Judge Davila Standing Order for Civil Cases: Motions, Discovery, and ADR

If your civil case is assigned to Judge Edward J. Davila in the Northern District of California, his Standing Order for Civil Cases sets the rules you have to follow on top of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Civil Local Rules, and the district’s General Orders.¹ It applies to every civil case on his docket unless the court says otherwise, and the sanctions for ignoring it include dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), which counts as a dismissal on the merits.

The First Deadline: Case Management Conference

Every civil case begins with a Case Management Conference. Judge Davila hears these on Thursdays at 10:00 a.m.² Before the conference, the parties must file a Joint Case Management Statement that addresses every topic required by Civil Local Rule 16-9 and the district-wide Standing Order for All Judges.³ The filing deadline tracks Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f), and the Rule 26(f) planning conference itself must happen at least 21 days before any scheduling conference or scheduling order is due.

The statement should not exceed ten pages in most cases. It needs a proposed litigation schedule with dates for expert designations, discovery cutoff, dispositive motions, pretrial conference, and trial.⁴ It must describe settlement prospects, any ADR efforts to date, and a specific ADR plan.

It also has to certify that the parties have reviewed the district’s Guidelines Relating to the Discovery of Electronically Stored Information and have conferred about reasonable, proportionate steps to preserve relevant evidence.⁵ All counsel are expected to review the ESI guidelines before the Rule 26(f) conference, and the district’s model stipulated ESI order is voluntary but strongly recommended.

Miss the filing deadline and the standing order warns the action may be dismissed under Rule 41(b).¹

Motion Practice

Judge Davila hears civil motions on Thursdays at 9:00 a.m., by reservation only. For any non-discovery motion, you contact the Courtroom Deputy first to reserve a hearing date. You then have 14 calendar days to file and notice the motion. Miss that window and the reservation is gone. The briefing schedule must leave at least 14 days between the last filing and the hearing, unless good cause supports a shorter gap.¹

Page Limits

The standing order does not set its own page limits. It points to Civil Local Rules 7-2 and 7-3. Under those rules, a summary judgment motion cannot exceed 25 pages, and reply briefs are limited to 15 pages. Oppositions are due within 14 days of the motion; replies are due within 7 days after the opposition.³ If you need more pages, ask before filing.

Proposed Orders

Substantive motions like summary judgment and motions to dismiss do not require a proposed order. You do need one for administrative motions, ex parte applications, motions seeking injunctive relief (a preliminary injunction or TRO), and motions that ask the court to make factual findings, such as approving a class settlement or awarding attorney fees.¹ All proposed orders go to the court’s designated email address in Microsoft Word format. PDFs will not be accepted.

No Informal Contact With Chambers

The standing order prohibits unauthorized contact with Judge Davila or his chambers staff by phone, fax, email, or any other method. If you need to communicate with chambers, you must have advance authorization.¹ Any request that asks the court to do something must come through a stipulation with a proposed order or a formal motion filed under the Civil Local Rules. Letters or letter briefs seeking relief, even when filed on the docket, do not get a response.

Chambers Copies

For complaints, answers, cross-complaints, and all briefing and supporting materials on dispositive motions, the parties must deliver a paper chambers copy to the Clerk’s Office. Each copy has to be clearly marked “Chambers Copy – Do Not File” with the case number and the assigned judge’s name.⁶ Print documents double-sided. Keep any binder spine to three inches or less, using multiple binders if necessary.

When all or part of a filing has been sealed, submit only the unredacted version as the chambers copy, and clearly indicate which portions are subject to the sealing order.⁶ This gets missed often enough to be worth double-checking.

Discovery Disputes Go Through a Joint Letter

You cannot file a traditional discovery motion in Judge Davila’s courtroom. Before anything reaches the court, lead counsel for every party must confer in person or by phone, discuss the dispute in detail, state their positions, and identify supporting legal authority. The court expects a genuine attempt to resolve the issue first.

If that fails, the parties file a joint letter brief, not a motion. The letter cannot exceed five pages (excluding required attachments) and must be signed by lead counsel for all sides to confirm they actually conferred.¹ It should state the dispute concisely and attach excerpts of the disputed discovery request and the response. The court then decides whether to order full briefing, hold a telephone conference, set a hearing, or require lead counsel to appear in person.

ADR Expectations

Most civil cases in the Northern District are automatically assigned to the ADR Multi-Option Program, with choices that include Early Neutral Evaluation, mediation, a settlement conference with a magistrate judge, or private ADR.⁷ The Joint Case Management Statement must describe the parties’ ADR plan.

If a party needs to be excused from attending an ADR session, the standard is “extraordinary or otherwise unjustifiable hardship.” The request goes by letter to the ADR magistrate judge at least 14 days before the session, and it must identify who is seeking to be excused, who will attend instead, and who has decision-making authority.⁷ The ADR Unit cannot extend case deadlines. If the parties need more time for an ADR process, they must get the assigned judge’s permission and should consult with the neutral before submitting a stipulation.

Pretrial and Trial Filings

The Joint Final Pretrial Conference Statement is due no later than 14 days before the Final Pretrial Conference.¹ It must contain a brief description of the action, the principal disputed factual issues, the basis for subject matter jurisdiction, a Joint Witness List, and a Joint Exhibit List.

The Joint Witness List identifies each witness likely to be called and briefly describes expected testimony. A witness not listed is generally barred from testifying in a party’s case-in-chief absent leave for good cause. The Joint Exhibit List works the same way, with a brief description of each exhibit’s substance or purpose and the sponsoring witness.

Jury Instructions and Voir Dire

No later than 10 days before the Final Pretrial Conference, unless the court orders otherwise, the parties jointly file proposed voir dire questions, proposed jury instructions, proposed verdict forms, and a short neutral statement of the case to read to prospective jurors.¹ The court ordinarily uses the Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instructions for standard preliminary and closing instructions.

For case-specific instructions, the parties meet and confer and try to agree on language, using Ninth Circuit model instructions where appropriate. If the parties cannot agree on a given instruction, the objecting party submits a written objection or an alternative, placed in sequence after the disputed one. Proposed jury instructions must be submitted both on paper and in Microsoft Word format to the Courtroom Deputy.¹

Continuances

Continuances are disfavored. To move a motion hearing date, follow Civil Local Rules 6-2 or 6-3. To continue a trial date, follow Civil Local Rule 40-1.¹ Informal requests are not accepted. Every request for court action must come through a stipulation with a proposed order or a properly filed motion, and a letter on the docket asking the court to do something will be ignored.

Remote Appearances

Judge Davila uses Zoom for hearings specifically set to proceed by videoconference. Registered counsel and parties join through a link provided by the court and wait in a Zoom waiting room until court staff admit them.⁶ The public and the media may observe remote proceedings in person at the San Jose courthouse, Courtroom 4, 5th Floor.

Zoom access for civil hearings is available by request. It is not available for jury trials.⁸ Check the judge’s calendar or contact the Courtroom Deputy before filing a request if you are not sure whether a hearing is already set for Zoom. Interpretation services through Zoom are available for attendees who need them.

1
United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Standing Order for Civil Cases
2
United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Calendar – Court Main Page
3
United States District Court Northern District of California. Civil Local Rules
4
United States District Court Northern District of California. Standing Order for All Judges of the Northern District of California
5
United States District Court, Northern District of California. E-Discovery (ESI) Guidelines and Model Stipulated Orders
6
United States District Court. Senior District Judge Edward J. Davila
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United States District Court, Northern District of California. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
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United States District Court Northern District of California. Remote Access to Court Proceedings