Honorable Valerie B. Fairbank

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District Judge

United States Courthouse, 350 West First Street, Los Angeles, CA.  90012.

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Recording, copying, photographing and rebroadcasting of court proceedings is prohibited by federal law. A violation of this prohibition may result in sanctions, including suspension of your license to practice before this court, referral to the state bar, denial of the right to appear by video or telephonically at future proceedings, criminal prosecution, contempt, denial of admission to future hearings, and any other sanctions deemed necessary by the Court.

Law and Motion Schedule: 

Civil

  • A party filing a motion in a civil case should not notice a hearing date.  Once a motion has been fully briefed, the Court will determine whether oral argument is necessary.

  • Filing Civil Documents Under Seal: The party seeking to seal documents must file a proper application with the Court, in which the applicant must demonstrate for each document or category of documents sufficient grounds to warrant placing the documents under seal. See L.R. 79-5; Schwarzer, et al., Cal. Prac. Guide: Fed. Civ. Pro. Before Trial, ch. 11(III)-C, §§ 11:1085-1087.7 (The Rutter Group 2006). For requirements regarding sealing dispositive motions, such as motions for summary judgment, see Kamakana v. City & County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172 (9th Cir. 2006) (requiring applicant to show “compelling reasons” to seal the documents). Litigants should also refer to "Preparing Sealed Documents for Filing" located under Filing Procedures on the Court's website for other requirements.
Judge's Procedures: 

Electronic Filing

  • Counsel shall E-FILE all criminal and civil filings for Judge Fairbank pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d)(3) and L.R. 5-4 as follows:
    • All proposed signature items, including applications and stipulations to extend time, shall be accompanied by a proposed order. After the application/stipulation and proposed order have been filed electronically, counsel shall email the PDF version of the application/stipulation and a WordPerfect or Microsoft Word version of the proposed order to chambers at vbf_chambers@cacd.uscourts.gov. The subject line of the email should include the case name and case number. DO NOT use this email address for communication with the Court or the clerk.
  • For UNDER SEAL FILINGS, process documents the traditional way, but attach a Notice of Manual Filing to the paper copies delivered to the courtesy bin. DO NOT send these documents to the chamber's email. See below for additional information regarding under seal filings.

General Information

  • All filed documents must contain counsel's email address (pursuant to L.R. 11-3.8)
  • For general information on how to order a transcript of any reported or digitally recorded proceeding, please contact 213-894-3015 or visit the court website (www.cacd.uscourts.gov) section referring to Court Reporter/Recorder Transcripts. If you require an estimate of cost for the preparation of a transcript, contact the court reporter/recorder for the desired proceeding.
  • To determine the court reporter/recorder for a particular proceeding, go to the Court Reporter Schedule web page and click on View by Date. Once you've determined the correct court reporter/recorder for the desired session, click on Court Reporter Phone and Email List for contact information.
  • Ex parte applications are for extraordinary relief. See Mission Power Engineering Co. v. Continental Casualty Co., 883 F. Supp. 488 (C.D. Cal. 1995). Ex parte applications are normally considered on the papers and are rarely set for hearing. If a hearing is necessary, the parties will be notified. Applications that fail to conform to L.R. 7-19 and L.R. 7-19.1, including a statement of opposing counsel's position, will not be considered except on a specific showing of good cause. In addition to the requirements of L.R. 7-19 and L.R. 7-19.1, the moving party shall notify the opposition that opposing papers must be filed no later than twenty-four (24) hours following service, except in cases where the opposing party has not previously appeared (i.e. responded to the Complaint). In those cases where the opposing party has not previously appeared, the moving party shall notify the opposition that opposing papers must be filed no later than forty-eight (48) hours following service. Parties need not deliver paper courtesy copies of filings related to ex parte applications.