Last revised March 12, 2025
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10 San Francisco Division
11 STANDING ORDER FOR MAGISTRATE JUDGE LAUREL BEELER
12 Parties must comply with the procedures in the Federal Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure,
Northern District of California
United States District Court
13 the local rules, the general orders, this standing order, and the Northern District’s standing order
14 for civil cases titled “Contents of Joint Case Management Statement.” The rules are available at
15 http://www.cand.uscourts.gov. The parties’ failure to comply with the rules may be a ground for
16 monetary sanctions, dismissal, entry of judgment, or other appropriate sanctions.
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18 CALENDAR DATES AND SCHEDULING
19 Motions are heard on Thursdays: civil motions at 9:30 a.m., criminal motions at 10:30 a.m., and
20 pretrial conferences at 1:00 p.m. Hearings are in person. Parties may stipulate to a hearing by
21 videoconference one week before any hearing. The parties may notice motions (other than
22 discovery motions, discussed below) under the local rules for any available Thursday on the court’s
23 calendar (at http://www.cand.uscourts.gov).
24 Case-management conferences are on Thursdays: criminal cases at 10:30 a.m. in person and
25 civil cases by videoconference at 11:00 a.m. Civil case-management conferences are not recorded
26 unless a party asks or is appearing pro se.
27 For scheduling questions, please contact courtroom deputy Elaine Kabiling at
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[email protected] or 415-522-3140.
STANDING ORDER
1 CHAMBERS COPIES
2 If filings are voluminous, then the parties must lodge chambers copies that are double-side
3 printed and three-hole punched. They must be the electronically filed copies with the PACER/ECF-
4 generated header (case number, docket number, date, and ECF page number). Exhibits must be
5 tabbed and have a table of contents. If the copies are more than two inches thick, then the parties
6 must submit them in a binder. If the case involves sealed filings, then the redacted and unredacted
7 copies must be submitted in order (e.g., redacted motion/unredacted motion (behind a tab labeled
8 “motion”) or redacted Ex. 1/unredacted Ex. 1 (behind a tab labeled “1” or “Ex. 1”)). The binder
9 order must be (1) motions and proposed orders (redacted/unredacted), (2) sealing motions and
10 proposed orders with supporting declarations only; and (3) exhibits (redacted/unredacted with
11 numbered tabs that correspond to the exhibit number).
12 In addition to paper copies, hyperlinked electronic copies should be submitted if feasible when
Northern District of California
United States District Court
13 the supporting documents are lengthy. Any pinpoint citations in the briefs must link to the specific
14 page in the supporting exhibit. PDF briefs and bookmarked exhibits must be emailed to
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[email protected]. If the file is too large to email, please lodge a thumb drive or share
16 access to a cloud-based hosting platform that allows court employees to download files.
17 Otherwise, the parties do not need to submit paper copies and instead can email a chambers
18 PDF copy to
[email protected]. Parties do not need to submit electronic copies of
19 certificates of service, certificates of interested entities or persons, consents or declinations to the
20 court’s jurisdiction, stipulations that do not require a court order (see Civil Local Rule 6-1), or
21 notices of appearance or substitution of counsel.
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23 CASE MANAGEMENT
24 1. Less-Experienced Lawyers
25 The court encourages parties to give less-experienced lawyers an opportunity to participate in
26 all court proceedings and to let the court know during the scheduling process.
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STANDING ORDER 2
1 2. Discovery
2 2.1 Privilege Logs
3 If a party withholds material as privileged, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(5), it must produce a
4 privilege log that is sufficiently detailed for the opposing party to assess whether the assertion of
5 privilege is justified. The log must be produced as quickly as possible but no later than fourteen
6 days after the party’s disclosures or discovery responses are due unless the parties stipulate to, or
7 the court sets, another date. Privilege logs must contain the following: (a) the title and description
8 of the document, the number of pages, and the Bates-number range, if any; (b) the subject matter
9 or general nature of the communication (without disclosing its contents); (c) the identity and
10 position of its author; (d) the date of the communication; (e) the identity and position of the
11 recipients of the communication; (f) the location where the document was found; (g) the specific
12 basis for the assertion that the document is privileged or protected (including a brief summary of
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13 any supporting facts); and (h) the steps taken to ensure the confidentiality of the communication,
14 including an affirmation that no unauthorized persons received the communication.
15 2.2 Discovery Disputes
16 If parties have a discovery dispute, then counsel must confer by any means to resolve or narrow
17 their dispute. If that process does not resolve the dispute, then lead trial counsel must confer in
18 person if possible or at least by videoconference. Either party may demand a conference with one
19 week’s notice. The parties then may raise their dispute in a five-page letter brief (12-point font or
20 greater, reasonable margins, and page breaks between paragraphs). Lead trial counsel for both
21 parties must sign the letter and attest that they met and conferred in person or by videoconference.
22 The letter must discuss each dispute separately: each section must have one issue and (1)
23 describe the unresolved issue, (2) summarize each party’s position (with citations to the facts and
24 legal authority), and (3) provide each party’s final proposed compromise. The parties may submit
25 supporting declarations and documentation of up to fifteen pages.
26 After the parties submit their dispute, then the court will determine the next steps, including
27 issuing a ruling, ordering more briefing, or setting a hearing.
28 For discovery disputes involving third parties (usually under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
STANDING ORDER 3
1 45), the parties may (but do not have to) use these procedures and in any event must confer in
2 person if possible or at least by videoconference for any dispute. If the parties do not agree to
3 these procedures, then the moving party must file a noticed motion under the local rules and
4 include in the notice a statement about its compliance with these procedures.
5 For emergencies during events such as depositions, the parties may contact the court under Civil
6 Local Rule 37-1(b) by calling courtroom deputy Elaine Kabiling at 415-522-3140 and sending a joint
7 email describing the dispute to
[email protected] and
[email protected].
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9 3. Amended Pleadings
10 If a party files an amended pleading, it must file as an attachment a blackline compare of the
11 amended pleading against the last pleading.
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Northern District of California
United States District Court
13 4. Case-Management Statements
14 The first joint case-management conference statement in a case must have the information in
15 the Northern District’s standing order titled “Contents of Joint Case Management Statement.”
16 Subsequent statements preferably will have only new information.
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18 5. Summary-Judgment Motions
19 The parties may not file separate statements of undisputed facts. See Civil Local Rule 56-2.
20 Joint statements of undisputed facts are not required but are helpful. Any joint statement must
21 include — for each undisputed fact — citations to admissible evidence.
22 If the parties have cross-motions for summary judgment, then they must file four briefs
23 sequentially: motion (twenty-five pages), opposition/cross-motion (twenty-five pages),
24 opposition/reply (twenty pages), and reply (fifteen pages). The parties must confer on who goes
25 first: if they cannot agree, then the plaintiff files the first motion.
26 IT IS SO ORDERED.
27 Dated: March 12, 2025 ______________________________________
LAUREL BEELER
28 United States Magistrate Judge
STANDING ORDER 4
