Honorable Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong

CALENDAR:

• Civil Motions, Status Conferences, and Scheduling Conferences are heard on Thursdays, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
• Criminal matters are heard on Thursdays, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
• If Thursday is a national holiday, motions will be heard on the following Thursday.
• It is NOT necessary to clear a motion date with the Courtroom Deputy (CRD) prior to filing the motion, except for motions for summary judgment and preliminary injunction. For these two motions, contact the Courtroom Deputy Clerk via the Court’s chambers email address at MEMF_Chambers@cacd.uscourts.gov to reserve a hearing date.
• For all motions, if the motion date selected is not available, the Court will issue a minute order continuing the date.
• Closed motion dates can be found on Judge Frimpong’s Procedures and Schedules page.
  Trials will commence at Monday, 8:30 a.m. and conclude at approximately 5:00 p.m., with a one-hour lunch break.

RULE 56 MOTIONS:

No party may file more than one motion pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, regardless of whether such motion is denominated a motion for summary judgment or summary adjudication, without leave of the Court. The parties shall not attempt to evade the page limitations for briefs by filing multiple motions. If a party believes this is one of the rare instances in which good cause exists for more than one motion for summary judgment or to increase page limits, the party shall seek leave by noticed motion setting forth a detailed showing of good cause. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(f), when appropriate, based on undisputed facts and controlling principles of law, the Court may sua sponte enter summary judgment in favor of the non-moving party.

The Court will not entertain cross-motions that seek to adjudicate the same legal issues. If parties wish to cross-move for summary judgment, their counsel shall meet and confer to determine which party will move and which will oppose the one motion for summary judgment.

Parties need not wait until the motion cutoff date to bring motions for summary judgment or partial summary judgment. The hearing on any such motion shall be set for a date in advance of the Final Pretrial Conference.

Any parties intending to file or oppose a Motion for Summary Judgment shall work cooperatively to create a single, fully integrated joint brief covering all parties’ summary judgment motions, in which each issue (or sub-issue) raised by a party is immediately followed by the opposing party’s response. Each separately-represented party shall be limited to twenty-five (25) pages, exclusive of tables of contents and authorities.

This Court requires an extended briefing schedule for motions for summary judgment, calculated based on the date the motion is filed, as set forth below:

• Motions for Summary Judgment: No later than sixty-three (63) calendar days before the hearing on the motion, the moving party shall provide to the non-moving party an electronic copy of the opening brief, together with the moving party’s portion of the evidentiary appendix and joint appendix of undisputed and disputed facts.
• Opposition: No later than fourteen (14) calendar days after receipt of the opening brief, the non-moving party shall provide the moving party with an electronic copy of the integrated motion, which shall include the opposing party’s portion of the joint brief, together with the opposing party’s portion of the evidentiary appendix and joint appendix of undisputed and disputed facts.
• ​​Reply: No later than seven (7) calendar days after receiving the integrated version of the motion and related papers, the moving party shall file the joint brief with the Court. The moving party shall not make further revisions to the joint brief other than submitting their Reply and finalizing the document for filing.

In the event that the moving party is a self-represented litigant, the parties shall file their briefs pursuant to the aforementioned briefing schedule but will not be required to submit joint briefing; rather, the parties may submit separate briefing. In the event that the non-moving party is a self-represented litigant, the parties shall file their briefs pursuant to the aforementioned briefing schedule; however, the represented moving party shall manage the integration and compilation of both parties’ portions of the joint brief, including, but not limited to, Word processing. Pro se parties are expressly advised that, pursuant to Rand v. Rowland, 154 F.3d 952, 962–63 (9th Cir. 1998) (en banc), and Woods v. Carey, 684 F.3d 934, 939–40 (9th Cir. 2012), he or she has the right to submit counter-declarations and any other relevant evidence to oppose a Motion for Summary Judgment. Such party is further advised that if he or she fails to rebut the moving party’s version of the facts with counter-declarations or other evidence, the court may accept that party’s version of the facts as true and the claims against that party may be dismissed without a trial. All declarations must be signed under penalty of perjury by persons having personal knowledge of the facts stated in the declarations.

The above briefing schedule is the default. The parties may stipulate to a modified schedule that is reasonable for all parties. Any briefing schedule must provide the Court at least forty-two (42) days between the Reply deadline and the hearing date.

The parties should prepare papers in a fashion that will assist the Court in processing and analyzing the volume of material (e.g., tables of contents, headings, indices, bookmarks in electronic documents, pinpoint citations, etc.). Additionally, for motions for summary judgment only, parties should submit two paper copies of all Motion for Summary Judgment filings to Judge Frimpong’s mailbox on the Fourth Floor of the First Street Courthouse. Pro se parties are exempt from this requirement. The parties shall comply with Local Rules 56-1 and 56-2, in addition to the Court’s additional requirements described below.

For additional requirements, counsel are advised to refer to section VIII.E of Judge Frimpong’s Civil Standing Order, linked below.

DISCOVERY:

All discovery matters in civil matters have been referred to a magistrate judge, who will hear all discovery disputes. The magistrate judge’s initials follow the district judge’s initials next to the case number. All discovery documents must include the words “DISCOVERY MATTER” in the caption to ensure proper routing. Please do not deliver courtesy copies of discovery documents to Judge Frimpong’s chambers.
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