Honorable William D. Keller

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version
District Judge
United States Courthouse
350 West 1st Street, Courtroom 5C
Los Angeles, CA 90012
  • Click Zoom link
  • Telephone: (669) 254-5252
  • Webinar ID: 160 805 8543
  • Passcode: 276470

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 Motions:  Civil motions shall be set for a Monday at 10 am. It is not necessary to clear a motion date with the Court Clerk prior to filing the motion.  

Local Rule 6-1: Notice and Service of Motion.  Unless otherwise provided by rule or order of the Court, no oral motions will be recognized and every motion shall be presented by written notice of motion. The notice of motion shall be filed not later than twenty-eight (28) days before the date set for hearing, and shall be served on each of the parties electronically or, if excepted from electronic filing, either by deposit in the mail or by personal service.  If mailed, the notice of motion shall be served not later than thirty-one (31) days before the Motion Day designated in the notice.  If served personally, or electronically, the notice of motion shall be served not later than twenty-eight (28) days before the motion hearing day designated in the notice. Most civil motions are taken under submission pursuant to Rule 78 and court appearances are not necessary. Please continue to check your motion status on the Court's docket. You may contact the Courtroom Deputy before your hearing date to determine whether appearances are necessary or not for your motion.

Criminal Motions: Criminal motions and hearings are set by the Court. The Courtroom Deputy will notify the parties of the date and time of the hearing.

Civil or Criminal UNDER SEAL Motions:  Judge Keller participates in the under seal pilot program.  See Order below for procedures to follow.


Judge's Procedures: 

Discovery motions:  Discovery motions are to be scheduled before the assigned Magistrate Judge.

Counsel shall electronically file all criminal and civil filings pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d)(3) and Local Rule 5-4 as follows: Step 1: All non-signature items shall be E-FILED in PDF format. All proposed signature items shall be E-FILED as an attachment to the main document in PDF format. Step 2: All proposed signature items that need review shall be e-mailed to wdk_chambers@cacd.uscourts.gov in Word or WordPerfect format. The case number should be reflected in the subject line. Do NOT use this e-mail address for communication with the Court or the Courtroom Deputy.

Procedures for filing an Ex Parte Application: Papers are to be properly filed (whether that is manual filing or electronic filing.) Counsel should refer to Local Rules 7-19 and 7-20. As a general policy, all oppositions are due within 24 hours from the filing of the Ex Parte. Also, opposing counsel shall contact the Courtroom Deputy within 24 hours as to their position. The moving party shall inform the opposing party that they have 24 hours to file an opposition. Judge Keller will rule on the pleadings that are submitted to the Court. Ex Parte Applications should NOT include a hearing date. Judge Keller DOES NOT hold hearings on Ex Parte Applications.

Inquiries regarding the status of a Motion, Stipulation, or [Proposed] Order are to be made to the Courtroom Deputy ONLY IN EXTREME SITUATIONS, otherwise the phone call will not be returned.

Procedures for bringing electronic equipment into the courtroom
:
The Local Rules prohibit the recording of federal proceedings, either by electronic recording means or by camera. Video cassette recorders, monitors, computers, overhead projectors, and silent copiers, and the like for presentation of evidence are permitted, but require a property
pass. Arrangements for a property pass to bring equipment and voluminous exhibits into the courtroom may be made through the Space and Facilities Help Desk, at (213) 894-1400.

Training on the Court's Audio Visual Equipment: Counsel may contact the IT Help Desk at 213-894-3061 to arrange training on the Court’s Audio Visual Equipment.

Transcript Orders:  For general information on ordering a transcript of any reported or digitally recorded proceeding, please contact 213-894-3015 or visit the court website 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.  

Settlement:
Please notify the court clerk as soon as a settlement of your case has been reached. The Court may assess jury fees against each side under Local Rule 40-3 if the notification of settlement occurs after 4:00 p.m. on the last business day prior to trial.

Trial Preparation:

  • Court hours: 9:00 A.M. to 12 noon; then 1:00 P.M. to 4:30 P.M, for the jury. The parties are normally ordered present at 8:30 A.M. and are excused sometime after the jury is excused for the day.
  • Exhibit preparation: Pursuant to the local rules (the exhibits, except for physical exhibits, shall be in 3-ring binders, the original tagged set for the Courtroom Deputy and one set for the Judge.) An exhibit tag shall be affixed consistently on the upper or lower right hand side of the front of the exhibit.  Digital exhibit tags are available on the Court's website under Court Forms > General Forms > Form G-14A (plaintiff) and G-14B (defendant). Digital exhibit tags may be used in place of the tags obtained from the Clerk’s Office. All exhibits will be returned to Counsel at the end of trial and will not be kept by the Court. Counsel shall keep the lodged and admitted exhibits in their possession pursuant to the Local Rules.
  • Jury instructions: Shall be submitted in the form and time frames in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure and the Local Rules.
  • Verdict forms:  Counsel shall prepare the verdict form in criminal cases. In civil cases the plaintiff submits the proposed verdict form in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules.
  • Counsel shall come to court fully prepared with two sets of bound exhibits as described above, three (3) clean copies of their witness lists and three (3) clean copies of their exhibit lists, all which shall be given to the Courtroom Deputy before the start of court.
  • Counsel shall also email a Word version of the jury instructions, vedict forms, witness list, and exhibit list to the Courtroom Deputy no later than 9 a.m. on the day prior to the commencement of trial.

Procedures for obtaining the services of an interpreter on a CIVIL case: The party must hire a certified Federal Court interpreter. ​

Orders & Additional Documents