Alex G. Tse
How Judge Tse rules, drawn from 38 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Tse
Alex G. Tse has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California since January 2020. He previously held several roles in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the district, including Chief of the Civil Division and Acting U.S. Attorney. He earned degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and UC Hastings College of the Law.
Judge Tse's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Tse, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Filing
Do not submit paper courtesy copies unless the court asks for them.
“Paper courtesy copies should not be submitted unless the Court requests them.”
Filing
File a redline concurrently with any amended pleading.
“Any party who files an amended pleading must concurrently file a redlined version comparing the amended pleading to the prior operative pleading.”
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026).
How Judge Tse decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In the reviewed Social Security appeal, Tse ordered further administrative proceedings after the Commissioner conceded medical-opinion error, because unresolved factual disputes prevented an immediate benefits award.
“Those unresolved factual disputes render a remand for an award of benefits inap- propriate under the credit-as-true rule.”
In Genfit v. CymaBay, he denied two protective-order motions without prejudice because the discovery issues had not been presented in joint statements required by his standing order. He also denied sealing because the motion gave no good cause.
“The issues raised in those motions won’t be considered unless they are presented in one or more joint statements, in compliance with Part VII.B of the undersigned’s civil standing order.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“On February 7, 2023, the Court adopted Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse's report and recommendation to dismiss Plaintiff Leopold K.'s complaint for failure to file an amended complaint. ... No amended complaint has been filed. Accordingly, this case is dismissed with prejudice.”
“On July 18, 2024, Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse issued a Report and Recommendation that I dismiss this case with prejudice pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1915(e)(2)(B) ... I agree that the complaint is frivolous and fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. ... I therefore ADOPT the Report and Recommendation and DISMISS this case with prejudice.”
“Even so, it is true that the Court has the authority to enforce its discovery orders and to impose sanctions when its orders are not obeyed. ... But under the circumstances, the Court, in its discretion, concludes that sanctions are not warranted. VW, in the Court's judgment, hasn't acted in bad faith. ... The SEC's motion for sanctions is denied. So too is VW's motion for reconsideration of the Court's February 10 order. ... VW's motion for leave to file a sur-reply to the SEC's motion for sanctions is also denied.”
“Monsanto's motion to compel production of a June 3, 2022 ‘preliminary’ report by plaintiffs' expert Dr. William Sawyer—which was considered by plaintiffs' testifying expert Dr. Ron Schiff in forming his opinions in this case—is granted.”
“By August 4, 2023, Tesla must produce all non-privileged records in its possession, custody, or control that relate to Austin's work at Tesla. ... At this time, the Court will not order Austin, as Tesla has requested, ‘to stop sending any further communications directly to Tesla or its employees’ while the case is pending.”
“Qin Wang cannot rely on the privilege against self-incrimination to redact line entries within the CMB account statements she produced. By June 8, 2026, she must produce unredacted copies of the account statements in question.”
“The redacted entries reveal personal financial information that the public doesn't need to review to understand the instant dispute. The Court grants the motion to seal. Dkt. 191.”
“On July 18, 2024, Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse issued a Report and Recommendation that I dismiss this case due to lack of subject matter jurisdiction. ... Accordingly, I agree that I lack subject matter jurisdiction and so I ADOPT the Report and Recommendation. This case is hereby DISMISSED.”
“In this ERISA action, Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse filed a report recommending that plaintiffs' motion for default judgment, Dkt. No. 22, be granted. ... No objections have been filed ... After an independent review, the Court adopts the report and recommendation. Plaintiffs are awarded $202,687.56 in damages.”
“The two pending motions for a protective order (dkt. 95, 100) are denied without prejudice.”
“The motion to seal portions of the dkt. 95 motion for a protective order (dkt. 94) is also denied. No good cause for sealing was articulated.”
“Defendant's motion, whether styled as a motion for attorneys' fees or a motion for sanctions, is untimely. Defendant hasn't demonstrated good cause for its late filing, so its motion is denied.”
“The Court denies defendants' motion for sanctions. Plaintiffs' counsel didn't unlawfully solicit potential members of the proposed FLSA collective action, as defendants contend. ... Defendants' motion for sanctions lacks merit and is denied.”
“Because Strojnik hasn't explained how he was harmed by the hotel's accessibility barriers, he hasn't sufficiently alleged an injury-in-fact. ... BW's motion to dismiss is granted. If Strojnik chooses to amend his complaint, he must file the amendment and the requested evidentiary support by September 30, 2020.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- As the initially assigned San Francisco magistrate judge, Tse draws a broad civil mix, qui tam / False Claims Act cases (consistent with his earlier federal-prosecutor background), ERISA trust-fund collections, Social Security appeals, ADA Title III access suits, civil-rights employment, consumer and contract disputes, securities, and copyright (including Strike 3 cases and DMCA Section 512(h) subpoenas), alongside criminal magistrate duties such as search-warrant applications.
- The figures here are filing-to-termination case durations, not motion-to-ruling timing.
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 2 | 2 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 4 | 1 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 2 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2022 | 1 | 4 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 1 | 0 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the Northern District of California, not for Judge Tse: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 6,017 | 7.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 2,955 | 5.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 1,978 | 7.6 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 1,052 | 15 months |
| Closed during trial | 32 | 36.9 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 6,017 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 9,248 | 20.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 5,452 | 7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 9,464 | 11.4 months |
| Sep 2021 | 6,437 | 6.3 months |
| Sep 2020 | 6,881 | 11.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 5,640 | 8.7 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
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