Kandis A. Westmore
How Judge Westmore rules, drawn from 22 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Westmore
Kandis A. Westmore has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California since February 2012. Before taking the bench, she handled civil-rights litigation and served as a deputy city attorney in Oakland. She earned degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of San Francisco School of Law.
Judge Westmore's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Westmore, as published on the court's website (checked October 17, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- Standing Order for Civil Cases Before Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore ↗
- Standing Order for Criminal Cases for Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore ↗
- Settlement Conference Standing Order for Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore ↗
- Notice Re: Remote Appearance Procedures for Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore ↗
- Sample of Trial Exhibit Tags ↗
Key rules
Filing
Civil formal motions, joint discovery letters, and sealing motions require hard chambers copies.
“Chambers hard copies are required for all formal motions, joint discovery letters, and motions to seal.”
Filing
Civil chambers copies must arrive within three days of filing or the court’s request.
“Chambers copies must be received within 3 days of filing or the Court’s request.”
Filing
Email civil proposed orders in Word format to chambers the same day the document is electronically filed.
“Proposed orders filed by an e-filing party shall be submitted in Word format (.doc or .docx) via e-mail to [email protected] on the same day the document is e-filed.”
Motions
Failure to file an opposition memorandum is treated as consent to grant the motion.
“The failure of the opposing party to file a memorandum of points and authorities in opposition to any motion shall constitute consent to the granting of the motion.”
Motions
Email the courtroom deputy a copy of any criminal motion brief on the day it is filed.
“When filing a brief in connection to any motion, counsel must notify the Court by e-mailing the brief to Judge Westmore’s Courtroom Deputy at [email protected] that same day.”
Motions
File criminal detention motions by 3 p.m. on the court day before the hearing.
“Motions for detention must be filed no later than 3:00 p.m. the court day before the hearing.”
Discovery
Before filing a discovery motion, lead trial counsel must meet in person or by video unless those methods are infeasible.
“Prior to filing any discovery-related motion, lead trial counsel for all parties shall meet and confer in person or by video conference, if an in-person conference is not feasible, regarding the discovery dispute(s) to resolve these matter(s).”
Discovery
Present discovery disputes in a joint letter.
“Discovery disputes between the parties must be addressed in a joint letter.”
Discovery
Use a separate joint letter for each discovery device, limited to five pages excluding the cover page without leave.
“The joint letter shall not exceed five (5) pages, excluding the cover page, without leave of Court,”
Conferences
If settlement talks have not occurred, the plaintiff must serve a written demand at least 28 days before the settlement conference.
“If there have been no prior settlement discussions or demands, the plaintiff must serve a demand on the defendant in writing no later than 28 days before the conference, outlining its theories for recovery, the supporting facts, and damages.”
Conferences
Lodge settlement statements in chambers by mail or hand delivery at least 14 calendar days before the conference.
“Each party shall prepare a Settlement Conference Statement and may prepare an optional, Confidential Settlement Letter, which must be LODGED via mail or hand delivery with the undersigned’s chambers (NOT electronically filed), and must be received no later than 14 calendar days prior to the conference.”
Conferences
For proceedings otherwise held in person, file a supported remote-appearance request and proposed order at least two weeks before the hearing.
“Written request must be filed on the case docket at least two weeks in advance of the hearing. The facts establishing good cause must be set forth in the request, and the party must simultaneously file a proposed order granting the request.”
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 Westmore decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
At summary judgment, she required admissible evidence creating a genuine factual dispute; the borrower’s unsupported claims did not meet that standard.
“sufficient facts through admissible evidence showing that there is a genuine issue of material fact”
In a referred discovery dispute, she required a particularized showing of harm to keep internal spreadsheets confidential; a general competitive-harm assertion did not suffice.
“Defendants have not met their burden of demonstrating”
In a phased source-code dispute, the court limited discovery to material related to the identified code and found the requesting party had not shown why broader production was needed.
“Plaintiff again fails to make a specific showing that more than what Defendants have agreed to produce is needed.”
In one disability-benefits fee award, the court found a one-month delay in filing a brief insufficient to warrant reducing counsel’s contingent fee.
“A one-month delay does not constitute undue delay nor substandard performance.”
Procedural preferences
In one consent case, Westmore treated the defendant’s stay motion as unopposed after the plaintiff did not file a response and granted the stay.
“Defendant’s motion to stay as unopposed.”
In a referred discovery dispute, the court terminated a joint letter after finding that the parties had not met and conferred within the required time before filing.
“The parties’ attestation indicates that they did not comply with the meet and confer requirements.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Plaintiff’s request for judicial notice is GRANTED.”
“motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.”
“Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Defendant’s motion to stay as unopposed.”
“Plaintiff’s application to proceed IFP is GRANTED. Dkt. 6.”
“Accordingly, the request for appointment of counsel is DENIED without prejudice.”
“the motion to appoint counsel and the motion for a preliminary injunction be DENIED as moot.”
“The Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s request to proceed in forma pauperis.”
“RECOMMENDS that Defendants’ motion to dismiss be granted as unopposed.”
“Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to file a motion for reconsideration and/or clarification of the Court’s May 20, 2015 order is DENIED.”
“the Court DENIES Plaintiff’s motion to extend the fact discovery deadline.”
“the Court GRANTS IN PART Defendant’s motion to dismiss and”
“Court TERMINATES Plaintiff’s motion to appoint counsel as moot.”
“the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN”
“GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.”
“The Court finds that Defendants have established good cause for sealing, and GRANTS Defendants’ motion to file under seal.”
“The Court TERMINATES Plaintiffs’ administrative motion to consider whether another party’s material should be sealed as moot.”
“the Court TERMINATES the December 9, 2025 motion for attorney’s fees as moot and GRANTS the December 31, 2025 motion for attorney’s fees.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Among ten sampled matters filed in early 2013 and later terminated, filing-to-termination duration ranged from 57 to 779 days, with a median of 363.5 days. Two sampled matters filed in late 2025 remained pending when reviewed. These small, selected cohorts do not represent her full caseload.
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 | 12 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 12 |
| Sep 2025 | 2 | 8 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 6 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2023 | 1 | 6 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 6 |
| Sep 2022 | 1 | 5 |
| Mar 2022 | 1 | 9 |
| Sep 2021 | 1 | 5 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 6 |
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 Westmore: 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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