Judge Vince Chhabria — United States District Court, Northern District of California

Judge Chhabria’s Standard Preliminary Jury Instructions for Criminal Cases

[Source: https://cand.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/standing-orders/VC_Standard_Preliminary_Jury_Instructions_Crim_Cases_10-26-2021.pdf]

STANDARD PRELIMINARY JURY INSTRUCTIONS FOR CRIMINAL CASES From the Ninth Circuit Model Instructions (2021) with Slight Modifications 1. Duty of Jury ........................................................................................................................... 2 2. The Charge—Presumption of Innocence ............................................................................... 3 3. What Is Evidence ................................................................................................................... 4 4. What Is Not Evidence ............................................................................................................ 5 5. Direct and Circumstantial Evidence ...................................................................................... 6 6. Ruling on Objections ............................................................................................................. 7 7. Credibility of Witnesses ......................................................................................................... 8 8. Conduct of the Jury ................................................................................................................ 9 9. No Transcript Available to Jury; Taking Notes ................................................................... 11 10. Bench Conferences and Recesses ........................................................................................ 12 11. Contact with Jurors .............................................................................................................. 13

1. Duty of Jury Jurors: You are now the jury in this case, and I want to take a few minutes to talk about your duties as jurors and give you some preliminary instructions. At the end of the trial I will give you more detailed written instructions that will control your deliberations. When you deliberate, it will be your duty to weigh and evaluate all the evidence received in the case and, in that process, to decide the facts. It will also be your duty to apply the law that I give you to the facts as you find them, whether you agree with the law or not. You must decide the case solely on the evidence and the law before you. Perform these duties fairly and impartially. You should not be influenced by any person’s race, color, religious beliefs, national ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, or economic circumstances. Do not allow yourself to be influenced by personal likes or dislikes, sympathy, prejudice, fear, public opinion, or biases, including unconscious biases. Unconscious biases are stereotypes, attitudes, or preferences that people may consciously reject but may be expressed without conscious awareness, control, or intention. Like conscious bias, unconscious bias can affect how we evaluate information and make decisions.

2. The Charge—Presumption of Innocence This is a criminal case brought by the United States government. The government charges the defendant with: [insert charges]. The defendant has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is presumed innocent unless and until the government proves the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In addition, the defendant has the right to remain silent and never has to prove innocence or present any evidence.

3. What Is Evidence The evidence you are to consider in deciding what the facts are consists of: (1) the sworn testimony of any witness;
   (2) the exhibits that are received in evidence; and (3) any facts to which the parties agree.

4. What Is Not Evidence The following things are not evidence, and you may not consider them as evidence in deciding what the facts are: (1) statements and arguments of the attorneys; (2) questions and objections of the attorneys; (3) testimony that I instruct you to disregard; and (4) anything you may see or hear when the court is not in session even if what you see or hear is done or said by one of the parties or by one of the witnesses.

5. Direct and Circumstantial Evidence Evidence may be direct or circumstantial. Direct evidence is direct proof of a fact, such as testimony by a witness about what that witness personally saw or heard or did. Circumstantial evidence is indirect evidence, that is, it is proof of one or more facts from which you can find another fact. Let me give you an example. Say you wake up one morning and you see that the ground is wet outside. That’s circumstantial evidence that it rained last night. Now let’s say you wake up in the middle of the night, look out the window, and see rain. That’s direct evidence that it rained last night. You are to consider both direct and circumstantial evidence. Either can be used to prove any fact. The law makes no distinction between the weight to be given to either direct or circumstantial evidence. It is for you to decide how much weight to give to any evidence.

6. Ruling on Objections There are rules of evidence that control what can be received in evidence. When a lawyer asks a question or offers an exhibit in evidence and a lawyer on the other side thinks that it is not permitted by the rules of evidence, that lawyer may object. If I overrule the objection, the question may be answered or the exhibit received. If I sustain the objection, the question cannot be answered, or the exhibit cannot be received. Whenever I sustain an objection to a question, you must ignore the question and must not guess what the answer would have been. Sometimes I may order that evidence be stricken from the record and that you disregard or ignore the evidence. That means that when you are deciding the case, you must not consider the evidence that I told you to disregard.

7. Credibility of Witnesses In deciding the facts in this case, you may have to decide which testimony to believe and which testimony not to believe. You may believe everything a witness says, or part of it, or none of it. In considering the testimony of any witness, you may take into account: (1) the opportunity and ability of the witness to see or hear or know the things testified to; (2) the witness’s memory; (3) the witness’s manner while testifying (although please remember that people may have different reactions to the pressure of testifying in court); (4) the witness’s interest in the outcome of the case, if any; (5) the witness’s bias or prejudice, if any; (6) whether other evidence contradicted the witness’s testimony; (7) the reasonableness of the witness’s testimony in light of all the evidence; and (8) any other factors that bear on believability. You must avoid bias, conscious or unconscious, based on a witness’s race, color, religious beliefs, national ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, or economic circumstances in your determination of credibility. The weight of the evidence as to a fact does not necessarily depend on the number of witnesses who testify. What is important is how believable the witnesses are, and how much weight you think their testimony deserves.

8. Conduct of the Jury Keep an open mind throughout the trial, and do not decide what the verdict should be until you and your fellow jurors have completed your deliberations at the end of the case. Because you must decide this case based only on the evidence received in the case and on my instructions as to the law that applies, you must not be exposed to any other information about the case or to the issues it involves during the course of your jury duty. So until the end of the case or unless I tell you otherwise: Do not communicate with anyone in any way and do not let anyone else communicate with you in any way about the merits of the case or anything to do with it. This restriction includes discussing the case in person, in writing, by phone, tablet, or computer, or any other means, via email, text messaging, or any Internet chat room, blog, website or application, including but not limited to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok, or any other forms of social media. This restriction also applies to communicating with your fellow jurors until I give you the case for deliberation, and it applies to communicating with everyone else including your family members, your employer, the media or press, and the people involved in the trial.
   Of course, you may notify your family and your employer that you have been seated as a juror in the case and how long you expect the trial to last. But if they ask you any follow-up questions about the case, you should say that the judge has ordered you not to discuss it further. If you are asked or approached in any way about your jury service or anything about this case, you must respond that you have been ordered not to discuss the matter. In addition, you must report the contact to the Courtroom Deputy.

Because you will receive all the evidence and legal instruction you properly may

consider to return a verdict, do not read, watch, or listen to any news or media accounts or commentary about the case or anything to do with it, although I have no information that there will be news reports about this case; do not do any research, such as consulting dictionaries, searching the Internet or using other reference materials; and do not investigate or in any other way try to learn about the case on your own. Do not visit or view any place discussed in this case, and do not use the Internet or any other resource to search for or view any place discussed during the trial. Also, do not do any research about the law, or the people involved—including the parties, the witnesses or the lawyers—until you have been excused as jurors. If you happen to read or hear anything touching on this case in the media, turn away and report it to the Courtroom Deputy as soon as possible. These rules protect each party’s right to have this case decided only on evidence that has been presented here in court. Witnesses in court take an oath to tell the truth, and the accuracy of their testimony is tested through the trial process. If you do any research or investigation outside the courtroom or gain any information through improper communications, then your verdict may be influenced by inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information that has not been tested by the trial process. Each of the parties is entitled to a fair trial by an impartial jury, and if you decide the case based on information not presented in court, you will have denied the parties a fair trial. Remember, you have taken an oath to follow the rules, and it is very important that you follow these rules. A juror who violates these restrictions jeopardizes the fairness of these proceedings, and a mistrial could result that would require the entire trial process to start over. If any juror is exposed to any outside information, please notify the Courtroom Deputy immediately.

9. No Transcript Available to Jury; Taking Notes At the end of the trial you will have to make your decision based on what you recall of the evidence. You will not have a written transcript of the trial. I urge you to pay close attention to the testimony as it is given. If you wish, you may take notes to help you remember the evidence. If you do take notes, please keep them to yourself until you and your fellow jurors go to the jury room to decide the case. Do not let note-taking distract you from being attentive. When you leave court for recesses, your notes should be left in the jury room. No one will read your notes. I want to warn against taking too many notes, though. Occasionally I see a juror trying furiously to write everything down, and in the process they seem to be missing some important aspect of the testimony. Please make sure to pay attention to the questions the lawyers are asking and the way the witnesses are answering. Also, although you won’t have a trial transcript in the jury room, if you decide during your deliberations that it’s important to hear certain testimony again, you can request that testimony be read back to the jury. We would bring you all back into the courtroom and the court reporter would read it aloud. Keep in mind that I may order that a larger portion of the testimony be read, to ensure that you are reminded of the full context. Whether or not you take notes, you should rely on your own memory of the evidence. Notes are only to assist your memory. You should not be overly influenced by your notes or those of your fellow jurors.

10. Bench Conferences and Recesses During the trial, occasionally I may need to take up legal matters with the attorneys privately, either by having a conference at the bench when the jury is present in the courtroom or by calling a recess. These conferences are kept to an absolute minimum—I have instructed the lawyers to front issues with me in advance, before you get here or after you’ve left for the day— so that we can use your time most efficiently. But when we do have conferences, please understand that the purpose is not to keep relevant information from you, but to decide how certain evidence is to be treated under the rules of evidence and to avoid confusion and error.

11. Contact with Jurors During trial you may run into the trial participants in the hallway or cafeteria or something like that. I have instructed the participants to ignore jurors if they see them. So for example, if the elevator door opens and the lawyers see you and decide not to get in with you, they are not being rude; they’re just following my order.

View source on NDCA.uscourts.gov →

Guide for using prior statements of a witness and refreshing recollection at trial

[Source: https://cand.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/standing-orders/Refreshed-recollection-and-prior-statements.pdf]

Refreshed Recollection and Prior Inconsistent Statements  At trial, lawyers often waste juror time, and embarrass themselves in front of the jury, when attempting to use  a document to refresh a witness’s recollection and when attempting to use a witness’s prior statements. In  fact, lawyers often forfeit entire lines of cross‐examination by not knowing how to execute these tasks.   Refreshing a witness’s recollection. See FRE 612.  A writing (or essentially any other material) can be used to refresh a witness’s recollection, even if it is not  itself admissible and regardless of whether the witness created it or has even seen it before. But the witness  must then testify from their refreshed present memory. A witness can’t just read a document to the jury.  To refresh a witnesses’ recollection:

1. Ask the witness your question, without reference to any document.
2. If the witness cannot remember, ask if reviewing a document might refresh their recollection.
3. If the witness says yes, provide them the document and ask them to review it silently.
4. Take the document back from the witness.
5. Ask the witness if their recollection has been refreshed.
6. If they say no, move on. If they say yes, ask your question again.  If the document does not refresh the witness’s recollection—that is, if the witness still does not have personal  knowledge—the contents of the document are admissible only if the requirements of FRE 803(5) are met. They  usually aren’t.   Using a witness’s prior inconsistent statements. See FRE 613, 801(d)(1).  Lawyers love to use witnesses’ prior statements at trial. But if a witness has not given inconsistent testimony in  court, it is usually not appropriate to introduce or mention their prior statement. Instead:
7. Ask the witness your question without reference to the prior statement. It’s not appropriate to begin a  line of questioning, “Now, you stated at your deposition that….”
8. If you think their trial testimony is inconsistent with their prior statement, tell the Court and opposing  counsel precisely which part of the prior statement you would like to read.   a. You must have hard copies of the prior statement for the Court and opposing counsel to  review. If you plan to play an audio or video recording, you must have hard copies of the  transcript, if one exists. If you don’t, the Court cannot determine whether the statement is  inconsistent, and you won’t be allowed to read or play the statement. (If there is no transcript,  for example in a criminal case with lots of bodycam footage, you must be prepared to front the  content of the footage with the Court.)  b. The Court may require you to read or play a longer excerpt to give the jury appropriate context  (and opposing counsel may request this), so be sure you are prepared to do so (especially if  you plan to play a recording).
9. With the Court’s permission, read or play the witness’s prior inconsistent statement.
10. Then you can move on, or you can ask the witness to explain the inconsistency.     Opposing counsel may give the witness a chance to explain any inconsistency on cross or re‐direct.  Note that only prior sworn statements may be admitted as substantive evidence. See FRE 801(d)(1)(A).  Unsworn statements may be used to impeach, see FRE 801(c)(2), but the opposing side may request a limiting  instruction.

View source on NDCA.uscourts.gov →

Judge Chhabria's Standing Order for Civil Trials

[Source: https://cand.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/standing-orders/VC-CivilTrialStandingOrder-2023-04-25.pdf]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

STANDING ORDER FOR CIVIL TRIALS BEFORE JUDGE CHHABRIA

SUMMARY TABLE OF DEADLINES ........................................................................................ 2 FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE ............................................................................................. 2 PRETRIAL FILINGS ..................................................................................................................... 3 Proposed Supplemental Juror Questionnaire (Due 21 Days Before PTC) ................................. 3 Proposed Jury Instructions (Due 21 Days Before PTC) ............................................................. 3 Joint Pretrial Conference Statement (Due 14 Days Before PTC) ............................................... 4 Motions in Limine with Oppositions (Due 14 Days Before PTC) ............................................. 5 Involved Individuals List (Due 7 Days Before PTC) ................................................................. 6 Verdict Forms (Due 7 Days Before PTC) .................................................................................. 6 Statement of the Case (Due 7 Days Before PTC) ....................................................................... 6 Exhibit List (Due 7 Days Before PTC) ....................................................................................... 6 Chambers Copies of All Pretrial Filings ..................................................................................... 7 EXHIBITS ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Treatment of Exhibits During Trial ............................................................................................ 9 DEPOSITION AND DISCOVERY DESIGNATIONS ............................................................... 10 PRETRIAL ARRANGEMENTS ................................................................................................. 10 THE JURY .................................................................................................................................... 11 OBJECTIONS............................................................................................................................... 12 USING PRIOR STATEMENTS AND REFRESHING RECOLLECTION AT TRIAL ............. 12 WITNESSES................................................................................................................................. 12 FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW (FOR BENCH TRIALS) ................... 12

SUMMARY TABLE OF DEADLINES DEADLINE DATE Meet and confer regarding pretrial conference, serve motions in limine 28 Days Before Pretrial Conference Serve oppositions to motions in limine 21 Days Before Pretrial Conference File proposed supplemental juror questionnaire and proposed jury instructions 21 Days Before Pretrial Conference File joint pretrial conference statement, motions in limine and oppositions to motions in limine
14 Days Before Pretrial Conference File involved individuals list, proposed verdict forms, statement of the case, exhibit list 7 Days Before Pretrial Conference Arrangement of daily transcript or real-time reporting 14 Days Before Trial Filing of proposed order for bringing exhibit presentation equipment and technology into the building
14 Days Before Trial Contact Bhavna Sharma regarding courtroom layout and technology 10 Days Before Trial Joint filing of all designations of deposition testimony
7 Days Before Trial Deliver original trial exhibit set and thumb drive of exhibits 5 Days Before Trial

FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE 1. The final pretrial conference will be held roughly 14 days before the start of trial. Lead trial counsel for each party shall attend. The parties should meet and confer at least 28 days before the final pretrial conference about the matters discussed below.

PRETRIAL FILINGS Proposed Supplemental Juror Questionnaire (Due 21 Days Before PTC)
2. In advance of the trial, the Jury Office will send prospective jurors an online questionnaire. The questionnaire includes standard questions that are asked in every case, as well as a maximum of ten supplemental questions specific to a given case. One of those questions will ask about scheduling conflicts, so the parties should propose nine other questions. The parties shall file these questions on the docket and submit a Word version to vcpo@cand.uscourts.gov. However, no argument may be included in this submission. For a copy of the standard questionnaire, as well as other questions that Judge Chhabria tends to include in the supplemental questionnaire, see the Standing Order section of Judge Chhabria’s website.
3. The parties need not include a question that asks prospective jurors whether they know any of the individuals involved in the case. The prospective jurors will be given an “Involved Individuals” list when they are called in.
Proposed Jury Instructions (Due 21 Days Before PTC)
4. The parties shall file a joint set of proposed jury instructions, arranged in the order the parties propose the Court give the instructions. 5. The parties should use the Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instructions where possible. Any modifications to a form instruction must be plainly identified. The Court at times deviates from the Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instructions to make the instructions more readable, and the parties are encouraged to look at the Court’s past jury instructions when drafting their proposed instructions. The parties do not need to submit instructions from Chapters 1-3 of the Ninth Circuit Manual, but they must indicate which of these instructions should be included.

Instructions upon which the parties agree shall be identified as “Stipulated Instruction No. ____ Re ___________,” with the blanks filled in as appropriate.
7. If the parties disagree on an instruction, each party’s proposed version of the disputed instruction shall be provided and identified as “Disputed Instruction No. ____ Re ____________ Offered by _________________,” with the blanks filled in as appropriate. All proposed versions of the same instruction shall bear the same number. Following each set of proposed versions of a disputed instruction, each party shall explain, in no more than one page, why the Court should give that party’s proposed instruction.
8. If the parties dispute whether a particular instruction should be given at all, the proponent of the instruction shall provide proposed language, identified as “Disputed Instruction No. ____ Re ____________ Offered by _________________,” with the blanks filled in as appropriate. Following the disputed instruction, each party shall explain, in no more than one page, why the instruction should or should not be given.
9. If either party believes that a dispute about jury instructions must be resolved before opening statements, it must be raised when the proposed jury instructions are filed and at the pretrial conference. Otherwise, the Court will discuss jury instructions with the parties during trial.
Joint Pretrial Conference Statement (Due 14 Days Before PTC) 10. The parties shall file a Joint Pretrial Conference Statement that contains the following:
a. a brief description of all claims and defenses that remain to be decided (including whether any issues are for the Court to decide rather than the jury); b. a statement of all relief sought;

c. a statement of all relevant stipulated or undisputed facts;
d. a list of all witnesses likely to be called at trial by each side, a brief statement describing the substance of the testimony to be given by each witness, and the estimated number of minutes or hours the testimony will take (on direct and cross); and e. an estimate of the total length of the trial. Motions in Limine with Oppositions (Due 14 Days Before PTC) 11. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, each party is limited to bringing five motions in limine. Each motion should address a single, separate topic. Rather than trying to squeeze multiple topics into one motion in limine, the parties must seek relief from the five- motion limit at least 35 calendar days before the final pretrial conference. That request for relief must list the topics of each motion in limine each side wishes to file. 12. Each motion should be clearly identified as “___________’s Motion in Limine No. __ Re: ____________.” 13. The memoranda in support of and in opposition to each motion in limine shall be no longer than five pages. The moving party shall not file a reply brief. 14. Motions in limine shall be submitted as follows: At least 28 calendar days before the final pretrial conference, the moving party shall serve, but not file, the opening brief. At least 21 calendar days before the conference, the responding party shall serve, but not file, the opposition. Once the moving party has received the opposition, that party should collate each motion with its opposition, back-to-back, and then file the paired sets at least 14 calendar days before the final pretrial conference. The moving party is responsible for delivering courtesy copies of all motion papers (both those in support and those in opposition).

Statement of Objection to Unconscious Bias Video (Due 7 Days Before PTC) 15. Starting January 1, 2019, prospective jurors will be shown a video on unconscious bias in the jury office. The video can be accessed at https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/attorneys/jury-video. If a party objects to prospective jurors’ viewing this video, the party must file a short statement (not to exceed one page double-spaced) explaining its objection. The party should then alert the Court to its objection at the pretrial conference.
Involved Individuals List (Due 7 Days Before PTC) 16. The parties shall jointly file, and send in Word format to vcpo@cand.uscourts.gov, a list of people involved in the case. This list will be shown to prospective jurors during jury selection. The list should include counsel, the parties, the potential witnesses, and any other people significantly involved in the case. Verdict Forms (Due 7 Days Before PTC) 17. The parties shall file either a joint proposed verdict form, or, if they disagree, separate proposed verdict forms. Statement of the Case (Due 7 Days Before PTC) 18. The parties shall jointly file a proposed simplified Statement of the Case to be read to the jury during voir dire. Unless the case is extremely complex, this statement should not exceed one page (double-spaced).
Exhibit List (Due 7 Days Before PTC) 19. The parties shall file a joint exhibit list in tabular form with the following columns: (1) exhibit number; (2) name or brief description of the exhibit; (3) the exhibit’s purpose and sponsoring witness; (4) a brief description of any objections to the admissibility of

the exhibit or, alternatively, a statement that the parties have stipulated to the exhibit’s admissibility; (5) a brief response to any objections; and (6) a blank column for the Court’s use.
Chambers Copies of All Pretrial Filings 20. Two three-hole punched courtesy copies of all pretrial filings shall be delivered to the Clerk’s office by noon the day after filing. 21. In addition, the proposed supplemental jury questions, Joint Pretrial Conference Statement, jury instructions, involved individuals list, and verdict form(s) shall be submitted in Word format via e-mail to vcpo@cand.uscourts.gov when they are filed.
EXHIBITS 22. The parties must jointly prepare a single set of all trial exhibits that will be the official record and, if applicable, used on appeal. 23. No later than 5 days before trial, the parties shall deposit one binder or set of binders (judge’s copy) and one thumb drive (official copy) with the Courtroom Deputy. Arrangement for delivery of these exhibits shall be made prior to the date of delivery with Bhavna Sharma at vccrd@cand.uscourts.gov. The judge’s copy of the exhibits shall be provided in three-ring binders, with each exhibit tagged, three-hole-punched, and separated with a label divider identifying the exhibit number. A spine label on each binder should indicate the numbers of the exhibits contained therein. The official copy shall be submitted on a thumb drive and should contain each exhibit as a separate file, with each file named so that the exhibits appear sequentially when sorted by file name. The parties should discuss with Judge Chhabria and the Courtroom Deputy how they will handle showing exhibits to witnesses, including whether witness binders are necessary.

Exhibits shall be sequentially numbered (not lettered). If possible, parties shall use the same number to mark an exhibit for trial as that used in depositions. Blocks of numbers should be assigned to fit the needs of the case (e.g., Plaintiff has 1 to 100, Defendant A has 101 to 200, Defendant B has 201 to 300, etc.).
25. A single exhibit should be marked only once. If the plaintiff has marked an exhibit, the defendant should not re-mark the same document with another number. Different versions of the same document (e.g., versions of a document with and without additional handwriting), however, must be treated as different exhibits and marked with different numbers.
26. To avoid any party claiming “ownership” of an exhibit, all exhibits shall be marked and referred to as “Trial Exhibit No. _____,” not as “Plaintiff’s Exhibit” or “Defendant’s Exhibit.”
27. Each exhibit shall be tagged as follows: 28. The Court prefers but does not require that the exhibit tags be in a color that will stand out (yet still allow for photocopying).
29. Counsel should fill in the exhibit and case numbers, but leave the other spaces (“Date Entered” and “By”) blank.

Exhibit tags shall be placed on or near the lower right-hand corner of each exhibit, unless the exhibit is a photograph, in which case the tag shall be placed on the back. If an exhibit is a multipage document and there is no room on the front of the first page then the exhibit sticker must be placed on the back of the last page of the document in the lower left corner.
Treatment of Exhibits During Trial 31. Counsel must clearly announce the number of any exhibit used during the proceedings, even if it has already been admitted.
32. Counsel must consult with each other and with the Courtroom Deputy at the end of each trial day about which exhibits are in evidence and any limitations thereon. If there are any disagreements, counsel should bring them promptly to the Court’s attention. 33. The parties must provide agreed-upon written transcripts of the content of any audio or video exhibit to be used at trial. Failure to provide an agreed-upon transcript by the day an exhibit is offered will preclude the exhibit’s admission. 34. At the close of evidence, before closing arguments, counsel must confer with the Courtroom Deputy to make sure the exhibits in evidence are in good order. 35. Exhibit notebooks for the jury will not be permitted without prior permission from the Court.
36. Publication must be by poster blow-up, transmission via courtroom technology, or such other method as is allowed in the circumstances. It is permissible to highlight, circle, or underscore in the enlargements as long as it is clear that it was not on the original. 37. Upon the conclusion of the trial, each party shall retain a full set of exhibits through the appellate process. It is each party’s responsibility to make arrangements with the Clerk of the Court to file the record on appeal.

DEPOSITION AND DISCOVERY DESIGNATIONS 38. Unless otherwise ordered, no later than 7 days before trial begins, the parties shall jointly file all designations of deposition testimony or other discovery it wishes to offer, as well as any counter-designations or objections to the deposition testimony or discovery offered by any other party. 39. There is no need to lodge deposition transcripts before trial. The lawyers should simply be prepared to hand to the Court a copy of a witness’s deposition testimony once it is time to cross-examine them.
PRETRIAL ARRANGEMENTS 40. Should a daily transcript and/or real-time reporting be desired, the parties shall make arrangements with Kristen Melen, Supervisor of the Court Reporting Services, at (415) 522-2079, at least 14 days before the trial date. 41. No later than five days before the start of trial, the parties must provide the Court Reporter a jointly-created list of names and places as well as any uncommon terms or acronyms that are likely to come up during the trial. 42. The parties should contact the Courtroom Deputy, Bhavna Sharma, at vccrd@cand.uscourts.gov, to discuss any questions or issues about the layout of the courtroom. Parties must contact Ms. Sharma at least 10 days prior to trial. 43. The Court may be able to provide access to an easel and the courtroom electronic evidence presentation system. The parties should consult www.cand.uscourts.gov/courtroomtech for information on the available courtroom technology. During trial, counsel may wish to use laser-disk/computer graphics, poster blow-ups, or models. Such equipment must be provided by the parties. Equipment should be shared by all counsel to the maximum extent possible. The

United States Marshal requires a court order to allow equipment into the courthouse. To request such an order, the parties should contact the Courtroom Deputy no later than 14 days before trial. For electronic equipment, parties should be prepared to maintain the equipment or have a technician handy at all times. The parties shall tape extension cords to the carpet for safety.
THE JURY 44. The parties do not need to submit proposed voir dire questions in advance of trial.
45. A day or so before jury selection, the Court will hold an “excusal hearing” for the purpose of determining which prospective jurors should be excused for hardship or cause based exclusively on their questionnaire responses. One to two days before the excusal hearing, the Court will send counsel a copy of the responses. The remaining jurors will be called in for jury selection.
46. During jury selection, the Court will circulate the list of “Involved Individuals” and ask prospective jurors if they know anyone on the list. The Court may ask some raise-your- hand questions. Counsel may then conduct a limited voir dire. Challenges for hardship and for cause and the exercise of each party’s allotment of peremptory challenges will then be addressed outside of the presence of the potential jurors. The 8 potential jurors (or such other number as will constitute the jury) surviving the challenge process with the lowest numbers become the final jury. The Court may alter this procedure in its discretion and after consultation with the parties. 47. Jury selection will typically occur immediately before the beginning of trial.

OBJECTIONS 48. In making objections, counsel should state only the legal grounds for the objection and should withhold all further comment or argument unless elaboration is requested by the Court. USING PRIOR STATEMENTS AND REFRESHING RECOLLECTION AT TRIAL 49. The parties should review the guide for using prior statements of witnesses and refreshing recollection at trial, which is posted in the Standing Orders section of Judge Chhabria’s website. WITNESSES 50. At the close of each trial day, counsel shall exchange a list of witnesses for the next two full court days and the exhibits that will be used during direct examination (other than for impeachment of an adverse witness). Within 24 hours of receiving such notice, opposing counsel shall provide any objections to such exhibits and shall provide a list of all exhibits to be used with the same witness on cross-examination (other than for impeachment). The first notice shall be exchanged 48 hours prior to the first day of trial. All such notices shall be provided in writing. 51. At the start of each trial day, counsel shall alert the Court to any objections to the witnesses or evidence planned for the day, which the Court will address before the jury comes in.
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW (FOR BENCH TRIALS) 52. In non-jury cases, all pretrial filings are due 7 days before the pretrial conference. They must include trial briefs not to exceed 10 pages each, and proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Judge Chhabria expects far fewer motions in limine for bench trials.

The parties will be required to submit revised proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law following the trial. All factual findings must be supported by citations to all pertinent portions of the record. If the citation is to witness testimony and a rough or final transcript is not yet available, the citation can simply be to the date of the testimony. The parties should hyperlink the citations in the proposed findings of fact to the exhibits and trial transcripts and may provide the Court with the proposed findings of fact on a flash drive if needed. Proposed findings shall be brief, written in plain English, and free of pejorative language. In addition to being filed, the proposed findings must be emailed to the Court (vcpo@cand.uscourts.gov) in Word format.
54. Within 7 days of the Court ruling on the admissibility of exhibits used at trial, the parties will be required to submit a thumb drive of all exhibits admitted into evidence to chambers, attention Bhavna Sharma, Judge Chhabria’s Courtroom Deputy.

IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: April 25, 2023

Vince Chhabria United States District Judge

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Standing Orders — Inline Excerpts

Civil Standing Order

Paper courtesy copies shall not be submitted unless the Court requests them. The Court may at times order the parties to provide digital courtesy copies of motion briefs, including supporting documents, on portable media (for example, a CD or flash drive).

Criminal Standing Order

Motions : Paper courtesy copies are not required except as otherwise provided below. The Court may at times order the parties to provide digital courtesy copies of motion briefs, including supporting documents, on portable media (for example, a CD or flash drive).

Sealed Filings : For any documents submitted under seal, the parties shall provide a courtesy paper copy, as required by Criminal Local Rule 56-1, and a courtesy electronic copy. The electronic copy may be provided via a portable flash drive, email, or compact disk.

Civil Trial Standing Order

Chambers Copies of All Pretrial Filings: Two three-hole punched courtesy copies of all pretrial filings shall be delivered to the Clerk's office by noon the day after filing.

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Judge Chhabria's Civil Standing Order

[Source: https://cand.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/standing-orders/VC-Civil-Standing-Order-updated-2026.04.03.pdf]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA STANDING ORDER FOR CIVIL CASES BEFORE JUDGE VINCE CHHABRIA TABLE OF KEY DEADLINES ..................................................................................................... 2 CONFORMITY WITH RULES ..................................................................................................... 2 EMERGENCY APPLICATIONS .................................................................................................. 2 SCHEDULING ............................................................................................................................... 3 CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCES ................................................................................... 4 DISCOVERY .................................................................................................................................. 5 FILING AND COURTESY COPIES ............................................................................................. 6 PROPOSED ORDERS ................................................................................................................... 8 MOTIONS TO SEAL ..................................................................................................................... 8 BRIEFS ........................................................................................................................................... 9 SUMMARY JUDGMENT ........................................................................................................... 10 DEFAULT JUDGMENT .............................................................................................................. 11 HEARINGS AND TENTATIVE RULINGS ............................................................................... 12 CLASS ACTIONS ........................................................................................................................ 12 Preliminary Approval ............................................................................................................... 14 Notice and Claims Procedure ................................................................................................... 15 Final Approval .......................................................................................................................... 16 PATENT CASES .......................................................................................................................... 18 SOCIAL SECURITY CASES ...................................................................................................... 19 HABEAS CASES ......................................................................................................................... 19 ERISA CASES.............................................................................................................................. 20 WAGE AND HOUR CASES ....................................................................................................... 20 SECTION 1983 CASES ............................................................................................................... 21

TABLE OF KEY DEADLINES DEADLINE DATE Joint discovery letters As soon as practicable, but no later than 7 days after applicable discovery deadline Cross-motions for summary judgment Because the Court requires the parties to file 4 sequential briefs, typically the parties must file the first brief no later than 7 weeks before the scheduled hearing date. The final brief should be filed no later than 14 days before the scheduled hearing date. Request for extension of any case management deadlines 72 hours prior to the deadline party wishes to extend Request to reschedule a case management conference At least 72 hours prior to the case management conference CONFORMITY WITH RULES 1. The parties shall follow the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Civil Local Rules, and the General Orders of the Northern District of California, except as superseded by this Court’s standing orders. EMERGENCY APPLICATIONS 2. Counsel should call and email Judge Chhabria’s Courtroom Deputy, Bhavna Sharma, to notify her if they submit an application for a temporary restraining order, a stipulation that requires a response from the Court within 24 hours, or any other emergency request. 3. When a party files an application for a temporary restraining order or other emergency relief, the opposing party should not file a response unless instructed to do so by the Court. The Court will almost never grant such an application without requesting a response from the opposing party.

If the party seeking emergency relief does not show that it made every reasonable effort to notify the opposing party and the opposing party’s counsel, at the earliest possible time, of its intent to seek emergency relief, the relief will not be granted. 5. Emergency applications do not have to comply with Judge Chhabria’s default 15- page limit for briefs. SCHEDULING 6. For the latest information on when and where hearings and case management conferences are held, check Judge Chhabria’s webpage. 7. Counsel need not reserve hearing dates but should check Judge Chhabria’s calendar on the Court’s website to make sure the desired date is not blocked. The parties may not specially set any matter without leave of the Court.
8. Counsel for the moving party should confer with opposing counsel about a mutually convenient hearing date before noticing any motion. 9. No changes to the Court’s schedule can be made except by order of the Court. Any motion to continue a hearing or case management conference must be made no later than 72 hours prior to the scheduled appearance. 10. Any request for an extension of a deadline (other than an extension that the rules allow the parties to arrange between themselves without a court order) must be filed no later than 72 hours prior to the deadline. 11. When the parties request an extension of time, the parties must submit a proposed order listing all future deadlines and the proposed extensions. The parties must also submit, alongside any stipulation or administrative motion to change deadlines, a chart that includes the currently scheduled deadlines and the parties’ proposed deadlines. If the parties disagree on what

the new deadlines should be, the chart must reflect both parties’ proposals. The parties must also state how many times the parties have requested extensions, whether the Court has granted those extensions, and whether the Court has stated that no further extensions will be granted. 12. Once a trial date has been set, the parties should treat it as firm. Absent extraordinary circumstances, the Court will not continue a trial date. CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCES 13. The attorney appearing at a case management conference need not be lead counsel but must have full authority to make decisions about any issue that may come up during the conference. They must also be sufficiently informed about the case to participate in discussions about what schedule makes sense for that case. 14. If a defendant files a motion to dismiss that is dispositive of the entire case, the parties can stipulate to move the initial case management conference to 15 days after the hearing on that motion. If the motion to dismiss is not dispositive, the initial case management conference will not be moved. In their case management statement for the initial case management conference, the parties must propose a full litigation schedule, including a proposed last day to amend pleadings, regardless of whether they have received a ruling on any motion to dismiss. 15. Parties should typically be prepared to adopt the following schedule at the initial case management conference: ● The trial date will almost always be 12–16 months after the date the original complaint was filed. ● The pretrial conference will be 1 or 2 weeks before the trial. The last day for a hearing on dispositive motions will be roughly 2 to 3 months before the pretrial conference.

● The discovery cutoff will be roughly 8 weeks before the dispositive motions hearing. (The parties should consider whether to schedule expert discovery before or after the deadline for hearing motions for summary judgment.) ● The last day to amend pleadings will typically be 60 days after the initial case management conference. ● A further case management conference will take place roughly 4 weeks before the close of fact discovery. ● The parties should be prepared to present their preferred ADR process at the initial case management conference. 16. If the parties wish to continue a case management conference, they must file a stipulation or motion—in a separate filing from their joint case management statement—at least 72 hours prior to the conference. 17. Parties who would like an expedited initial case management conference can request one by emailing Judge Chhabria’s Courtroom Deputy, Bhavna Sharma. DISCOVERY 18. Discovery in almost all cases will be referred to a magistrate judge. In those cases, the parties must follow the magistrate judge’s procedures. In the rare cases where Judge Chhabria is overseeing discovery, the following procedures apply. Discovery disputes should be brought to the Court’s attention as early as possible. If the parties cannot resolve their discovery dispute after a good faith effort, they shall prepare and file a joint letter of no longer than 5 pages stating the nature and status of their dispute. Both sides must submit proposed orders as well. No exhibits may be submitted with the letter other than any discovery request or response that is the

subject of the letter. The letter must be filed as soon as possible, but under no circumstances may it be filed more than 7 days after the applicable discovery cutoff. See Civil Local Rule 37-3. The side seeking relief from the Court should prepare its portion of the letter first, and then provide that to the opposing side so that the opposing side may prepare its response. The party seeking relief from the Court should file the letter. The Court may resolve the dispute on the papers or schedule a hearing. The joint discovery letter process does not apply to discovery disputes with third parties. 19. Parties requesting a protective order or ESI order are encouraged to base any proposed order on the model orders on the Northern District’s website (http://www.cand.uscourts.gov/model-protective-orders; https://cand.uscourts.gov/forms/e- discovery-esi-guidelines). When filing a proposed order, at the very beginning of their stipulation or motion, parties must indicate whether they have based their proposed order on one of the Northern District’s model orders. If they have, they must identify any deviations from the model order by submitting as an exhibit a redline comparison of their proposed order and the model order. FILING AND COURTESY COPIES 20. When filing motions on ECF, each motion, supporting declaration, and attachment to a declaration (such as an exhibit) should be filed as a separate PDF. That is, a declaration must be filed separately from the motion, and each exhibit to a declaration must be filed separately from the declaration and from the other exhibits. However, when an exhibit to a declaration contains an attachment, that attachment need not be filed separately. A motion, along with any supporting declarations or exhibits, should generally be filed as one docket entry, with

the motion submitted as the “Main Document” in ECF, and each declaration and exhibit filed separately as “Attachments.”
21. For an example, see the image below:

When filing motions, exhibits, and declarations, the ECF “Description” of each document should include the name of the document and a brief description of the document. For instance, a news release filed as the first exhibit to a declaration would be, “Decl Doe Ex 1 - News Release.”
23. When a document filed on ECF is accompanied by more than 10 attachments, the filing party must deliver a flash drive with all the attachments to Judge Chhabria’s chambers within 7 business days of filing. The flash drive should be labeled with the name and number of the case. The flash drive should contain the ECF version of each attachment, with its ECF header. The name of each PDF file on the flash drive should include the type of document, a brief description of the document, and the docket number. For example, a news release filed as the first exhibit to a declaration, at docket number 60-2, would be, “[60-2] Decl Doe Ex 1 - News Release.”

Each PDF document must be text-searchable. This requirement is waived for people proceeding pro se. 25. Briefs, declarations, and other filings need not be on pleading paper with line numbers. The Court prefers blank paper (although pleading paper will be accepted). 26. Paper courtesy copies shall not be submitted unless the Court requests them. The Court may at times order the parties to provide digital courtesy copies of motion briefs, including supporting documents, on portable media (for example, a CD or flash drive). PROPOSED ORDERS 27. Proposed orders are not necessary for most substantive motions, such as motions for summary judgment, motions to dismiss, or preliminary injunction motions. The parties should submit proposed orders only in connection with administrative motions, ex parte applications, discovery disputes, and rulings that call upon the court to make factual findings (such as a motion to approve a class settlement or a motion for attorneys’ fees). All proposed orders should be sent in Microsoft Word format to vcpo@cand.uscourts.gov. MOTIONS TO SEAL 28. The Court requires strict compliance with Civil Local Rule 79-5 (with the exception of 79-5(d)(2), as explained below).
29. The Court almost always denies motions to seal because they are almost always without merit. Parties that submit frivolous motions to seal or frivolously overbroad motions will be sanctioned. See Nevro Corp. v. Boston Scientific Corp., 2018 WL 2111164 (N.D. Cal. May 8, 2018). Federal courts are paid for by the public, and the public has the right to inspect court records, subject only to narrow exceptions.

When submitting a motion to seal, the filing party must state whether the compelling reasons or good cause standard applies and explain why. See Center for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Group, LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1099 (9th Cir. 2016). 31. The filing party must make a specific showing explaining why each document that it seeks to seal may justifiably be sealed and why the proposed redactions are as narrowly tailored as possible, rather than making a blanket statement about the grounds for sealing. Generic and vague references to “competitive harm” are almost always insufficient justification for sealing. If a party files a request to seal that is significantly overbroad and/or does not provide adequate reasons for concealing information from the public, the party bears the risk that the Court will simply deny the request in its entirety and place all documents sought to be sealed on the public docket.
32. Each document filed under seal must be highlighted to show the proposed redactions. In the rare situation where a party believes it is appropriate to seal an entire document, the document filed under seal should be labeled to indicate that sealing is sought in full. 33. If you have a complicated sealing motion, or set of motions, consider filling out and filing the Motion to Seal Summary Table linked on the Standing Orders page of Judge Chhabria’s website.
34. Courtesy copies under Civil Local Rule 79-5(d)(2) are not required, provided that the document at issue is appropriately filed electronically under seal in an unredacted form. BRIEFS 35. Unless expressly permitted by the Court, briefs in support of and in opposition to all substantive motions (except for preliminary injunction motions, summary judgment motions,

class certification motions, motions for approval of class settlements, and motions in patent cases, as discussed below) may not exceed 15 pages, and reply briefs may not exceed 10 pages. These page limits include summaries of argument and exclude the title page, table of contents, table of authorities, and exhibits. All briefs must use Times New Roman font (size 12) and must be double spaced.
36. The final brief for any motion should be filed at least 14 days prior to the hearing on the motion. 37. When citing exhibits (including deposition testimony), briefs should identify the declaration to which the exhibit is attached, the letter or number of the exhibit, and the relevant page number (for example: “Smith Decl., Ex. 1, at 22”).
38. Motions to increase page limits will almost never be granted, but any such motion must be filed no later than 72 hours before the brief is due. 39. Simultaneous briefing is not permitted for any type of motion. 40. Briefs in support of and in opposition to a preliminary injunction motion cannot exceed 25 pages, and reply briefs cannot exceed 15 pages.
SUMMARY JUDGMENT 41. Unless expressly permitted by the Court, briefs in support of and in opposition to summary judgment motions cannot exceed 25 pages, and reply briefs cannot exceed 15 pages. Motions to increase page limits will almost never be granted, but any such motion must be filed no later than 72 hours before the brief is due. 42. In the event of cross-motions for summary judgment, the parties must file a total of four briefs sequentially, rather than three pairs of simultaneous briefs. Unless the parties agree to reverse the order (which they are free to do on their own), the opening brief is filed by the

plaintiff side, the opening/opposition brief is filed by the defense side, the opposition/reply is filed by the plaintiff side, and the reply is filed by the defense side. The first two briefs are limited to 25 pages, the third brief is limited to 20 pages, and the fourth brief is limited to 15 pages. The parties may submit a stipulation and proposed order setting a briefing schedule for the cross-motions in advance of the first brief, which will likely be signed so long as the fourth brief is due no later than 14 days before the hearing date. 43. The parties need not file joint or separate statements of undisputed facts in connection with summary judgment motions. 44. At the summary judgment hearing and/or in the briefs, the parties should not hesitate to alert the Court of the need for a prompt ruling in light of their trial preparation schedule.
45. Any Daubert motion seeking to preclude a party’s reliance on an expert opinion at the summary judgment stage must be filed in the same brief as the motion for summary judgment or the opposition to that motion. Oppositions and replies relating to the Daubert motion must also be filed in the same briefs as argument on the merits of the summary judgment motion. The only exception is when the party moving to exclude is the party opposing summary judgment, in which case that party may file a reply brief (not to exceed 5 pages and filed no later than 7 days after the other party’s reply in support of summary judgment) in support of the Daubert motion.
DEFAULT JUDGMENT 46. Judge Chhabria’s rule is to have hearings on motions for default judgment except in highly unusual circumstances. Therefore, after a party seeking default judgment has obtained

entry of default from the Clerk’s Office, the party should notice a hearing when filing their motion for default judgment.
47. Any such motion should explain why the Eitel factors support the entry of a default judgment and address the basis for personal jurisdiction over the defendant(s). See Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1471–72 (9th Cir. 1986); Axiom Foods Inc. v. Acerchem International, Inc., 874 F.3d 1064, 1068 (9th Cir. 2017); see also In re Tuli, 172 F.3d 707, 712 (9th Cir. 1999). HEARINGS AND TENTATIVE RULINGS 48. If the Court determines a hearing is not necessary, it will usually be vacated no later than three days before the hearing. 49. The Court ordinarily will not issue tentative rulings, but it typically announces its tentative thinking at the outset of the hearing. 50. If a motion will be argued by an attorney who has 7 years or less of experience, counsel may notify the Courtroom Deputy of that fact within 7 days of the hearing. The Court will take this into account in deciding whether to vacate the hearing and submit the motion on the papers, putting a thumb on the scale in favor of a hearing if arguing counsel has 7 years or less of experience. Co-counsel with more than 7 years of experience may still offer argument for a few minutes at the end of the hearing. 51. When using exhibits during evidentiary hearings, the parties must prepare and present exhibits in accordance with the Court’s Standing Order for Civil Trials. CLASS ACTIONS 52. At the initial case management conference, the parties should be prepared to discuss whether they prefer to litigate cross-motions for summary judgment on liability with

respect to the named plaintiffs before litigating the issue of class certification. The Court is of the view that this approach will often save a great deal of time and money and is therefore often in the defendant’s interest, but it requires the defendant’s consent, since a grant of summary judgment in the named plaintiff’s favor could end up giving unnamed class members a chance to opt in to a lawsuit where a legal issue has already been decided against the defendant. 53. Briefs in support of or opposition to class certification motions cannot exceed 25 pages, and reply briefs cannot exceed 15 pages. These limits also apply to motions for preliminary or final approval of class settlements (although, if the parties believe they need more space to adequately explain the basis for a class action settlement, this is the one type of brief for which a request for additional pages is likely to be granted). 54. Any Daubert motion seeking to preclude a party’s reliance on an expert opinion at the class certification stage must be filed in the same brief as the motion for class certification or the opposition to that motion. Oppositions and replies relating to the Daubert motion must also be filed in the same briefs as argument on the merits of the class certification motion. The only exception is when the party moving to exclude is the party opposing class certification, in which case that party may file a reply brief (not to exceed 5 pages and filed no later than 7 days after the other party’s reply in support of class certification) in support of the Daubert motion.
55. In any motion for class certification, plaintiffs’ counsel must include a section called “Manageability of the Class Action Trial” in which they explain precisely how the Court should handle any potentially individualized issues to ensure that they don’t render the trial unmanageable. This section should generally include a discussion of jury instructions, especially in cases that involve subclasses, plaintiffs from multiple states, or law from multiple

jurisdictions. In addition, to assist the Court in assessing any manageability concerns, plaintiffs’ counsel must file a proposed verdict form in connection with the motion for class certification. 56. Plaintiffs’ counsel are warned that they may only have one chance to seek class certification. If a plaintiff grossly overreaches on a motion for class certification, thereby forcing a defendant to waste significant time and money respond to a motion that had virtually no chance of being granted in the first place, the Court will be far less likely to allow a renewed motion. 57. In connection with motions for approval of class settlements, the parties should keep the following things in mind:
▪ The parties should consult the Northern District’s Procedural Guidance for Class Action Settlements. See www.cand.uscourts.gov/ClassActionSettlementGuidance.
Preliminary Approval ▪ The Court’s scrutiny of the proposed settlement will be as rigorous at the preliminary approval stage as at the final approval stage. Any motion for preliminary approval should explain why the settlement survives this level of scrutiny, and any proposed order should recite this standard. See Cotter v. Lyft, Inc., 193 F. Supp. 3d 1030, 1036-37 (N.D. Cal. 2016); see also Hunt v. VEP Healthcare, Inc., 2017 WL 3608297 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 22, 2017); Eddings v. DS Services of America, Inc., 2016 WL 3390477 (N.D. Cal. May 20, 2016). ▪ Release language should make clear that the class members are releasing claims based only on the identical factual predicate. Each proposed notice should make that clear as well. Hesse v. Sprint Corp., 598 F.3d 581, 590 (9th Cir. 2010).
▪ Absent extraordinary circumstances, the Court will not enjoin current or future litigation in other courts based on conduct covered by the release. Whether to stay or dismiss any

such cases will be for the assigned judge to decide. Any language regarding an injunction must be removed from the notice, proposed order, and settlement agreement. ▪ If a proposed notice to class members (or prospective class members) requires a written objection as a prerequisite to appearing in court to object to the settlement, the notice must specify that this requirement may be excused upon a showing of good cause. The Court will require only substantial compliance with the requirements for submitting an objection, and this should be made clear in any notice to class members.
▪ If the parties believe they need more space to adequately explain the basis for a settlement, they should make a request to extend the page limit for the motion. The Court will likely grant such a request for this kind of motion (despite rarely granting such requests for other motions). Notice and Claims Procedure ▪ The proposed notices, claims forms, and other documents associated with preliminary approval should be sent in Microsoft Word format to vcpo@cand.uscourts.gov. ▪ For large settlements, the parties are encouraged to include an opt-out form and an objection form.
▪ If the proposed notices are not carefully written and in plain English, the Court will reject the motion for preliminary approval. Unnecessary acronyms should be avoided. ▪ The parties should consider using the Federal Judicial Center’s model notices, which are available at www.fjc.gov/content/301253/illustrative-forms-class-action-notices- introduction.
▪ The parties should consider whether notice by email and/or social media is appropriate. Moreover, the parties should consider whether claims and opt-out forms can be filed

online, and whether it is appropriate to have a website for the settlement. If these procedures are not followed, the parties should be prepared to explain why.
▪ In a proposed settlement involving the distribution of money to a class, the parties should consider whether unclaimed funds should be redistributed to class members who claimed their share. If a provision of this type is absent, the parties should be prepared to explain why.
▪ The parties should consider whether theirs is the type of settlement that requires class members to file claims, as opposed to simply receiving checks. The motion for preliminary approval should address this issue. ▪ Although the parties should generally adhere to the Northern District’s Procedural Guidance for Class Action Settlements, they need not discuss “the lead class counsel’s firms’ history of engagements with the settlement administrator over the last two years.” Nor does lead counsel need to discuss “at least one of their past comparable class settlements.” Final Approval ▪ In proposing a schedule for final approval of a class settlement, the parties must ensure that the motion for attorneys’ fees is filed at least 14 days before the deadline for objecting to the settlement. See In re Mercury Interactive Corp. Sec. Litig., 618 F.3d 988 (9th Cir. 2010). The Court will make parties re-send notices if the motion for attorneys’ fees is filed late, which can be quite expensive. The proposed order granting final approval should list all dates relating to the administration of the settlement, including the dates for when the checks distributing the settlement fund payments will be mailed to class members.

▪ The parties should file a proposed judgment separately from their proposed order granting final approval.
▪ Within 21 days after the settlement funds have been fully distributed to class members (but before distribution to cy pres recipients), class counsel will be required to file a Post- Distribution Accounting, as described in the Northern District’s Procedural Guidance for Class Action Settlements. The purpose of this notice is to inform the Court about the administration of the settlement.
▪ The Court will typically withhold between 10% and 20% of the attorneys’ fees granted at final approval until after the Post-Distribution Accounting has been filed. The proposed order granting final approval should specify what percentage class counsel believes it is appropriate to withhold.
▪ The proposed order granting final approval should also include language describing the Post-Distribution Accounting that class counsel will file, including, as relevant, when payments were made to class members, the number of members who were sent payments, the total amount of money paid out to members, the average and median recovery per class member, the largest and smallest amount paid to class members, the number and value of cashed and uncashed checks, the number of members who could not be contacted, the number of objections and opt-outs, the amount to be distributed to each cy pres recipient, any significant or recurring concerns communicated by members to the settlement administrator and counsel since final approval, any other issues in settlement administration since final approval, and how any concerns or issues were resolved. See Cotter v. Lyft, No. 13-cv-04065-VC, Dkt. No. 348 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 6, 2018); Hunt v. VEP Healthcare, Inc., No. 16-cv-04790-VC, Dkt. No. 68 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 3, 2018).

▪ Where class members are entitled to non-monetary relief, such as discount coupons, debit cards, or similar instruments, the Post-Distribution Accounting should also describe the number of class members availing themselves of such relief and the aggregate value redeemed by the class members and/or by an assignees or transferees of the class members’ interests. Where class members are entitled to injunctive and/or other non- monetary relief, the Post-Distribution Accounting should discuss the progress made on fulfilling the terms of that relief. ▪ With the Post-Distribution Accounting, class counsel should submit a proposed order releasing the remainder of the fees.
PATENT CASES 58. Parties must follow the Patent Local Rules of the Northern District of California, except when those rules conflict with this standing order.
59. Absent a compelling reason, the Court will conduct claim construction only in conjunction with a dispositive motion. Parties should still follow Rules 4-1 through 4-4 of the Patent Local Rules. Rules 4-5 and 4-6, on the other hand, will give way to the details provided in the paragraphs below. 60. The opening summary judgment (and claim construction) brief, as well as the opposition brief, cannot exceed 40 pages. The reply brief cannot exceed 20 pages. 61. In the event of cross-motions for summary judgment, the parties must file a total of four briefs sequentially, rather than three pairs of simultaneous briefs. Unless the parties agree to reverse the order, the opening brief is filed by the party asserting infringement, the opening/opposition brief is filed by the party defending against the infringement claim, the opposition/reply is filed by the party asserting infringement, and the reply is filed by the party

defending against the infringement claim. The first brief is limited to 40 pages, the second brief is limited to 50 pages, the third brief is limited to 30 pages, and the fourth brief is limited to 20 pages.
62. If the parties believe it would be helpful for the Court, they should schedule a claim construction tutorial to occur 7 days prior to the claim construction/summary judgment hearing. The parties should contact Judge Chhabria’s Courtroom Deputy, Bhavna Sharma, to schedule the tutorial. SOCIAL SECURITY CASES 63. Judge Chhabria’s default rule is to have hearings in Social Security cases. The Court will schedule a hearing for its civil law and motion calendar for approximately 60 days after an opposition brief is filed. Counsel are free to meet and confer on a mutually acceptable hearing date, and contact Bhavna Sharma, Judge Chhabria’s Courtroom Deputy, to schedule a hearing on that date. If, after reviewing the papers and the record, the Court decides a hearing is not necessary, it will typically notify the parties within 2–3 days of the hearing. HABEAS CASES 64. Judge Chhabria’s default rule is to have hearings in habeas cases where the petitioner is represented by counsel. The Court will schedule a hearing for its civil law and motion calendar for approximately 60 days after an answer is filed. Counsel are free to meet and confer on a mutually acceptable hearing date, and contact Bhavna Sharma, Judge Chhabria’s Courtroom Deputy, to schedule a hearing on that date. If, after reviewing the papers and the record, the Court decides a hearing is not necessary, it will typically notify the parties within 2–3 days of the hearing.

ERISA CASES 65. On the issue of discovery in cases that are subject to de novo review, please see Ball v. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, 2016 WL 3211227 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 13, 2016). WAGE AND HOUR CASES 66. In FLSA cases, the presumptive deadline for filing a motion for conditional certification of a collective is 28 days from the date of the initial case management conference, unless the parties reach a tolling agreement. Motions for conditional certification are almost always granted. The parties therefore are encouraged to stipulate to conditional certification with the understanding that the defendant may later seek to decertify the collective. If the parties stipulate to conditional certification, the parties must still submit the proposed notice to the Court for approval. 67. Absent extraordinary circumstances, the contact information for potential collective members in FLSA cases must be produced by the defendant at the Rule 26(f) conference. The court will almost never grant requests to continue the initial case management conference in FLSA cases—even if there is a pending motion to dismiss—unless the parties have reached a tolling agreement. 68. Likewise, in a Rule 23 wage and hour class action brought under California law, absent extraordinary circumstances, the contact information for potential class members must be produced early in the case. At the initial case management conference, the parties should expect to set an early deadline for the production of this information. Typically, the only circumstance in which this production may be delayed is when the schedule calls for cross-motions for summary judgment regarding liability as to the named plaintiffs to be adjudicated prior to class certification, as discussed in the “Class Actions” section of this standing order.

Should the parties reach a settlement in a FLSA collective action, the parties may not simply file a notice of voluntary dismissal. The parties must file a motion for settlement approval explaining why the proposed settlement is a fair and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute. See Alder v. County of Yolo, No. 16-1682-VC, Dkt. No. 25 (E.D. Cal. Nov. 20, 2017).
SECTION 1983 CASES 70. In cases involving Monell claims, the Court will often stay discovery on municipal liability until the individual constitutional claim has been adjudicated through trial. Therefore, in cases where the defendant believes that the plaintiff has stated an individual constitutional claim but has failed to state a Monell claim, the defendant should consider whether to seek a stay of the Monell claim in lieu of filing a motion to dismiss. A stay of a Monell claim will often preserve resources for the defendant, as compared to litigating multiple motions to dismiss. If the defendant chooses to seek a stay of a Monell claim, the deadline to file a motion to dismiss is tolled by the filing of the stay motion (and by the stay itself, if any). If a defendant chooses instead to file a motion to dismiss a Monell claim, the defendant should be prepared to explain why the claim should not be stayed instead. IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: June 27, 2025

Vince Chhabria United States District Judge

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Judge Chhabria's Standing Order for Criminal Cases & Trials

[Source: https://cand.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/standing-orders/VC-CriminalStandingOrder-2023-04-25.pdf]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

STANDING ORDER FOR CRIMINAL CASES BEFORE JUDGE VINCE CHHABRIA

Summary Table of Deadlines ........................................................................................................................ 2 Conformity With Rules ................................................................................................................................. 2 Change of Plea .............................................................................................................................................. 2 Motions ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Sealed Filings ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Evidentiary Hearings .................................................................................................................................... 3 Pretrial Filings AND DEADLINES .............................................................................................................. 4 Pretrial Statement ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Motions in Limine ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Jury Instructions ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Proposed Description of the Case ............................................................................................................. 6 Verdict Forms ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Exhibit Lists .............................................................................................................................................. 7 Witness Lists ............................................................................................................................................. 7 Involved Individual Lists .......................................................................................................................... 7 Pretrial Conference ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Trial Exhibits ................................................................................................................................................ 8 Treatment of Exhibits During Trial ........................................................................................................ 10 Pretrial Arrangements ................................................................................................................................. 10 Jury Selection and Trial .............................................................................................................................. 11

SUMMARY TABLE OF DEADLINES DEADLINE DATE Change of Plea – Copy of Plea Agreement Friday Before Plea Entered at 12 p.m. Supplemental Jury Questionnaire Questions, Objections to Jury Questionnaire 21 Days Before Pretrial Conference Discovery Cut-Off (Absent Contrary Order) 14 Days Before Pretrial Conference Pretrial Statement, Motions in Limine 14 Days Before Pretrial Conference Jury Instructions, Verdict Form, Proposed Description of the Case, Exhibit Lists, Witness Lists, Individuals Involved List 7 Days Before Pretrial Conference Notification of Need for Interpreter for Trial 30 Days Before Trial Arrangement of Daily Transcript or Real- Time Reporting 14 Days Before Trial Contact Bhavna Sharma Regarding Courtroom Layout and Technology 10 Days Before Trial Deliver Original and Copy Trial Exhibit Sets, List of Names, Places, Uncommon Terms and Acronyms 5 Days Before Trial CONFORMITY WITH RULES 1. The parties shall 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 order. CHANGE OF PLEA 2. If a plea is being entered pursuant to a plea agreement, counsel for the defendant shall email a copy of the plea agreement to Bhavna Sharma at vccrd@cand.uscourts.gov no later than noon the business day before the plea is to be entered.

MOTIONS 3. Motions should be filed and noticed in accordance with Criminal Local Rule 47-2 unless otherwise ordered. 4. Motions and other filings need not be on pleading paper with line numbers. The Court prefers blank paper (although pleading paper will be accepted). 5. Paper courtesy copies are not accepted.
SEALED FILINGS 6. For any documents submitted under seal, the parties shall provide a courtesy paper copy, as required by Criminal Local Rule 56-1, and a courtesy electronic copy. The electronic copy may be provided via a portable flash drive, email, or compact disk. 7. Federal courts are paid for by the public, and the public has the right to inspect court records, subject to only narrow exceptions. The filing party must make a specific showing explaining why each document that it seeks to seal may justifiably be sealed and why the proposed redactions are as narrowly tailored as possible.
8. The parties should highlight any proposed redactions on the unredacted version of the document.
9. If you have a complicated sealing motion, or set of motions, consider filling out and filing the Motion to Seal Summary Table linked on the Standing Orders page of Judge Chhabria’s website.
EVIDENTIARY HEARINGS
10. When using exhibits during evidentiary hearings, the parties must abide by the Court’s instructions regarding preparation of exhibits for trial.

PRETRIAL FILINGS AND DEADLINES

Discovery Cut-Off
11. Absent a contrary order from the Court, the discovery cut-off date is 14 days before the pretrial conference. Any material disclosed after that date will be excluded unless the disclosing party: (i) can show good cause for why it was not sought, obtained, and disclosed sooner; and (ii) discloses it within 24 hours of receipt of the material. Jury Questionnaire 12. In advance of the trial, the Jury Office will send prospective jurors an online questionnaire. The questionnaire includes standard questions that are asked in every case, as well as a maximum of ten supplemental questions specific to a given case. One of those questions will ask about scheduling conflicts, so the parties can propose as many as nine other questions. At least 21 days before the pretrial conference, the parties shall file the proposed questions on the docket and submit a Word version to vcpo@cand.uscourts.gov. The parties may agree on proposed questions or submit competing lists. However, no argument may be included in this submission. The Court will decide the final set of questions after giving the parties a chance to object. For a copy of the standard questionnaire, as well as other questions that Judge Chhabria tends to include in the supplemental questionnaire, see the Standing Orders section of Judge Chhabria’s website.
13. The parties need not include a question that asks prospective jurors whether they know any of the people involved in the case. The prospective jurors will be given an “Involved Individuals” list when they are called in.
14. Also no later than 21 days before the pretrial conference, the parties should submit objections to any aspect of the standard questionnaire.

Pretrial Statement
15. No later than 14 days before the pretrial conference, the parties must file a joint pretrial statement that addresses the items listed in Criminal Local Rule 17.1-1(b). Motions in Limine
16. Any motions in limine must be filed no later than 14 days before the pretrial conference. Oppositions must be filed at least 7 days before the pretrial conference. No reply papers will be considered. Jury Instructions 17. The parties should file joint proposed jury instructions, and send a copy in Word format to vcpo@cand.uscourts.gov, no later than 7 days before the pretrial conference. The parties should always indicate the relevant authority for a proposed instruction. The parties should often use the Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instructions; when they do, they should clearly identify any changes to the model instructions. That said, the Court at times deviates from the Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instructions to make the instructions more readable. 18. Instructions on which the parties agree must be identified as “Stipulated Jury Instruction No. __ Re _____,” with the blanks filled in as appropriate.
19. If the parties disagree on an instruction, each party’s proposed version of the disputed instruction shall be provided and identified as “Disputed Instruction No. ____ Re ____________ Offered by _________________,” with the blanks filled in as appropriate. All proposed versions of the same instruction shall bear the same number. Following each set of proposed versions of a disputed instruction, each party shall explain, in no more than one page, why the Court should give that party’s proposed instruction.

If the parties dispute whether a particular instruction should be given at all, the proponent of the instruction shall provide proposed language, identified as “Disputed Instruction No. ____ Re ____________ Offered by _________________,” with the blanks filled in as appropriate. Following the disputed instruction, each party shall explain, in no more than one page, why the instruction should or should not be given.
21. The parties do not need to submit instructions from Chapters 1-3 of the Ninth Circuit Manual, but they must indicate which of these instructions should be included and which should be omitted. 22. The proposed jury instructions should not mention the indictment or the United States Code unless there’s a compelling reason to do so. The instructions can simply refer to the defendant as having been charged in “Count One” with X, in “Count Two” with Y, and so forth. Statement of Objection to Unconscious Bias Video
23. Prospective jurors will be shown a video on unconscious bias in the jury office. The video can be accessed here (www.cand.uscourts.gov/attorneys/jury-video). If a party objects to prospective jurors’ viewing this video, the party must file a short statement (not to exceed one page double-spaced) explaining its objection. The party should then alert the Court to its objection at the pretrial conference. Proposed Description of the Case 24. No later than 7 days before the pretrial conference, the parties should jointly file, and send in Word format to vcpo@cand.uscourts.gov, a proposed description of the case. The description will be inserted into the instruction sheet for the written jury questionnaire and will be repeated orally to prospective jurors when they come to the courtroom. If the parties can’t agree on a description, they may file one document with competing descriptions (but without any

argument). Again, the description of the case should not refer to the indictment or to the United States Code unless there’s a compelling reason to do so. Verdict Forms 25. No later than 7 days before the pretrial conference, the parties must jointly file, and send in Word format to vcpo@cand.uscourts.gov, either an agreed-upon proposed verdict form or competing proposed verdict forms. Exhibit Lists 26. No later than 7 days before the pretrial conference, each party must file, and send in Word format to vcpo@cand.uscourts.gov, a list of exhibits. They need not submit the exhibits themselves at this time, unless instructed otherwise by Judge Chhabria.
Witness Lists 27. No later than 7 days before the pretrial conference, the parties must file, and send in Word format to vcpo@cand.uscourts.gov, lists of potential witnesses to be called at trial, other than solely for impeachment or rebuttal. Involved Individual Lists 28. No later than 7 days before the pretrial conference, the parties must jointly file, and send in Word format to vcpo@cand.uscourts.gov, a list of people involved in the case. The list should include counsel, the defendant or defendants, potential witnesses, and any other people significantly involved in the case. PRETRIAL CONFERENCE 29. At the pretrial conference, the parties should be prepared to address motions in limine, jury instructions, the written questionnaire, proposed voir dire, the verdict form, and any issues relating to exhibits or evidence. If either party believes that a dispute about jury

instructions must be resolved before opening statements, it must be raised when the proposed jury instructions are filed and at the pretrial conference. Otherwise, the Court will typically discuss jury instructions with the parties during trial.
TRIAL EXHIBITS 30. Each side must prepare a set of its own trial exhibits to be used with the witnesses at trial and, if applicable, on appeal.
31. No later than 5 days before trial, each side shall deposit one binder or set of binders (judge’s copy) and one thumb drive (official copy) with the Courtroom Deputy. Arrangement for delivery of these exhibits shall be made prior to the date of delivery with Bhavna Sharma at vccrd@cand.uscourts.gov. The judge’s copy of the exhibits shall be provided in three-ring binders, with each exhibit tagged, three-hole-punched, and separated with a label divider identifying the exhibit number. A spine label on each binder should indicate the numbers of the exhibits contained therein. The official copy shall be submitted on a thumb drive and should contain each exhibit as a separate file, with each file named so that the exhibits appear sequentially when sorted by file name. The parties should discuss with Judge Chhabria and the Courtroom Deputy how they will handle showing exhibits to witnesses, including whether witness binders are necessary. 32. Exhibits shall be sequentially numbered (not lettered). Blocks of numbers should be assigned to fit the needs of the case (e.g., the government has 1 to 100, Defendant A has 101 to 200, Defendant B has 201 to 300, etc.).
33. A single exhibit should be marked only once. If the government has marked an exhibit, the defendant should not re-mark the same document with another number. Different

versions of the same document (e.g., versions of a document with and without additional handwriting), however, must be treated as different exhibits and marked with different numbers.
34. To avoid any party claiming “ownership” of an exhibit, all exhibits shall be marked and referred to as “Trial Exhibit No. _____,” not as “Government’s Exhibit” or “Defendant’s Exhibit.”
35. Each exhibit shall be tagged as follows: 36. Judge Chhabria prefers but does not require that the exhibit tags be in a color that will stand out (yet still allow for photocopying).
37. Counsel should fill in the exhibit and case numbers, but leave the other spaces (“Date Entered” and “By”) blank.
38. Exhibit tags shall be placed on or near the lower right-hand corner of the first page of each exhibit. If the exhibit is a photograph, or the exhibit does not have enough room to accommodate the tag on the front page, the tag shall be placed on the back of the last page of the document in the lower left-hand corner.

Treatment of Exhibits During Trial 39. Counsel must consult with each other and with Bhavna Sharma at the end of each trial day about which exhibits are in evidence and any limitations thereon. If there are any disagreements, counsel should promptly bring them to Judge Chhabria’s attention. 40. Counsel must clearly announce the number of any exhibit used during the proceedings, even if it has already been admitted. 41. At the close of evidence, before closing arguments, counsel must confer with the Bhavna Sharma to make sure the exhibits in evidence are in good order. 42. Exhibit notebooks for the jury will not be permitted without prior permission from Judge Chhabria.
43. Publication may be by poster blow-up, use of the courtroom electronic evidence presentation system, or such other method as is allowed in the circumstances. It is permissible to highlight, circle, or underscore in the enlargements as long as it is clear that the alterations are not on the original. 44. Each party shall retain a full set of exhibits after trial through the appellate process. It is each party’s responsibility to make arrangements with the Clerk of the Court to file the record on appeal. PRETRIAL ARRANGEMENTS 45. Should a daily transcript and/or real-time reporting be desired, the parties shall make arrangements with Kristen Melen, Court Reporter Supervisor, at (415) 522-2079, at least 14 days before the trial date.

No later than 5 days prior to the start of trial, the parties must provide the Court Reporter a jointly-created list of names, places, and any uncommon terms or acronyms that are likely to come up during the trial. 47. If any witness will require an interpreter at trial, counsel shall notify Bhavna Sharma at least 30 days before the commencement of trial. 48. The parties should contact Bhavna Sharma no later than 10 days before trial to discuss any questions or issues about the layout of the courtroom.
49. The Court may be able to provide access to an easel and the courtroom electronic evidence presentation system. The parties should consult www.cand.uscourts.gov/courtroomtech for information on the available courtroom technology. During trial, counsel may wish to use computer graphics, poster blow-ups, or models. The parties must provide such equipment. Counsel should share equipment to the maximum extent possible. The United States Marshal requires a court order to allow equipment into the courthouse. To request such an order, the parties should contact Bhavna Sharma no later than 10 days before trial. For electronic equipment, the parties should arrange with Bhavna Sharma no later than 10 days before trial a date to set up and test the equipment in advance of trial and be prepared to maintain the equipment during trial. The parties shall tape extension cords to the carpet for safety. JURY SELECTION AND TRIAL 50. The parties do not need to submit proposed voir dire questions in advance of trial. 51. A day or so before jury selection, the Court will hold an “excusal hearing” for the purpose of determining which prospective jurors should be excused for hardship or cause based exclusively on their questionnaire responses. One to two days before the excusal hearing, the

Court will send counsel a copy of the responses. The remaining jurors will be called in for jury selection. 52. Once the prospective jurors are in the courtroom, Judge Chhabria will discuss hardships with them. Judge Chhabria may then ask a few raise-your-hand questions before turning voir dire over to the lawyers. During voir dire, the Court will circulate the list of involved individuals.
53. Each evening, counsel must notify the other side of the witnesses who will be called the following two trial days. 54. The parties should review the guide for using prior statements of witnesses and refreshing recollection at trial, which is posted in the Standing Orders section of Judge Chhabria’s website.

IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: April 25, 2023

Vince Chhabria United States District Judge

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