TO ALL civil and criminal litigants with matters currently pending before United States District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., Northern District of California.  In light of the evolving developments with coronavirus (COVID-19) and General Orders Nos. 72-5, 73, 74, and 75, the Court issues the following additional guidance: 

1.      All Civil Case Management Conferences will be held telephonically and will not be recorded.  The Court will issue a notice with the conference call number in advance of the case management conference.  Counsel shall be on the call at the start of the calendar.  The Court will join the call when it is ready to proceed on that action.  For call clarity, parties shall NOT use speaker phone or earpieces for these calls, and where at all possible, parties shall use landlines.  The parties are further advised to ensure that the Court can hear and understand them clearly before speaking at length.

2.      All Civil Law and Motion hearings will be held either telephonically or via Zoom.  In general, the Court will hold civil law and motion hearings telephonically, though depending on the nature and complexity of the pending motion, it may determine that a Zoom hearing is preferable.  The Court will generally issue a notice with either the conference call number or Zoom Webinar information the Monday before the hearing. To the extent the Court finds that a motion may be decided on the papers and a hearing is not necessary, the Court will alert the parties as soon as practicable.  For call clarity during telephonic and Zoom hearings, parties shall NOT use speaker phone or earpieces for these calls, and where at all possible, parties shall use landlines.  The parties are further advised to ensure that the Court can hear and understand them clearly before speaking at length.

3.      In-person criminal matters are generally limited to changes of plea and sentencing hearings, and will take place on Wednesdays.  Any in-person hearing will take place on Wednesdays in Courtroom 1 on the Fourth Floor, at 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, California.  In order to protect the health of parties, attorneys, and court staff, no more than ten people will be permitted in the courtroom during the hearing.  This includes the Judge, Courtroom Deputy, Court Security Officers, U.S. Marshals, attorneys, and Defendant.  In advance of the hearing, the Court will file an order directing the parties to meet and confer and email the Court the list of proposed attendees.  The hearings will be made available by either Zoom Webinar or a teleconferencing line to all others who are not present but wish to listen to the proceedings.  U.S. Probation and/or Pretrial Services officers may appear remotely.

4.      Criminal appearances may be waived or postponed with the defendant’s consent.  To the extent the parties believe a hearing is not needed and the Court may resolve any issues by stipulation, the parties are encouraged to file any such stipulation as soon as practicable, and no later than the Thursday before the hearing.

5.      Parties need not submit chambers copies of any filings.  To the extent the Court requires hard copies of any filings, the Court will direct the parties to submit them on an as-needed basis.

6.      Extensions.  All case deadlines remain in place for all cases unless otherwise ordered.

We all recognize that circumstances are changing rapidly and counsel and parties are requested to monitor the Court’s website and dockets closely for changes in the protocol.

This notice shall remain in effect until, September 30, 2020, and may be extended by the Court.

Zoom and Telephonic Criminal matters are generally on MONDAYS at 2:00 p.m. 

In-person Criminal matters are on WEDNESDAYS at a time to be scheduled by the Court.

Telephonic Civil Case Management Conferences and Pretrial Conferences are on TUESDAYS at 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. respectively.

Civil Motions are heard on THURSDAYS at 2:00 p.m. (parties do not need to reserve a hearing date; however, parties must check the list of unavailable dates below).  The next available law and motion date is December 10, 2020 (there are no dates available before this date).

Trials are MONDAY through FRIDAY, 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. 

Hearing dates may be continued pursuant to stipulation and order (L.R. 6-2) or by motion (L.R. 6-3).

All Proposed Orders MUST be submitted in Word format to Judge Gilliam’s proposed order email address at hsgpo@cand.uscourts.gov.

The following dates are NOT AVAILABLE for hearings:

12/08-12/09/2020

02/01-02/02/2021

12/21-01/01/2021

08/02-08/06/2021

09/22-09/24/2021