Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi — United States District Court, Northern District of California

Standing Orders — Inline Excerpts

Chambers Copies

Consistent with General Order 78, the Court does not require chambers copies, unless such copies are specifically requested for a matter. Chambers copies of joint discovery dispute letters, motion papers filed pursuant to Civil L.R. 7-2, opposition papers filed pursuant to Civil L.R. 7-3, and reply papers filed pursuant to Civil L.R. 7-3 should be delivered to the Clerk’s Office no later than the close of the next court day following the day that the paper was electronically filed. Chambers copies must be double-sided and 3-hole punched along the left margin of the paper. Such copies must be marked with the notation “Chambers Copy” and submitted to the Clerk’s Office in an envelope marked with the case name, case number, and the words “Magistrate Judge DeMarchi Chambers Copies.”

Courtesy Copies

In addition to complying with all provisions of Civil L.R. 5-1(h), parties who are ECF users are encouraged to provide courtesy copies in electronic form of voluminous electronically filed documents to all other parties in the action, via email or other agreed means, promptly after completion of filing.

Delivery Address

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

Judge DeMarchi's Standing Order for Civil Cases

[Source: https://cand.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/standing-orders/VKD-StandingOrderForCivilCases-7-2025.pdf]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN JOSE DIVISION

STANDING ORDER FOR CIVIL CASES MAGISTRATE JUDGE VIRGINIA K. DEMARCHI Updated July 18, 2025

General Unless the Court specifically directs otherwise, parties in civil cases shall comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Civil Local Rules and applicable General Orders of the Northern District of California (available at https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/generalorders), and this standing order. Failure to comply with these rules and orders may result in monetary sanctions, dismissal, entry of adverse judgment, or other appropriate sanctions. Counsel are expected to comply with the Northern District of California’s Guidelines for Professional Conduct (available at https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/professional conduct
guidelines). 2. Consent cases In civil cases that are randomly assigned to Judge DeMarchi for all purposes, the parties will be provided a form seeking their consent or declination to magistrate judge jurisdiction. The Court asks that the parties promptly file this form indicating their written consent to assignment of a magistrate judge for all purposes, or their written declination of such consent. 3. Motions Hearings. Civil motions (other than discovery motions) may be noticed for hearing on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. Counsel need not reserve a hearing date in advance but noticed dates may be reset as the Court’s calendar requires. Before noticing a motion for hearing, please check the Court’s availability (available at https://apps.cand.uscourts.gov/CEO/cfd.aspx?71BY).
Questions regarding scheduling should be addressed to Judge DeMarchi’s courtroom deputy, Steven Chilton, at (408) 535-5513 or vkdcrd@cand.uscourts.gov. Unless the Court orders otherwise, all hearings (including hearings on discovery disputes) will be conducted in person in Judge DeMarchi’s courtroom at the San Jose courthouse. Proposed orders. Proposed orders submitted by an e-filing party shall be submitted in Microsoft Word to the following email address: vkdpo@cand.uscourts.gov. This email address shall not be used for any other purpose. Proposed orders are not required for motions filed pursuant to Civil L.R. 7-2, except for motions seeking injunctive relief. Chambers copies. Chambers copies of joint discovery dispute letters, motion papers filed pursuant to Civil L.R. 7-2, opposition papers filed pursuant to Civil L.R. 7-3, and reply papers

filed pursuant to Civil L.R. 7-3 should be delivered to the Clerk’s Office no later than the close of the next court day following the day that the paper was electronically filed. Chambers copies must be double-sided and 3-hole punched along the left margin of the paper. For under seal filings, chambers copies should include only the unredacted version of the filing. Such copies must be marked with the notation “Chambers Copy” and submitted to the Clerk’s Office in an envelope marked with the case name, case number, and the words “Magistrate Judge DeMarchi Chambers Copies.” Courtesy copies. In addition to complying with all provisions of Civil L.R. 5-1(h), parties who are ECF users are encouraged to provide courtesy copies in electronic form of voluminous electronically filed documents to all other parties in the action, via email or other agreed means, promptly after completion of filing. Discovery motions. Absent leave of Court, parties should not file formal noticed motions under Civil L.R. 7-2 addressed to discovery-related disputes, but instead should follow the procedures described below for expedited resolution of discovery-related disputes. 4. Discovery Stipulated protective orders. The Court encourages parties to stipulate to a proposed protective order regarding confidential material to minimize disputes about the exchange of information during discovery. If the parties elect to use one of the Court’s model orders (available on the Court’s website at https://cand.uscourts.gov/forms/model-protective-orders/) as a starting point, their stipulation must include (1) a clean version for the Court’s signature, and (2) a redline version reflecting any modifications the parties made to the model order. Please note that the Court generally requires parties to use the discovery dispute resolution procedure described below for disputes arising under a protective order, and the protective order the Court enters will so provide. For an example of the Court’s typical revisions to the text of the model protective order for standard litigation, please see Case No. 5:22-cv-02882, Dkt. No. 24 (secs. 6.3 and 12.3). Written discovery. The Court encourages the party propounding discovery to provide courtesy copies of all requests for written discovery (i.e., interrogatories, document requests, requests for admission) to the responding party in an electronic format (e.g., Microsoft Word, or other word processing application) that easily permits the responding party to copy the requests for purposes of responding to them. Privilege logs. Claims of privilege or work product protection must be sufficiently detailed and informative to justify the privilege or protection claimed; generalized claims of privilege or work product protection are not permitted. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(5). Privilege logs shall be promptly provided, and updated periodically, as documents are reviewed for production. The parties should agree on interim and final dates for the exchange of privilege logs that permit any disputes about claims of privilege or work product protection to be addressed in advance of the discovery cut-off. Deposition exhibits. Parties are reminded of their obligation to confer regarding a sequential numbering system for exhibits to be used in deposition and at trial. See Civil L.R. 30-

2(b)(1). Such a system should avoid assigning the same exhibit number to multiple different documents and should avoid assigning different exhibit numbers to the same document used in multiple depositions. Discovery dispute resolution. The following procedures shall govern the resolution of discovery disputes, including disputes about proposed protective orders:
a. The parties involved in a discovery dispute shall attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute by agreement. b. If such efforts fail, the party seeking relief may demand a conference of lead counsel to discuss resolution of the dispute. The conference shall occur within 5 court days of such demand unless the parties agree otherwise. Lead counsel must actively engage in discussion of the dispute, although others may participate in the conference to assist lead counsel. The Court encourages counsel to meet in person, but the conference may be conducted by telephone or video conference. c. If a dispute remains following the conference of lead counsel, the parties shall jointly submit a letter to the Court no later than 5 court days after the conference of lead counsel, unless the disputing parties agree to extend that deadline.1 The joint discovery dispute letter shall be filed using the “Discovery Letter Brief” event under “Motions-General” in the CM/ECF system. It shall include the following information and shall conform to the following word limits2: i. a statement of the dispute requiring resolution (not more than 100 words); ii. each party’s position, including citation to applicable authority, and proposed resolution of the dispute (not more than 1500 words per party3); iii. each party’s view regarding whether the Court should conduct a hearing on the dispute and why a hearing would or would not assist the Court in resolving the dispute (not more than 100 words per party); iv. discovery cut-off dates for fact and expert discovery;
v. a statement attesting to compliance with the requirement that lead counsel for the parties confer about the discovery dispute, including the names of the participants, the date of the conference, and the manner in which the

1 An agreement to extend the deadline to file the discovery dispute letter cannot be used to extend the deadline to file motions to compel discovery under Civil L.R. 37-3. That deadline applies to the filing of joint discovery dispute letters. 2 Footnote text counts against the word limits. 3 If there are multiple, aligned parties (e.g., two related defendants), the word limits are per side, not per individual party.

conference was conducted (e.g., in person meeting, telephone, etc.) (not more than 50 words); and vi. as an attachment to the letter, the specific discovery material at issue, including the responses, if any, to it (e.g., disputed document requests, disputed interrogatories, privilege log, subpoena, deposition excerpt, proposed protective order, etc.); no other exhibits may be attached to the letter, absent leave of Court. The Court does not want to read the parties’ discovery-related correspondence. d. A single joint discovery dispute letter should address only one discrete issue or a few issues that are closely related. Multiple joint discovery dispute letters may be filed following a single conference of lead counsel if multiple discrete disputes remain unresolved, but parties should not use multiple letters to avoid the word limits set forth above. e. The Court expects the parties to cooperate in the preparation of the joint discovery dispute letter so that each side has adequate time to prepare its own arguments and address its adversary’s arguments before submission of the letter. The joint discovery dispute letter must be signed by lead counsel. f. Unjustified delay or refusal to participate meaningfully in the conference of lead counsel or in the preparation of the joint discovery dispute letter may be grounds for entry of an order adverse to the delaying or non-participating party or other appropriate sanctions. g. Upon receipt of the joint discovery dispute letter, the Court will decide what further proceedings, if any, may be required to resolve the dispute. h. These procedures for the resolution of discovery disputes shall also apply to non-parties involved in discovery disputes. i. These procedures for the resolution of discovery disputes shall not apply to motions challenging the sufficiency of the identification of trade secrets under California Code of Civil Procedure § 2019.210, or to motions to strike or to compel amendments to infringement or invalidity contentions in patent cases. Such motions should be noticed and filed pursuant to Civil L.R. 7-2. Motions for sanctions. Any party seeking an award of attorney fees or other form of sanction under Fed. R. Civ. P. 37 may not use the expedited joint discovery dispute letter procedure described above, but instead must file a motion conforming to the requirements of Civil L.R. 37-4. 5. Case Management Conferences Unless the Court orders otherwise, case management conferences will be conducted by Zoom Webinar. Instructions for participating in the Zoom Webinar will be provided by Clerk’s Notice and posted on the docket for each conference. Guidance on how to use Zoom functionality is posted on the Court’s website, https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/zoom/. If any

party believes that a particular conference should be conducted in person, the party must request an in-person conference in the joint case management statement or in a separate submission no later than 7 days before the case management conference and must explain why it believes the conference should be conducted in person. 6. Pro se litigants Litigants who are not represented by an attorney (“pro se litigants”) are strongly encouraged to contact the Federal Pro Se Program for assistance. The Pro Se Program is located on the second floor of the Federal Courthouse in San Jose. Help is provided by appointment and on a drop-in basis Monday to Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Appointments may be made by signing up in person at the Program’s office (Room 2070) at the San Jose Federal Courthouse, or by calling 408-297-1480. Additionally, pro se litigants are highly encouraged to obtain a copy of the Court’s Handbook for Pro Se Litigants, available on the Court’s website (https://cand.uscourts.gov/pro-se-handbook/) or from the Clerk’s Office. Pro se litigants who are representing themselves may file documents manually, unless they have applied for and been given permission to become an ECF user pursuant to Civil L.R. 5-1(b). To manually file documents, litigants should bring an original and three copies to the Clerk’s Office on the second floor of the San Jose Federal Courthouse. 7. Other matters Skills development. The Court welcomes and encourages oral argument by less- experienced attorneys on any matters argued before the Court. Pronouns. Parties and attorneys may advise the Court of their pronouns by filing a letter or by adding the pronouns in the name block on the first page of the pleadings. IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: July 18, 2025

VIRGINIA K. DEMARCHI United States Magistrate Judge

Judge DeMarchi's Standing Order for Pretrial Preparation in Civil Cases

[Source: https://cand.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/standing-orders/VKD-PretrialStandingOrder-11-2025.pdf]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN JOSE DIVISION

STANDING ORDER RE PRETRIAL PREPARATION MAGISTRATE JUDGE VIRGINIA K. DEMARCHI Updated November 17, 2025

General The following requirements, deadlines, and procedures shall apply in all cases scheduled for trial before Magistrate Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi, unless the Court specifically orders otherwise. 2. Exchange of Pretrial Materials At least 21 days prior to the Pretrial Conference, the parties shall serve (but not file) the following materials: a. Witness list. Each party shall provide a list identifying each witness the party intends to call at trial, other than solely for impeachment. For each such witness, the party shall indicate whether the witness will testify live or by deposition, whether the witness will provide fact testimony, expert testimony, or both, and whether the party will call the witness or may call the witness only if the need arises. b. Deposition designations. For any witness to be called by deposition, the party listing the witness shall provide a table identifying by page and line number the specific testimony the party intends to offer at trial. The table should include columns for the opposing party(ies) to state objections and counter-designations, and for the Court to note any rulings (see attached form). c. Exhibit list. Each party shall provide a list of all documents, summaries and other items to be offered as exhibits at trial, other than solely for impeachment. Any summaries a party intends to offer must comply with Fed. R. Evid. 1006. Each item on the list shall be identified by an exhibit number followed by a short description of the item. The list should include columns for the opposing party(ies) to state objections, and for the Court to note any rulings (see attached form). d. Proposed juror questionnaires (jury trials only). Each party seeking to use juror questionnaires shall provide their proposed questionnaire. e. Proposed voir dire questions (jury trials only). Each party should provide a set of proposed voir dire questions that it wishes the Court to ask. As indicated below, the Court will question prospective trial jurors, but will permit counsel a limited opportunity for follow-up questions. f. Proposed jury instructions (jury trials only). Each party shall provide a set of proposed substantive instructions that includes the text of the instruction, its source

(e.g. Model Jury Instructions of the Ninth Circuit), and authority supporting the instruction. If the source of the instruction is a model instruction, any deviations from the model must be clearly indicated (e.g. using strikeout and underlining to show deletions and additions). As indicated below, the parties need not exchange proposed jury instructions that cover standard preliminary instructions or standard closing instructions. g. Proposed form of verdict (jury trials only). Each party shall provide the form of verdict it wishes the Court to use. At least 14 days prior to the Pretrial Conference, the parties shall serve (but not file) the following materials: a. Objections to witnesses. Each party shall state its objections, and the bases therefor, to the testimony of any witnesses identified by the opposing party(ies). b. Objections/counter-designations. Each party shall indicate its objections, and the bases therefor, and any counter-designations to the deposition testimony designated by the opposing party(ies). c. Objections to exhibits. Each party shall state its objections, and the bases therefor, to the exhibits identified by the opposing party(ies). d. Objections to juror questionnaires (jury trials only). Each party shall state its objections, and the bases therefor, to the juror questionnaires, if any, of the opposing party(ies). e. Objections to voir dire questions (jury trials only). Each party shall state its objections, and the bases therefor, to the voir questions of the opposing party(ies). f. Objections to jury instructions (jury trials only). Each party shall state its objections, and the bases therefor, to the jury instructions of the opposing party(ies), together with any alternative proposed instruction and the authority supporting the alternative instruction. The parties should agree on a format for the exchange of pretrial materials that facilitates review, discussion, and communication of any objections. 3. Joint Pretrial Statement At least 7 days prior to the Pretrial Conference, the parties shall file a Joint Pretrial Statement that includes the materials described below (note that certain materials are to be attached to the Joint Pretrial Statement as separate appendices). Counsel for the parties (and any parties appearing pro se) shall confer in person, by telephone or by videoconference to discuss preparation of the Joint Pretrial Statement sufficiently in advance of the filing deadline to ensure the statement is timely filed. The conference of counsel must include discussion of any objections to evidence (witness testimony, deposition designations, exhibits) that a party proposes to offer at trial.

The Joint Pretrial Statement is a joint submission, which shall include: a. Neutral statement of the case. A brief description of what the case is about.
For jury trials, the statement should be suitable for reading to the jury as part of the Court’s preliminary jury instructions. b. Claims and defenses. A statement of the pending claims and defenses to be tried. c. Relief. A statement of the relief sought by each party with a claim for relief. d. Undisputed facts. A statement of (i) all relevant facts not reasonably in dispute, and (ii) any facts to which the parties will stipulate for purposes of trial without the need for supporting testimony or exhibits, in a form that may be read to the jury if the matter is to be tried to a jury. e. Disputed facts. A concise statement of the material disputed facts that must be decided. f. Legal issues. Without extended legal argument, a concise statement of each disputed point of law concerning liability, relief, procedure, or evidence that must be decided. g. Proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law (non-jury trials only). For matters tried to the Court without a jury, each party shall file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, with citations as appropriate to evidence proposed to be offered at trial. h. Estimated time for trial. A carefully reasoned estimate of the number of hours needed for the presentation of each party’s case, including cross-examination of opposing witnesses. i. Stipulations. Any stipulations requested or proposed for pretrial or trial purposes, other than stipulations of fact. j. Settlement. A statement indicating whether further settlement discussions would likely be productive. k. Miscellaneous. Any other matters relevant to the trial of this action or material to its just, speedy, and inexpensive resolution. l. Witnesses. A list, attached as a separate appendix, identifying each witness the parties intend to call at trial, other than solely for impeachment. For each such witness, the parties shall provide a very brief description of the subject matter of the witness’s anticipated testimony. The parties shall also indicate whether the witness will testify live or by deposition, whether the witness will provide fact testimony, expert testimony, or both, and whether the party who is the proponent of the witness will call the witness or may call the witness only if the

need arises. Objections to a witness’s testimony that have not been resolved must be noted. m. Deposition designations. For any witness testifying by deposition, a table, attached as a separate appendix, identifying by page and line number the specific testimony to be offered at trial, any objections that have not been resolved, and any counter-designations. The deposition designations should include the information in the form attached to this order. n. Exhibits. A list, attached as a separate appendix, of all documents, summaries and other items to be offered as exhibits at trial, other than solely for impeachment. The parties must use a sequential numbering system for exhibits to be offered at trial. Gaps in the sequence are permitted. Ideally, for exhibits previously marked in deposition, the trial exhibit numbers will match the deposition exhibit numbers. See Civil L.R. 30-2(b)(1). In any event, the numbering system for trial exhibits must not assign the same exhibit number to multiple different documents and must not assign different exhibit numbers to the same document. Objections to exhibits that have not been resolved must be noted. The exhibit list should include the information in the form attached to this order. (Copies of the exhibits shall be lodged with the Court, according to the instructions below.) o. Proposed juror questionnaires (jury trials only). If desired, a proposed juror questionnaire, attached as a separate appendix, to be provided to prospective jurors before voir dire begins. If the parties are unable to agree on specific questions, they shall indicate their respective proposals. p. Proposed voir dire questions (jury trials only). A set of proposed voir dire questions, attached as a separate appendix, the parties wish the Court to ask, and if the parties do not agree as to all questions, a short statement of their respective positions on which questions should and should not be asked. The examination of prospective jurors will be conducted by the Court, with a limited opportunity for counsel to ask follow-up questions. q. Proposed jury instructions (jury trials only). A set of proposed substantive instructions, attached as a separate appendix. Each instruction shall begin at the top of a page, and shall include the text of the instruction, followed by its source (e.g. Model Jury Instructions of the Ninth Circuit), the authority supporting the instruction, any unresolved objections, any alternative instruction, and the source of such alternative instruction. If the source of the instruction is a model instruction, any deviations from the model must be clearly indicated (e.g. using strikeout and underlining to show deletions and additions). The Court intends to use the Model Jury Instructions of the Ninth Circuit, modified and supplemented as necessary, as the starting point for jury instructions, including preliminary instructions and closing instructions. The parties should not submit proposed jury instructions that cover standard preliminary instructions or standard closing instructions.

r. Proposed form of verdict (jury trials only). A proposed form of verdict, or if the parties do not agree, their respective proposed forms of verdict, attached as a separate appendix. 4. Motions in Limine At least 14 days prior to the Pretrial Conference, the parties shall file any motions in limine. Motions in limine may not exceed 10 pages. Parties may not file Daubert motions as motions in limine. Daubert motions generally will be heard at the same time as dispositive motions, unless the Court orders otherwise. At least 7 days prior to the Pretrial Conference, the parties shall file oppositions, or statements of non-opposition, to the motions in limine filed by the opposing party(ies). No replies are permitted. 5. Chambers’ Copies of Motion in Limine Papers and Joint Pretrial Statement Materials The parties shall deliver two paper copies of (1) the Joint Pretrial Statement to Judge DeMarchi’s chambers no later than noon on the court day following the day that the Joint Pretrial Statement is filed and (2) motion in limine papers no later than noon on the court day following the day that the parties’ respective opening and responding papers are filed. Chambers copies must be double-sided and 3-hole punched along the left margin of the paper. The parties shall email a copy of their jointly filed Exhibit List and Deposition Designations in Microsoft Word or Excel format to vkdpo@cand.uscourts.gov. The parties shall email a copy of their jointly filed Jury Instructions in Microsoft Word format to vkdpo@cand.uscourts.gov. 6. Lodging Exhibits with Court At least 7 days prior to the Pretrial Conference, the parties shall lodge with the Court all proposed trial exhibits in both paper and electronic form. The paper exhibits should be exhibit- numbered, tabbed and placed in 3-ring binders. If it is not feasible to include a particular exhibit in a binder, place a slip sheet in the binder. The electronic copies of the exhibits should be provided by delivering electronic media (e.g., thumb drive) to chambers. 7. Pretrial Conference Lead counsel for the parties must appear in person for the pretrial conference. 8. Trial Preparation and Conduct The Court’s usual trial schedule is Monday-Fridays, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with two 15- minute breaks. Counsel may need to arrive earlier or stay later to address any matters that must be heard out of the presence of the jury.

The Court’s usual practice is to set fixed time limits for presentation of each party’s evidence, including direct and cross examination. Time limits for opening statement and closing argument will be set separately. The Courtroom Deputy will track each party’s time, but the parties are encouraged to track their own time and consult with the Courtroom Deputy at the end of each day to avoid discrepancies. If any party requires daily or real-time transcripts, Form CAND-435 with instructions for requesting a transcript is available at https://cand.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/forms/CAND_435_8.18-fillable.pdf If the parties wish to bring trial presentation equipment into the courtroom, please contact Judge DeMarchi’s Courtroom Deputy to discuss arrangements. The U.S. Marshal will not permit equipment to be brought into the courthouse without a court order. The parties are expected to provide each other notice of the order and timing of witnesses to be called at trial (live or by deposition), the exhibits to be used with each witness (other than for impeachment), and demonstratives to be used with witnesses, in opening statements and in closing arguments. The parties must confer in advance of trial on the manner and timing of such notices so that objections may be raised with and resolved by the Court without delaying the conduct of the trial. 9. Other Matters All prospective jurors will be shown the Northern District of California’s Unconscious Bias video, unless the Court sustains an objection to the video. The video is available for viewing on the Court’s website at https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/attorneys/unconscious-bias- video-for-potential-jurors/. All prospective jurors will be asked by the jury administration office to fill out a standard juror questionnaire that asks for basic background information, including information about juror demographics and prior jury service. The results of this questionnaire will be shared with counsel for the parties before jury selection. In patent cases, empaneled jurors will be shown the Federal Judicial Center’s The Patent Process: An Overview for Jurors video, unless the Court sustains an objection to the video. The video is available for viewing on the FJC’s website at https://www.fjc.gov/publications/patent- process-overview-jurors. IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: November 17, 2025

VIRGINIA K. DEMARCHI United States Magistrate Judge

FORM: DEPOSITION DESIGNATIONS

Case Name:

Case No.:

Witness name Designated testimony Objections Counter- designations Court Page:line – page:line

FORM: EXHIBIT LIST1

Case Name:

Case No.:

Exhibit No. Description Objections Court

Plaintiff’s Exhibits Exhibit No. Description Objections Court

Defendant’s Exhibits Exhibit No. Description Objections Court

1 Exhibits should be numbered sequentially. Gaps in the sequence are permitted. If exhibits are disputed, the parties may indicate in the chart that an exhibit or set of exhibits is proposed to be offered by one party or the other.

Judge DeMarchi's Standing Order for Settlement Conferences

[Source: https://cand.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/standing-orders/VKD-StandingOrderForSettlementConferences7-2025.pdf]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN JOSE DIVISION

STANDING ORDER FOR SETTLEMENT CONFERENCES MAGISTRATE JUDGE VIRGINIA K. DEMARCHI Updated July 18, 2025

1. Scheduling Unless a settlement conference has already been set by the Court, please contact Judge DeMarchi’s courtroom deputy, Steven Chilton at (408) 535-5513 or vkdcrd@cand.uscourts.gov to schedule a conference. Judge DeMarchi prefers to conduct settlement conferences on Wednesdays, Thursdays or Fridays. Once set, a settlement conference may be continued only for a compelling reason. A party seeking to continue a settlement conference must first confer with all other parties to the conference regarding the continuance and then must file a request for continuance with Court promptly following the circumstances giving rise to the request. The request must demonstrate the compelling reasons for the continuance and state whether any other party objects to the continuance. Any objections to the continuance must be filed within two days of the filing date of the request for continuance. Parties should expect to spend a full day at the settlement conference. If a case settles before the settlement conference takes place, the parties must immediately notify Judge DeMarchi’s courtroom deputy.
2. Format Judge DeMarchi prefers to conduct settlement conferences in person at the courthouse in San Jose, but she is willing to conduct the settlement conference by Zoom videoconference, especially if all parties agree to proceed by Zoom videoconference. The parties shall confer and advise Judge DeMarchi’s courtroom deputy, Steven Chilton, of their preference when scheduling the settlement conference.
3. Required Attendees All parties and their counsel are required to attend the settlement conference.
   Corporations, government agencies and other non-natural persons must be represented at the conference by a person with unlimited authority to negotiate a settlement. An insured party must also attend the conference with a representative of the insurance 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.

All required attendees must be present for the duration of the settlement conference unless excused by the Court. 4. Settlement Conference Statement

No later than seven days prior to the settlement conference, each party participating in the conference must lodge a Settlement Conference Statement with Judge DeMarchi’s chambers by emailing the statement in text-searchable .pdf format to vkdcrd@cand.uscourts.gov and delivering a hard copy to chambers. The statement should not be filed. Each party must serve a copy of its statement on all other parties participating in the conference. The statement must include: a. the identity of the party or party representative(s) and attorney(s) who will attend the 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 and defenses are founded;

d. the relief sought by the party;

e. a summary of settlement discussions, mediations, or evaluations to date, if any;

f. the party’s present demand or offer of settlement (if the party has not made a demand or offer, the party must make one in advance of the date the party’s statement is due and include the demand or offer in the statement);

g. any other matter the party believes may materially impact settlement of the case;

h. a summary of the proceedings to date, including the current case schedule; and

i. a list of all pending motions.

The statement should conform to the formatting requirements of Civil L.R. 3-4 and should not exceed 10 pages of text. A party may include exhibits with its statement, but the exhibits should not exceed 20 total pages. A party may refer to material filed on the docket (e.g., a motion or order) without attaching it to the statement. 5. Confidential Settlement Letter

No later than seven days prior to the settlement conference, each party participating in the conference must lodge a Confidential Settlement Letter with Judge DeMarchi’s chambers by emailing the letter to vkdcrd@cand.uscourts.gov and delivering a hard copy to chambers. The letter should not be filed. The confidential letter should not be served on any other party.

The confidential letter must include: a. a candid evaluation of the party’s likelihood of prevailing on the claims and defenses in the case;
b. an estimate of the fees and costs incurred by the party to date, and the fees and costs expected to be incurred for further discovery, pretrial and trial proceedings; c. a realistic settlement amount and/or non-monetary terms that, given all the circumstances, the party submitting the letter would consider seriously;
d. if a party is receiving third party litigation funding, and if the funder has a financial or other significant interest in the outcome of the proceeding, the identity of the funder and a description of the nature of the interest; and e. any other matter the party wishes to bring to Judge DeMarchi’s attention that might facilitate settlement of the case.

The confidential letter may be in traditional letter format addressed to Judge DeMarchi.
The letter should not exceed five pages. 6. Pre-Settlement Conference Call with the Magistrate Judge At the time of scheduling the settlement conference, the Court will set a date and time for a pre-settlement conference call with counsel at least 48 hours prior to the conference. Counsel should be prepared to discuss the matters in their respective statements and the logistics of the settlement conference. IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: July 18, 2025

VIRGINIA K. DEMARCHI United States Magistrate Judge

Judge DeMarchi's Standing Order re: Juror Questionnaires & Social Media Research

[Source: https://cand.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/standing-orders/Standing-Order-re-Juror-Questionnaires-and-Social-Media-Research.pdf]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN JOSE DIVISION

STANDING ORDER RE JUROR QUESTIONNAIRES AND SOCIAL MEDIA RESEARCH MAGISTRATE JUDGE VIRGINIA K. DEMARCHI Effective: November 29, 2023

The Court uses the standard Jury Questionnaire administered by the Jury Office, amended to include some case specific questions, in most cases prior to trial. In advance of jury selection, the Jury Office will provide to counsel for the parties completed Juror Questionnaires returned by prospective jurors. The Court will hold a hearing prior to jury selection to determine whether any respondents should be excused in light of their answers.

The confidentiality of all completed Juror Questionnaires provided to counsel shall be maintained by the parties, their counsel, and anyone working for a party or counsel. This Order also restricts the parties, their counsel and anyone working for a party or counsel from contacting or attempting to contact any prospective juror. This means that the parties, their counsel, and any agent, consultant, investigator, or other person working for them shall not communicate with or otherwise contact or attempt to communicate with or attempt to otherwise contact any prospective juror in any manner, whether through social media, by email, by telephone or messaging platforms (including WhatsApp, Telegram, and the like), by mail, or in person.

The Court does not restrict the parties, their counsel, and any agent, consultant, investigator, or anyone working for them from conducting research regarding a prospective juror, provided that it is done only from generally available sources and that there is no actual contact or any reasonable possibility of contact with a prospective juror. Contact includes notifying a prospective juror that their social media profile has been viewed by a party, attorney, investigator, etc., even if that notification is inadvertent or provided automatically by the social media site. Recognizing that social media is constantly changing and evolving, the following guidelines are non-exhaustive examples of permissible research and impermissible contact:

1. LinkedIn may not be used to conduct any research on any prospective juror. A prospective juror who is on LinkedIn may be notified of the identity of anyone who uses LinkedIn to view the prospective juror’s profile or other information, or be notified that an “anonymous” person viewed the prospective juror’s profile or that an inquiry through LinkedIn has been made, even if an investigator uses an account that allows for “anonymous” searches. Those notifications constitute “contact” with the prospective juror. This restriction also applies to any other form of social media besides LinkedIn that has this feature or a similar feature, including TikTok if the automatic notification setting is employed.

2. Some social media sites have features to automatically notify users that their posts have been seen by certain people, such as temporary “stories” that provide the poster a list of accounts that have “viewed” the post. These features may not be used to conduct any

research on any prospective juror, even if they are posted publicly, because the automatic notification constitutes “contact” with the prospective juror, as the individual may be notified of the identity of anyone who views their post. This applies to “stories” on Instagram, SnapChat, and Facebook, and to any other form of social media with similar automatic notification features.

3. Other social media sites and features may only be used to view publicly available profiles, feeds, and posts. No “follow requests,” “friend requests,” or the like may be sent to any prospective juror on any social media site, regardless of whether a profile is public or private.
   These requests constitute contact, and a prospective juror who uses these sites may be notified of the identity of anyone who sends such a request. This applies to X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, SnapChat, Threads, and any other form of social media.

4. Only sources that are publicly available and private sources that derive their information from publicly available sources may be used to research a prospective juror. This includes private databases maintained by third parties based on open-source or other publicly available information, notwithstanding the fact that a subscription or fee may be needed to access those databases.

5. No in-person surveillance, no matter how brief, of any home, neighborhood, or place of work of any prospective juror or any family member of a prospective juror is allowed.

IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: November 29, 2023

VIRGINIA K. DEMARCHI United States Magistrate Judge

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