Judge Nathanael Cousins — United States District Court, Northern District of California

Standing Orders — Inline Excerpts

No chambers copies of motions or discovery-related filings are required unless requested.

Delivery Address

Robert F. Peckham Federal Building & United States Courthouse Office of the Clerk 280 South 1st Street San Jose, CA 95113

Judge Cousins' Civil Standing Order

[Source: https://cand.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/standing-orders/NC-CivilStandingOrder_02-2026.pdf]

CIVIL STANDING ORDER: CHIEF MAGISTRATE JUDGE NATHANAEL M. COUSINS

LOCATION All matters will be heard in Courtroom 5, 4th Floor, San Jose Federal Courthouse.

SCHEDULING Case Management Conferences,10:00 a.m. each Wednesday, held via Zoom Webinar

https://cand.uscourts.gov/judges/cousins-nathanael-nc/ Civil hearings, 11:00 a.m. each Wednesday in person.
Criminal hearings, 11:30 a.m. each Wednesday in person, except during duty months.

Criminal duty calendar is held weekdays at 1:00 p.m.
Pretrial Conferences, 11:30 a.m. each Wednesday in person.
Settlement Conferences are held at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, in person.

Requests for conference participation by Zoom or telephone must be made within 7 days

after a settlement conference referral.

Parties are not required to reserve a hearing date but should confirm the Court’s availability at http://www.cand.uscourts.gov. For questions regarding scheduling, please contact courtroom deputy Lili Harrell at 408.535.5343 or Lili_Harrell@cand.uscourts.gov.

CONSENT TO MAGISTRATE JUDGE JURISDICTION
In civil cases, each party must file written consent to the jurisdiction of a magistrate judge or a written request for reassignment to a district judge as soon as possible but no later than the deadlines specified in Civil Local Rule 73-1(a).

PROPOSED ORDERS

In addition to e-filing, the parties must email a copy of all stipulations and proposed orders in Word format to ncpo@cand.uscourts.gov on the same day they e-file these documents.

DISCOVERY

For all discovery disputes, the parties must meet and confer to attempt to resolve their dispute.
The meet and confer must be a direct conversation in person or by telephone or video. A mere exchange of letters, emails, or messages does not satisfy the requirement to meet and confer. If the parties are unable to reach a resolution, they must file a joint statement of five pages or less that: (1) describes each unresolved issue; and (2) states each party’s final proposed compromise with respect to each unresolved issue. The parties may not attach declarations, exhibits, or proposed orders to the statement absent leave of Court. In the rare event that the parties are unable to file a joint statement, each party may file a statement of two pages or less. The statement(s) must be filed in ECF under the Civil Events category of Motions and Related Filings > Motions: General > Discovery Letter Brief. Upon review of the statement(s), the Court will advise the parties regarding the need for more briefing and a hearing.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

February 4, 2026

       ______________________________ 







        Nathanael M. Cousins 







        Chief United States Magistrate Judge

Judge Cousins' Settlement Conference Standing Order

[Source: https://cand.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/standing-orders/NC-settlement-conference-standing-order_6.20.2023.pdf]

SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE STANDING ORDER MAGISTRATE JUDGE NATHANAEL M. COUSINS

SCHEDULING To coordinate scheduling, please contact courtroom deputy Lili Harrell at Lili_Harrell@cand.uscourts.gov or 408.535.5343. Settlement conferences typically are held on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at 9:30 a.m.

Requests for conference participation by Zoom or telephone must be made within 7 days after a settlement conference referral.

A party seeking to continue a settlement conference must file a request in ECF as soon as possible after meeting and conferring with opposing counsel. The request must demonstrate a compelling reason for the continuance and state whether the opposing parties object to the continuance. Any party that objects to the continuance must file an opposition in ECF within two days of the filing date of the request.

Contact courtroom deputy Lili Harrell immediately if the case settles before the settlement conference.

PERSONS REQUIRED TO ATTEND SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE All parties and their counsel are required to attend the settlement conference in person, not by telephone. Non-natural persons must be represented by a person with unlimited authority to negotiate a settlement. An insured party must appear with a representative of the carrier with full authority to negotiate up to the limits of coverage. A person who must call another person not present at the conference before agreeing to a settlement does not have unlimited authority.

SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE STATEMENT No later than seven days prior to the conference, each party must submit a settlement conference statement via email in PDF format to ncpo@cand.uscourts.gov. Each party must also serve its statement on opposing counsel. The statement must not be filed in ECF. The statement must include:

(a) the identity of the attorney(s) and clients attending the settlement conference; (b) a brief statement of the facts of the case; (c)
a brief statement of the claims and defenses raised, including statutory or other grounds upon which the claims are founded; (d) a candid evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of prevailing on the claims and defenses;

(e)
a description of the major issues in dispute and any discrete issue that, if resolved, would facilitate the resolution of the case; (f) a summary of the proceedings to date; (g) a listing of all pending motions; (h) the relief sought; (i) the party’s position on settlement, including present demands, offers, and a history of past settlement discussions.

No further materials should be submitted to the Court unless requested.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Nathanael M. Cousins Updated: June 20, 2023

U.S. Magistrate Judge

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