judge console · N.D. Cal.
N.D. Cal. · Judge Keulen · Practice Guide

Hon. Susan van Keulen

Verified 2026-06-26verify at the court's site ↗

All local rules for N.D. Cal., integrated with this judge's published requirements.

Before You File
Ex parte applications
🏛 N.D. Cal. local rule

Permitted only if statute, Federal Rule, local rule, or standing order authorizes; cite authority in motion Civ. L.R. 7-10 ↗

Drafting the Motion
Length limits — motion, opposition, reply
🏛 N.D. Cal. local rule
Motion

25 pages maximum (motion must be in one document not exceeding 25 pages) Civ. L.R. 7-2(b) ↗

Opposition

25 pages maximum Civ. L.R. 7-4(b) ↗

Reply

15 pages maximum Civ. L.R. 7-4(b) ↗

Filing & Scheduling
Briefing schedule & hearing date
🏛 N.D. Cal. local rule
Notice period

35 days after filing (FRCP 6(d) mail-service extension expressly excluded) Civ. L.R. 7-2(a) ↗

Hearing days

Judge's individual law and motion calendar; no district-wide standard hearing day Civ. L.R. 7-2(a) ↗

👤 Judge Keulen — standing order
Hearing days

Civil case management conferences are held on Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. Civil motions are heard on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. Civil pretrial conferences are held on Thursdays at 9:30 a.m.

Chambers / courtesy copies
👤 Judge Keulen — standing order
Details

Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 5-1(d)(7), no chambers copies are required unless specifically requested by the Court.

Proposed orders
🏛 N.D. Cal. local rule

PDF attached to motion; Word format emailed to assigned judge's chambers address Civ. L.R. 5-1(f) ↗

👤 Judge Keulen — standing order

All stipulations and proposed orders are to be emailed in Word format to svkcrd@cand.uscourts.gov on the same day as the documents are e-filed.

The Hearing
Oral argument
🏛 N.D. Cal. local rule

Court may decide without oral argument or by telephone at judge's discretion Civ. L.R. 7-1(b) ↗

👤 Judge Keulen — standing order
Default practice

All civil discovery and motion hearings will be in person unless otherwise noticed by the Court in Courtroom 6, 4th Floor, San Jose Federal Courthouse. Initial case management conferences, status conferences, and order to show cause hearings in re settlement/dismissal will be by Zoom video link.

Discovery
Discovery referral procedure
🏛 N.D. Cal. local rule

Magistrate judges authorized for all non-dispositive pretrial matters including discovery Civ. L.R. 72-1 ↗

👤 Judge Keulen — standing order

For all discovery disputes, the parties must meet and confer to attempt to resolve the dispute. The meet and confer must be in person or by videoconference and conducted by counsel with authority to negotiate and compromise. A mere exchange of letters, emails, telephone calls, or voicemail messages does not satisfy the requirement to meet and confer. If the parties are unable to reach a resolution, they must file a joint statement not to exceed 10 pages, exclusive of the caption page, double-spaced with 12-point font and in text-searchable PDF format.

Know Before You Go
👤 Judge Keulen — deviations that burn people
  • Discovery joint statement must include a landscape-format joint chart of each disputed discovery request -- this is a hard format requirement, not optional.
  • Discovery joint statement word version of chart AND each party's proposed order must be emailed to svkcrd@cand.uscourts.gov in addition to ECF filing.
  • Discovery joint statement must be filed no later than 7 days after the discovery cut-off date per Civ. L.R. 37-3.
  • Footnotes used for argument will not be considered by the Court and may result in the filing being stricken.
  • Motions to strike affirmative defenses may NOT be filed without leave of Court -- seek leave via Civ. L.R. 7-11 administrative motion.
  • AI-generated content: counsel must personally verify all citations; errors by AI tools are imputed to the signing attorney and may result in sanctions.
  • Consent/declination must be filed simultaneously with any dispositive motion if not yet submitted.
content assembled from published local rules & standing orders · click any section in the rail for the full treatment