UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
STANDING ORDER FOR ALL CRIMINAL CASES BEFORE
DISTRICT JUDGE JON S. TIGAR
A. Conformity with Rules
The parties must follow the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Criminal Local Rules, and
the General Orders of the Northern District of California, except as superseded by this Court’s
standing orders.
B. Court Schedule
Judge Tigar hears criminal matters on Fridays in Courtroom 6, 2nd Floor, United States District
Court, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, California. Motions, evidentiary hearings, and pretrial
conferences are heard at 2:00 p.m. All other matters are heard at 9:30 a.m.
Trials commence on Mondays at 8:00 a.m. and proceed Mondays through Thursdays.
Scheduling questions may be addressed to Courtroom Deputy Dianna Shoblo at (510) 637-3547
or
[email protected].
All filing deadlines are at 5:00 p.m. unless otherwise ordered.
C. Invitation to Self-Identify Pronouns and Honorifics
Litigants and lawyers may indicate their pronouns (e.g., she/her, he/him, they/their) and
honorifics (e.g., Mr., Ms., Mx., Dr.) by filing a letter, adding the information in the name block
or signature line of the pleadings, or verbally informing the Court when making an appearance.
D. Motions
Motions must be noticed for a hearing in accordance with Criminal Local Rule 47-1. Counsel
need not reserve a hearing date in advance. Before selecting a hearing date, however, counsel
must consult Judge Tigar’s weekly calendar, which is available at
https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/jst, to determine which dates are available. The Court may reset
noticed hearing dates as its calendar requires.
Any party wishing to have motions in limine heard prior to the commencement of trial must file
and serve them at least 14 days prior to the pretrial conference. All motions in limine must be
contained in one document, limited to 25 pages, with each motion listed as a subheading.
Oppositions to the motions in limine must be contained in one document, limited to 25 pages,
with corresponding subheadings, and must be filed and served no later than seven days prior to
the pretrial conference. The Court will not consider reply briefs absent prior order on a showing
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JST Criminal Standing Order
of good cause. The motions in limine will be heard at the pretrial conference, unless the Court
sets another time.
E. Footnotes and Citations
Footnotes are often unnecessary and must be employed sparingly. When used, they must appear
in no less than 12-point type. Excessive footnotes will be disregarded.
The Court prefers Westlaw citations for unpublished opinions that are not included in the Federal
Appendix.
F. Format of Electronic Filings
Electronically filed documents must be text-searchable PDFs whenever possible. This
requirement is waived for self-represented litigants who are proceeding without a lawyer.
G. Courtesy Copies and Proposed Orders
Courtesy copies must be provided for: (1) electronic media that is manually filed and (2) pretrial
filings, including papers associated with motions in limine. The Court may request courtesy
copies of other documents but discourages their unsolicited submission.
Courtesy copies must be lodged with the Clerk’s office in Oakland and must be double-sided and
three-hole-punched at the left margin. Courtesy copies of e-filed documents must bear the ECF
stamp (case number, document number, date, and page number) on the top of each page. Side
tabs, rather than bottom tabs, should be used to separate exhibits.
The quality, condition, and labeling of binders, when used, should be such that the Court can
easily identify, review, and transport the binders’ contents. Whenever possible, the spine of a
binder should not exceed three inches in width, even if that limitation results in the use of more
than one binder.
Electronic copies of proposed orders must be sent in Word format to
[email protected].
H. Pretrial Conference Statement and Related Filings
The parties must file a pretrial statement that addresses all items listed in Criminal Local Rule
17.1-1(b).
The parties must attach to their pretrial statement a joint set of jury instructions ordered in logical
sequence and accompanied by a table of contents. The parties must use the Ninth Circuit Model
Jury Instructions whenever possible. Proposed deviations from the model instructions, no matter
how minor, must be clearly identified by red-lined copy and supported by authority. The Court
discourages the unnecessary submission of special instructions or modification of model
instructions. Special instructions, if any, must be complete, accurate, balanced, clear, and non-
argumentative. Any instruction to which the parties disagree must be marked as “disputed” and
must be followed by concise argument and authority in support of and against the use of the
instruction.
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JST Criminal Standing Order
The parties also must attach to their pretrial statement a joint list of agreed-upon voir dire
questions and a list of any voir dire questions on which they could not agree.
Counsel for the United States must file and serve a verdict form on the same day as the pretrial
conference statement is due.
The parties must e-mail Word versions of the proposed jury instructions, voir dire, and verdict
form to
[email protected] on the same day they file them.
I. Trial Exhibits
1. Exchange of Exhibits. At least 21 calendar days before the final pretrial conference,
the parties must exchange copies of all exhibits, summaries, charts, schedules,
diagrams, and other similar documentary materials to be used in their case-in-chief,
together with a complete list of all such proposed exhibits. Voluminous exhibits must
be reduced by elimination of irrelevant portions or through the use of summaries.
2. Objections to Exhibits. Following the exchange, the parties must immediately meet
and confer about the exhibits and any potential objections thereto, and must make a
good faith effort to stipulate to exhibits’ admissibility. If the parties cannot so
stipulate, they must make every effort to stipulate at least to authenticity and
foundation absent a legitimate (not tactical) objection. The Court may inquire about
the basis for any or all of a party’s objections to another party’s exhibits and/or
conduct a pretrial conference to rule on such objections, so as to ensure that the jury’s
time is not wasted during trial.
3. Pre-Marking. Each exhibit must be labeled in the lower-right-hand corner with the
exhibit number in a prominent, bold typeface.
The parties must mark their exhibits using non-overlapping ranges of numbers,
leaving enough unused numbers that additional exhibits can be marked during trial.
For example, the parties might agree that the government will use numbers 001–199
and the defendant will use numbers 200–399.
4. Delivery. Unless otherwise ordered, at least seven calendar days prior to the
beginning of trial, the parties must deliver one set of all pre-marked exhibits in clearly
labeled three-ring binders to the courtroom deputy. Admitted exhibits from these
binders will be given to the jury during deliberations. The quality, condition, and
labeling of the binders should be such that the Court can easily transport and review
the binders’ contents. Whenever possible, the spine of a binder should not be wider
than three inches.
5. All exhibits that have not been provided as required are subject to exclusion in the
reasonable exercise of the Court’s discretion.
6. Following trial, the parties shall coordinate with the courtroom deputy regarding
electronic filing of all admitted exhibits, which shall be the official court record.
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JST Criminal Standing Order
J. Witnesses at Trial
Unless otherwise ordered, each party must notify all other parties by the close of each trial day of
the witnesses that party intends to call on the following trial day. Failure to comply with this
order may, in the discretion of the Court, be grounds for exclusion of any witness who was not
properly disclosed.
Once the cross-examination of a witness has commenced, and until cross-examination of the
witness has concluded, counsel offering the witness on direct examination must not: (a) consult
or confer with the witness regarding the substance of the witness’s testimony already given, or
anticipated to be given, except for the purpose of conferring on whether to assert a privilege
against testifying or on how to comply with a court order; or (b) suggest to the witness the
manner in which any questions should be answered. Once cross-examination has concluded,
counsel is permitted to confer with the witness before redirect examination begins.
K. Transcripts
Any party who would like a daily transcript or real-time reporting must email
[email protected] at least fourteen calendar days before the first day of trial.
L. Interpreters
If any witness will require an interpreter at trial and there is no certified court interpreter
available to translate in the appropriate language, counsel must notify Courtroom Deputy Dianna
Shoblo at least 30 days before the commencement at trial at (510) 637-3547 or
[email protected].
Dated: May 13, 2025
_____________________________________
JON S. TIGAR
United States District Judge
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