UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NOTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
CIVIL STANDING ORDER FOR MAGISTRATE JUDGE LISA J. CISNEROS
Parties shall comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the
Northern District of California’s Civil Local Rules and General Orders, and this Standing Order,
all of which are available at www.cand.uscourts.gov/rules/. Failure to comply may result in the
imposition of sanctions, including monetary sanctions, dismissal, and/or entry of judgment.
See Civ. L.R. 1-4.
A. CALENDAR DATES AND SCHEDULING
Civil motions are heard on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m., except that when Judge Cisneros is on
criminal duty, civil motions are heard on Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. Motion hearings are in person
unless otherwise ordered by the Court; any request for a remote hearing must be made by
administrative motion or by stipulation and proposed order. Hybrid hearings, with some counsel
in person and others appearing remotely, are disfavored. Parties should notice motions pursuant
to the local rules. Parties need not reserve a hearing date but should confirm the Court’s
availability by viewing the calendar and scheduling notes available at
https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/lisa-j-cisneros/. Hearing dates may be reset as the Court’s
calendar requires or matters may be decided without a hearing.
For scheduling requests that fall within the parameters for Civil Local Rules 6-1, 6-2, and
6-3, including requests to advance or enlarge time to hear a motion, such request shall be made
through the procedures set forth in those rules. For other administrative questions concerning the
Court’s schedule, contact Judge Cisneros’s Courtroom Deputy (“CRD”) at
[email protected] or (415) 522-2043. For further information on contact with chambers,
see section I below.
Civil case management conferences are heard Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. via Zoom webinar
videoconference.
Settlement conferences are held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, starting at
10:30 a.m. Telephonic pre-settlement conference meetings are held Thursdays at 10:30 a.m.
Claim construction hearings are held on Fridays, staring at 10:30 a.m.
B. CHAMBERS COPIES AND PROPOSED ORDERS
1. Chambers Copies of Voluminous Filings. Chambers copies are required only
for filings that necessitate action by the Court and exceed 50 pages inclusive of supporting
declarations and exhibits. Chambers copies must bear the PACER/ECF header (with case
number, docket number, date, and page number) and be clearly marked with the judge’s initials
(LJC) and the designation “Chambers Copy.” Chambers copies must be bound at the top or side;
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voluminous filings (those over two inches in thickness) should be placed in binders. Exhibits
must be tabbed. Chambers copies may be accompanied by a flash drive where appropriate.
Chambers copies shall arrive at the Court within 48 hours after e-filing.
2. Chambers Copies of Sealed Material. The Court may request electronic
chambers copies of material filed under seal, particularly when a filing includes multiple sealed
docket entries or sub-entries. Parties filing material under seal should be prepared to send PDF
chambers copies via email or (at a party’s option) their own secure file transfer systems if
requested by the Court.
3. Proposed Orders. A proposed order is required for all filings that necessitate
action by the Court. Proposed orders in civil cases shall be submitted in Word format (.doc or
.docx) via email to
[email protected] on the day of filing. This email address is to be
used only for civil proposed orders unless otherwise directed by the Court. Proposed orders
should state with specificity the relief that a party proposes to be ordered, without extraneous
analysis or commentary.
C. CONSENT CASES
In civil cases assigned to Judge Cisneros for all purposes, the parties should file their
written consent to the assignment of a United States Magistrate Judge for all purposes or their
written declination of consent as soon as possible and in no event later than the deadlines
specified in Civil Local Rule 73-1. The form is available at www.cand.uscourts.gov/civilforms.
D. CASE MANAGEMENT
1. Case Management Conference Statements. The parties shall file a joint case
management statement at least 7 days prior to the case management conference. In cases
involving unrepresented litigants, the parties may file separate statements. The statements shall
address all matters set forth in the Standing Order for All Judges of the Northern District of
California – Contents of Joint Case Management Statement, which is available at
https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/rules/judges-standing-orders/. See Civ. L.R. 16-9(a). Unless
proceeding pro se (in which case, the party must personally appear), each party shall be
represented at the conference by counsel who has full authority and is fully prepared to:
(a) address the matters set forth in the Standing Order for All Judges of the Northern District of
California – Contents of Joint Case Management Statement, as well as in Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure 16(c) and 26(f); (b) enter into stipulations and make admissions as contemplated in
Rule 16(c); and (c) select an ADR process (if one has not been selected).
2. Pronouns and Honorifics. Litigants and lawyers may indicate their pronouns, titles
(e.g. Mr., Ms., Mx., Dr.), or pronunciation of their names by any reasonable means, including but not
limited to in signature of blocks of filings, at the time of appearance in court, or by sending an email or
passing a note to the Courtroom Deputy. Lawyers may similarly advise the Court regarding appropriate
identification of clients or witnesses. Judge Cisneros’s pronouns are she/her.
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3. Lawyer Development. The Court encourages parties to contribute to the
development of the bar by permitting lawyers with less than five years of experience to argue
motions, have a significant participatory role in settlement conferences, and examine witnesses at
trial.
E. MOTION PRACTICE
1. Meet and Confer Requirement. The parties shall meet and confer (in person, by
video conference, or by phone) before filing any motion or non-stipulated request. All motions
or non-stipulated requests shall include a certification, which may be submitted separately or
included in the body of the filing, that the parties have complied with this meet and confer
requirement. The Court may strike filings that do not comply.
2. Failure to Oppose. The failure of the opposing party to file a timely response to
any motion or non-stipulated request may be construed as consent to the granting of the motion
or request as unopposed.
3. Summary Judgment Motions. Absent prior leave of Court, the parties are
limited to filing one summary judgment motion per side, not to exceed 25 pages in length.
Aligned parties (e.g., co-defendants) are to file joint briefs. If the parties wish to depart from the
standard briefing schedule and page limits set by Civil Local Rule 7-2 and 7-3 (for example, to
set a schedule involving one party’s motion followed by another party’s consolidated opposition
and cross-motion), they shall make this proposal in a joint case management statement that is
filed in advance of a case management conference, or file an administrative motion or stipulation
and proposed order no later than three weeks before the first motion for summary judgment will
be filed.
4. Technological Assistance. Counsel and parties appearing without legal
representation are responsible for providing complete and accurate representations in any
submission to the Court to the extent required by Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, the California Rules of Professional Conduct, and any other applicable legal or
ethical guidance. Parties are not categorically prohibited from using any sort of lawful
technological assistance in researching or drafting briefs, including artificial intelligence (AI)
tools that assist in the preparation of material for submission to the Court. That said, attorneys
and unrepresented parties must understand the limitations of any tools that they use, and they
remain fully responsible for the final products they submit to the Court. The Court will impute
any errors by computer-based tools to the attorney or unrepresented party whose signature
appears on the document containing those errors. Failure to verify the accuracy of briefs, and
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particularly the accuracy of citations to law and evidence, may be grounds for sanctions and/or
striking a filing.1
F. DISCOVERY
1. General. 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. A copy of the Local Rules is available at the Clerk’s Office and
at the Court’s website (http://www.cand.uscourts.gov). 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.
2. Evidence Preservation. After a party has notice of this order, it must take the
steps needed to preserve information relevant to the issues in question in the litigation, including
suspending any document-destruction programs.
3. Document Disclosures. To the maximum extent feasible, all party files and
records should be retained and produced in their original form and sequence, and the originals
should remain available for inspection by any counsel on reasonable notice.
Except for good cause, no item will be received in evidence if the proponent failed to
produce it in the face of a reasonable and proper discovery request covering the item, regardless
of whether a motion to overrule any objection thereto was made.
4. Written Discovery. The Court encourages the party propounding discovery to
provide courtesy copies of all requests for written discovery (i.e., interrogatories, document
requests, requests for admission) to the responding party in an electronic format (e.g., Microsoft
Word, or other word processing application) that easily permits the responding party to copy the
requests for purposes of responding to them.
5. Discovery Disputes. This order’s meet and confer and joint letter procedures for
discovery disputes apply to disputes among the parties to this action and to disputes between
parties and non-parties who have been served with subpoenas.
All discovery disputes before the Court shall proceed as follows: when there is a
discovery dispute, the parties must first make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute before
seeking Court intervention. After attempting to address the issue(s) via letter, phone call, and/or
email, any party or non-party may demand a formal meet and confer within two weeks’ notice.
Counsel for each party must meet and confer in person or by videoconference. A mere exchange
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This Standing Order should not be construed as reducing an attorney’s duty of care under any
rule of professional conduct, or as creating an exception to any such rule or other authority that
might limit the use of AI or other technological assistance.
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of letters, e-mails, or telephone calls does not satisfy the meet and confer requirement. If
disagreements remain, the parties shall file a joint letter no later than five business days after the
formal meet and confer, unless otherwise directed by the Court. Lead trial counsel for both
parties must sign the letter, which shall include an attestation that the parties met and conferred
in person or by video regarding all issues prior to filing the letter.
The joint letter must include a paragraph listing relevant discovery dates and case
management deadlines, such as:
(1) the fact and expert discovery cut-off dates;
(2) the last day to hear or file dispositive motions;
(3) the claim construction or class certification briefing deadlines and hearing dates; and
(4) pretrial conference and trial dates.
Going issue-by-issue, the joint letter shall describe each unresolved issue, summarize
each party’s position with appropriate legal authority, and provide each party’s final proposed
compromise before moving to the next issue. In the rare instance that a joint letter is not
possible, each side may submit a letter not to exceed two pages, which shall include an
explanation of why a joint letter was not possible.
The parties shall submit one exhibit that sets forth each disputed discovery request in full,
followed immediately by the objections and/or responses thereto. No other information shall be
included in the exhibit. An additional set of exhibits is allowed for declarations or other
documents relevant to the discovery dispute. Such exhibits shall not exceed twenty-five pages
without leave of the Court.
Joint letters must be filed in ECF under the Civil Events category of Motions and Related
Filings > Motions: General > Discovery Letter Brief. Joint letters shall be in text-searchable
PDF format and shall not exceed five pages (12-point font or greater; single-spaced, margins no
less than one inch) without leave of the Court. The Court will review the submission(s) and
determine whether formal briefing or proceedings are necessary.
The Court expects the parties to cooperate in the preparation of their joint letter so that
each side has adequate time to prepare its own arguments and address its adversary’s arguments
before submission of the letter. Unjustified delay or refusal to participate meaningfully in the
formal meet and confer or in the preparation of the joint letter may be grounds for entry of an
order adverse to the delaying or non-participating party.
If necessary, the Court will set a hearing to address the discovery dispute. Hearings
concerning discovery disputes are generally held via Zoom and set on the Civil Law & Motion
calendar. See Part A (Calendar Dates and Scheduling).
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6. Protective Orders. If parties believe a protective order is necessary, they are
encouraged to use one of the Court’s model protective orders (available at
http://cand.uscourts.gov/model-protective-orders). Parties shall file one of the following with
their proposed protective order:
(1) 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;
(2) a declaration explaining each modification to the model order, along with a redline
version comparing the proposed protective order with the model order; or
(3) a declaration explaining why use of one of the model orders is not practicable.
7. Privilege Logs. If a party withholds responsive information by claiming that it is
privileged or otherwise protected from discovery, that party shall produce a privilege log. See
Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(5).
Privilege logs must be sufficiently detailed for the opposing party to assess whether the
assertion of privilege is justified. Unless the parties agree to alternative logging methods, the log
should include:
(1) the title and description of the document, including number of pages or Bates number
range;
(2) the subject matter addressed in the document;
(3) the identity and position of its author(s);
(4) the identity and position of all addressees and recipients;
(5) the date the document was prepared and, if different, the date(s) on which it was sent
to or shared with persons other than its author(s); and
(6) the specific basis for the claim that the document is privileged or protected.
The privilege log will be produced as quickly as possible, but no later than fourteen (14)
days after its disclosures or discovery responses are due, unless the parties stipulate to, or the
Court sets, another date.
8. Depositions. Absent extraordinary circumstances, counsel shall consult in
advance with opposing counsel and unrepresented proposed deponents to schedule depositions at
mutually convenient times and places. Where an agreement cannot be reached as to any party
deponent or a deponent represented by counsel of record, the following procedure may be
invoked by the party seeking such any such deposition. The party seeking such a deposition may
notice it at least thirty days in advance. If the noticed date and place is unacceptable to the
deponent or the deponent’s counsel, then within ten days of receipt of the notice, the deponent or
counsel for the deponent must reply and counter-propose in writing an alternative date and place
falling within thirty days of the date noticed by the party seeking the deposition.
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Counsel and parties must comply with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 30(d)(1).
Deposition objections must be as to privilege or form only. Speaking objections are prohibited.
When a privilege is claimed, the witness should nevertheless answer questions relevant to the
existence, extent, or waiver of the privilege, such as the date of a communication, who made the
statement, to whom and in whose presence the statement was made, other persons to whom the
contents of the statement have been disclosed, and the general subject matter of the statement,
unless such information is itself privileged. Private conferences between deponents and
attorneys in the course of interrogation, including a line of related questions, are improper and
prohibited except for the sole purpose of determining whether a privilege should be asserted.
9. Emergencies. In emergencies during discovery events (such as depositions), any
party may, after exhausting good faith attempts to resolve disputed issues, seek judicial
intervention pursuant to Civil L.R. 37-1(b) by contacting the Court through the courtroom
deputy. Before calling, the parties must first send a short email describing the nature of the
dispute to
[email protected]. If the Court is unavailable, the discovery event shall
proceed with objections noted for the record.
G. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCES
Settlement conferences are governed by Judge Cisneros’s Settlement Conference
Standing Order, available at https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/lisa-j-cisneros/. Please note that
Settlement Conference Statements and Confidential Settlement Letters are to be lodged (not
filed) by emailing to
[email protected].
H. ELECTRONIC FILINGS
Electronically filed documents must be text-searchable PDFs and compatible with text-
to-speech readers, such as Adobe Acrobat, whenever possible.
I. COMMUNICATIONS WITH CHAMBERS AND COURT STAFF
Except as otherwise permitted by this Standing Order or by another order of the Court,
parties and attorneys should not communicate with Judge Cisneros or her staff (including the
Courtroom Deputy) about a case except in open court (including remote video proceedings) or
through filings in the ECF docket. For example, requests to clarify an order, set or continue a
hearing, or allow a remote appearance should be made through appropriate filings in the docket,
which depending on circumstances might include administrative motions, noticed motions, or
stipulations and proposed orders.
Requests for clarification of purely administrative matters (e.g., if a motion previously set
for a hearing does not appear on the Court’s public calendar) may be directed to the Courtroom
Deputy at
[email protected], with opposing counsel cc’d. If in doubt, any such request
may also be made through an appropriate filing on the docket.
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In an emergency, such as an individual’s inability to make a scheduled appearance due to
last-minute factors beyond their control, counsel or parties may attempt to contact the Courtroom
Deputy at
[email protected] or (415) 522-2043.
The limitations provided in this section do not apply to cases referred to Judge Cisneros
for settlement proceedings, which are addressed in a separate standing order.
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