Phyllis J. Hamilton

United States District Court for the Northern District of California district Appointed by Bill Clinton (Democratic) 12 signed orders read

How Judge Hamilton decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Procedural preferences

Decides motions on the papers without oral argument and enforces the local briefing rules: grants an unopposed motion to dismiss under Local Rule 7-3 where no opposition is filed, allowing leave to amend.

“On January 15, 2021, defendants filed a motion to dismiss plaintiff's complaint in the above captioned action. Dkt. 20. ... For the reasons argued by defendants, the court GRANTS the motion without prejudice.”

Cautions

In patent cross-motions she grants a defendant's motion for summary judgment of non-infringement where the plaintiff cannot establish infringement, issuing a summary order ahead of the pretrial conference to be followed by a fuller memorandum.

“2. Defendants' motion for summary judgment as to non-infringement is GRANTED.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Oblena v. Zohrabi, et al.
4:20-cv-07016-PJH · 2021-02-04
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“On January 15, 2021, defendants filed a motion to dismiss plaintiff's complaint in the above captioned action. Dkt. 20. ... For the reasons argued by defendants, the court GRANTS the motion without prejudice.”

WhatsApp Inc. et al v. NSO Group Technologies Limited, et al.
4:19-cv-07123-PJH · 2020-03-25
Motion to set aside default (defendant) Granted in part

“the court GRANTS defendants' motion to set aside default and DENIES defendants' motion to enlarge time to respond. Dkt. 24.”

Motion for alternative service (plaintiff) Moot / procedural

“Because plaintiffs have moved to withdraw their motion for alternative service, the court DENIES plaintiffs' motion for alternative service. Dkt. 29.”

Trimble Navigation Ltd. v. RHS, Inc., et al.
C 03-1604 PJH · 2007-08-16
Summary judgment (plaintiff) Denied

“1. Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is DENIED as to both infringement”

Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“2. Defendants' motion for summary judgment as to non-infringement is GRANTED.”

Williams v. Lewis, et al.
C 06-0832 PJH (PR) · 2008-03-28
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“3. The motion to dismiss of defendants Garcia and Marquez (document 42) is GRANTED.”

Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“The motion for summary judgment by Moore (document 37) and that by Lewis, Hughes, and Pham (document 42) are GRANTED.”

Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Chung
4:19-cv-07562-PJH · 2023-03-22
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“The issues having been duly heard and the court having granted defendants’ motions for summary judgment, it is Ordered and Adjudged that judgment is hereby entered in favor of defendants and against plaintiff.”

Muldoon v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc.
3:15-cv-02723-PJH · 2025-02-25
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“For the foregoing reasons, DePuy’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED. Plaintiff’s fourth cause of action for express warranty is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE as to the DePuy Defendants... And plaintiff’s eighth cause of action alleging a RICO violation is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE as to the DePuy Defendants.”

Sobaszkiewicz v. FedEx Corporation
4:18-cv-07553-PJH · 2022-09-01
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted in part

“For the reasons set forth above, the court rules as follows: As to the first cause of action for fraudulent misrepresentation, FedEx’s motion for summary judgment is GRANTED as to all plaintiffs... As to the eighth cause of action for failure to maintain payroll records, FedEx’s motion for summary judgment is DENIED as to all plaintiffs.”

Goins v. United Parcel Service, Inc.
4:21-cv-08722-PJH · 2026-04-17
Motion for attorney fees (defendant) Granted in part

“Defendants’ motion for attorneys’ fees is thus GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”

Rhodes v. Ford
4:20-cv-03128-PJH · 2024-04-23
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, defendant’s motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.”

Smith v. 9W Halo Western OpCo L.P.
3:20-cv-01968-PJH · 2023-03-10
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“In light of this non-opposition, the court GRANTS the motion to dismiss defendants 9W Halo Holdings L.P., 9W Halo Parent LLC, KKR-VRS Credit Partners L.P., and KKR ILP LLC.”

Muldoon v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. (Dodgin)
3:15-cv-02723-PJH · 2024-04-30
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted in part

“For the foregoing reasons, Dodgin’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s RICO claim (Claim 13) as alleged against Dodgin is GRANTED, and the claim is DISMISSED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND to include allegations establishing statutory standing and identifying with particularity Dodgin’s role and actions in the alleged enterprise; Dodgin’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s negligence claim (Claim 14) as alleged against Dodgin is DENIED; and Dodgin’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s battery claim (Claim 18) as alleged against Dodgin is GRANTED, and the claim is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”

Padilla v. City of Richmond
4:20-cv-04597-PJH · 2022-04-29
Motion for settlement approval (joint) Granted

“The Settlement Agreement submitted to the Court as Exhibit 1 to the Declaration of David E. Mastagni, which is incorporated herein by reference, is approved as fair, reasonable and just in all respects as to the Plaintiffs... This Action is dismissed WITH PREJUDICE.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

As a senior judge, Hamilton's 2026 assignments include numerous related pro se filings along with routine new civil cases. The terminated-case sample filed in 2020 includes consumer communications, patents, real-property and mortgage contracts, employment civil rights, prisoner civil rights, and federal tort or tax matters. The durations measure filing to termination, not motion-to-ruling time.

Put Judge Hamilton's record to work

Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Hamilton actually rules, not a generic AI guess.

Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Hamilton's own signed orders and cites them.