to
[email protected] and delivering a hard copy to chambers. The
letter should not be filed. The confidential letter should not be served on any other party.
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The confidential letter must include:
a. a candid evaluation of the party’s likelihood of prevailing on the claims and defenses
in the case;
b. an estimate of the fees and costs incurred by the party to date, and the fees and costs
expected to be incurred for further discovery, pretrial and trial proceedings;
c. a realistic settlement amount and/or non-monetary terms that, given all the
circumstances, the party submitting the letter would consider seriously;
d. if a party is receiving third party litigation funding, and if the funder has a financial or
other significant interest in the outcome of the proceeding, the identity of the funder
and a description of the nature of the interest; and
e. any other matter the party wishes to bring to Judge DeMarchi’s attention that might
facilitate settlement of the case.
The confidential letter may be in traditional letter format addressed to Judge DeMarchi.
The letter should not exceed five pages.
6. Pre-Settlement Conference Call with the Magistrate Judge
At the time of scheduling the settlement conference, the Court will set a date and time for
a pre-settlement conference call with counsel at least 48 hours prior to the conference. Counsel
should be prepared to discuss the matters in their respective statements and the logistics of the
settlement conference.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: July 18, 2025
VIRGINIA K. DEMARCHI
United States Magistrate Judge
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