Beth Labson Freeman
How Judge Freeman rules, drawn from 38 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Freeman
Beth Labson Freeman is a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Freeman received a commission on February 26, 2014.
Judge Freeman's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Freeman, 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
Motions
File a civil motion within 14 days of reserving its hearing date or obtain a new reservation.
“Once a hearing date is reserved, the motion(s) shall be filed within 14 days thereafter. If no motion has been filed by the 15th day, the reservation will expire and the moving party must obtain a new reservation before filing the motion(s).”
Motions
For most motions outside the specified major categories, opening and opposition briefs are limited to ten pages and replies to five.
“Absent leave of Court, the page limits for all other types of motions and proceedings, except for those addressed above or those as to which specific page limits are set forth in the Civil Local Rules or the Court’s Standing Orders, shall be 10 pages for the motion or opening brief, 10 pages for the opposition or response brief, and 5 pages for the reply brief.”
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 Freeman decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Ramirez v. Electronic Arts Inc., she stayed the case pending arbitration because it was uncertain whether the claims would remain in arbitration.
“Because it is not certain that Ramirez’s claims will remain in arbitration, outright dismissal is not appropriate, and the Court stays this action pending the completion of arbitration.”
A contract-reformation claim based on mutual mistake needs facts showing the parties' shared intention when they executed the agreement. Later conduct alone did not supply a reasonable inference of that contemporaneous intent in the reviewed dispute.
“Wag Labs needs to plead more facts regarding the parties’ mutual intention at the time the Settlement Agreement was executed if it wishes to proceed with its counterclaim for reformation based on mutual mistake.”
Procedural preferences
In an antitrust case against Google, Freeman granted a limited discovery stay until Google answered the amended complaint or the motion-to-dismiss hearing, whichever came first.
“Discovery in this case is STAYED until Google either answers the amended complaint or the motion to dismiss hearing date, whichever is earliest.”
Material connected to substantive preliminary-injunction briefing must satisfy the compelling-reasons standard and be redacted narrowly. Confidential business information may qualify when disclosure would harm competitive standing.
“The Court finds that compelling reasons exist to seal the materials Google identifies, because the ‘compelling reasons’ standard is met for confidential business information that would harm a party’s competitive standing if publicly disclosed.”
Cautions
Rule 11 is reserved for exceptional filings that are clearly frivolous, legally unreasonable, foundationless, or brought for an improper purpose. Losing a remand motion did not itself meet that threshold.
“Rule 11 sanctions should be reserved for the ‘rare and exceptional case where the action is clearly frivolous, legally unreasonable or without legal foundation, or brought for an improper purpose.’”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court GRANTS EA's Motion to Compel Arbitration and STAYS the case pending the outcome of the arbitration.”
“Wag Labs’ counterclaims are DISMISSED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND;”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendant's Motion for Rule 11 Sanctions is DENIED.”
“For the reasons discussed above, Defendants' motion to compel arbitration is GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff Synopsys, Inc.'s motion for default judgment is GRANTED.”
“Google's motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as follows: ... Google's motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' claim No. 1 for unfair practices in violation of the UCL is GRANTED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND.”
“Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment against the County is GRANTED on Claims 1, 2, and 3, insofar as those claims are based on the County's policy or custom ... Plaintiffs' motion against the County otherwise is DENIED.”
“The County Defendants' motion for summary judgment is DENIED. The CFMG Defendants' motion for summary judgment is DENIED.”
“Accordingly, Plaintiff's motion for reconsideration and/or motion to alter is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant Roahn Wynar's motion for judgment on the pleadings is GRANTED.”
“Summary Judgment is GRANTED for Plaintiff on the first issue that Defendant is vicariously liable for calls made by its corporate agents and sales associates ... Summary Judgment is DENIED on Plaintiff's second issue.”
“Summary Judgment is DENIED for Defendant on Plaintiff's TCPA claims; and ... Summary Judgment is GRANTED for Defendant on Plaintiff's UCL claim.”
“Plaintiff County's motion to remand is GRANTED; (2) This action is REMANDED to the Santa Clara County Superior Court.”
“Accordingly, the motion to remand is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Freeman's San Jose caseload includes substantial technology, intellectual-property, consumer, and statutory-privacy litigation, along with criminal matters and the constitutional cases noted in her biography. Recurring subjects include arbitration clauses, consumer communications, fraud, trademarks, online platforms, firearms regulation, and children's privacy.
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 | 16 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 16 |
| Sep 2025 | 1 | 15 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 18 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 18 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 18 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 22 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 23 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 20 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 22 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 27 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 27 |
| Sep 2020 | 1 | 19 |
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 Freeman: 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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