Nathanael M. Cousins
How Judge Cousins rules, drawn from 24 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Cousins
Nathanael M. Cousins has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California since July 2011 and is the court’s Chief Magistrate Judge. He earned degrees from Stanford University and UC Hastings College of the Law, and previously worked in private practice, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Judge Cousins's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Cousins, 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
Email stipulations and proposed orders in Word format on the same day they are filed.
“In addition to e-filing, the parties must email a copy of all stipulations and proposed orders in Word format to [email protected] on the same day they e-file these documents.”
Discovery
After a direct discovery meet and confer fails, file a joint statement of no more than five pages.
“If the parties are unable to reach a resolution, they must file a joint statement of five pages or less”
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 Cousins decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In People v. Bohn, Cousins recommended remand after finding the case improperly removed; the district judge adopted his recommendation and returned the matter to Santa Clara Superior Court.
“The Court agrees with Magistrate Judge Cousins’ well-reasoned report and recommendation, which found that this case was improperly removed for the reasons stated by Magistrate Judge Cousins in a prior order to show cause.”
In one patent discovery dispute, Cousins required a party claiming damages to supplement its contentions with a factual basis and calculation method for each damages category.
“The Court reviewed Railware’s contentions and agrees with Caltrain that they fall short of sufficiently explaining the factual basis for each category of damages sought.”
Cautions
In Yturralde v. Aztec Foreclosure Corp., Cousins recommended dismissal for failure to prosecute after repeated missed opposition deadlines and disregard of court orders; the district judge adopted that recommendation.
“Based on Plaintiffs’ failure to timely oppose Sabadell’s motion to dismiss, their failure to oppose the FDIC’s motion to dismiss, their failure to file objections to the Report, and their consistent refusal to follow the Local Rules and the many orders issued by Judge Cousins as set forth in the Report, the Court hereby ADOPTS the Report to dismiss Plaintiffs’ case for failure to prosecute.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court hereby ADOPTS the Report to dismiss Plaintiffs’ case for failure to prosecute.”
“The Court consequently adopts the report and recommendation in full, and orders this case remanded to the Superior Court of California for the County of Santa Clara.”
“the Court hereby OVERRULES Plaintiff's objections, ADOPTS the Report, and GRANTS Plaintiff's Amended Application for Default Judgment.”
“The Court has reviewed Judge Nathanael Cousins' Report and Recommendation to Dismiss the Case and notes there are no objections to the Report. The Court adopts the Report in every respect. Accordingly, the case is dismissed.”
“the Court ... adopts it in every respect. Accordingly, Plaintiffs' motion for attorneys' fees is granted and Plaintiffs are entitled to $25,163.60 in attorneys' fees. Plaintiffs' request for costs is denied.”
“Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the County’s Motion for Summary Judgment and DENIES Gentry’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment.”
“Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s ninth claim and claims against CoStar, Compel Arbitration, and Stay Claims is GRANTED. Because the Court finds that it would be futile, leave to amend is denied.”
“Accordingly, the Court grants Defendants’ motion and compels Plaintiff’s claims to arbitration.”
“The Court GRANTS Defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint.”
“Further, the Court GRANTS Walmart’s motion for summary judgment as to all claims.”
“In conclusion, the Court DENIES Prakash’s motion for clarification and his Rule”
“The Court DENIES Defendant’s motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ FAL, CLRA, UCL, and quasi-contract/unjust enrichment claims in the third amended complaint.”
“Therefore, the Court GRANTS Defendants’ motion to dismiss with leave to amend.”
“DENIES Defendants’ motion to strike Plaintiffs’ punitive damages claim.”
“Accordingly, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Plaintiff’s motion and remands the case for additional proceedings.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The sample covers cases filed in late 2021 and 2022. As an initially assigned San Jose magistrate judge, Cousins handles False Claims Act, disability-access, labor, civil-rights, insurance, contract, personal-injury, immigration, copyright, habeas, and subpoena matters. The durations measure filing to termination, not motion-to-ruling time.
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 | 1 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 2 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2020 | 3 | 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 Cousins: 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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