Sallie Kim

How Judge Kim rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Court
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Position
magistrate
Commissioned
2015-07-30
Education
Princeton University (A.B.); Stanford Law School (J.D.)
Signed orders read
25

How Judge Kim decides

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

What persuades

At trial, evidence concerning discrimination or harassment may be admitted for a narrow retaliation-related purpose while remaining unavailable to prove dismissed discrimination claims.

“There are no claims for discrimination or harassment in this case, and you are not being asked to decide whether discrimination or harassment occurred. I instruct you that this evidence is admitted only for the limited purpose of determining whether the Plaintiff reasonably believed she was reporting unlawful conduct”

Procedural preferences

She enforces a previously negotiated and ordered sampling protocol rather than allowing a party to revive a more burdensome all-files inspection approach.

“Defendant initially suggested the ten percent sampling of responsive documents, the tenants’ files, in order to reduce the burden on Defendant.”

Cautions

A document response stating that a reasonable and diligent search found nothing within the party's possession, custody, or control can satisfy Rule 34.

“Defendant has thus complied with Rule 34 in stating that responsive documents are not in its possession, custody, or control. Thus, the Court DENIES the motion to compel further responses.”

Signed rulings

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

William David Bush v. Croft Enterprise, et al.
4-21-cv-04174-YGR · 2021-10-28
Dismissal res judicata recommendation (court) Granted

“The Court has reviewed Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim's Report and Recommendation ... recommending dismissal of this case based on res judicata grounds. ... this case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE based on res judicata.”

RIC (San Leandro) LLC v. Bruce Douglas Miller
23-cv-01501-JST · 2025-11-04
Default judgment recommendation (plaintiff) Granted

“The Court has reviewed Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim's report and recommendation ... and her amended report and recommendation ... to grant Plaintiff RIC (San Leandro) LLC's motion for default judgment ... and adopts them in every respect. Default judgment against Defendant Miller is granted in the amount of $42,264,930.42.”

Arcelio Joseph Regbol v. Federal Election Commission, et al.
24-cv-04444-WHO · 2024-11-04
Screening or pleading dismissal recommendation (court) Granted

“On September 30, 2024, Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim issued a Report and Recommendation that I dismiss this case without prejudice. ... I agree with Judge Kim's Report and Recommendation and adopt it in full. ... Accordingly, this action is DISMISSED without prejudice.”

William Cordoba v. Silvia Pulido
C 12-04857 SBA · 2017-09-06
Spoliation adverse inference recommendation (plaintiff) Moot / procedural

“Magistrate's Report and Recommendation is ACCEPTED, except with respect to her recommendation to give an adverse inference instruction, which is REJECTED as premature. Plaintiff's Motion for Adverse Inference Instruction is DENIED without prejudice to renewal upon the Court's resolution of the admissibility of evidence pertaining to Defendant's relationship with Mr. Kelley.”

David Suski, et al. v. Marden-Kane, Inc. and Coinbase Global, Inc.
21-cv-04539-SK · 2022-01-11
Motion to compel arbitration (defendant) Denied

“the Court hereby DENIES Coinbase's motion to compel arbitration”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted in part

“the Court DENIES Coinbase's motion to compel arbitration and GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Coinbase's alternative motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Therefore, the Court GRANTS WITH LEAVE TO AMEND Coinbase's motion to dismiss as to Plaintiffs' first claim ... in full and Plaintiffs' second claim ... and sixth claim ... to the extent they are is premised on a violation of Penal Code Section 320. The Court DENIES Coinbase's motion to dismiss as to the remainder of Plaintiff's claims.”

David Suski, et al. v. Coinbase, Inc. and Marden-Kane, Inc.
21-cv-04539-SK · 2022-08-31
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted in part

“the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Coinbase's and Marden-Kane's motions to dismiss. The Court GRANTS WITH PREJUDICE the motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' requests for injunctive relief, GRANTS WITH PREJUDICE the motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' CLRA claims 6 and 7 against both Defendants, and GRANTS WITH PREJUDICE Plaintiffs' claims 1 and 5 to the extent they are premised on an unlawful lottery. The Court DENIES the remainder of both motions.”

Jose O'Coirbhin v. PNC Bank, National Association
25-cv-00333-SK · 2025-08-05
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS Defendant's motion to dismiss.”

Guardant Health, Inc. v. Natera, Inc.
21-cv-04062-EMC (SK) · 2024-04-23
Motions to compel (plaintiff) Granted in part

“The Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART the motion to compel documents from Hochster.”

United States ex rel. Michael Franchek v. Workrite Ergonomics, LLC, et al.
16-cv-02789-JSW (SK) · 2021-09-29
Motions to compel (plaintiff) Granted in part

“The Court GRANTS the motion to compel response to interrogatories 4, 5 and 6 and ORDERS Defendants to provide that information by October 8, 2021. The Court DENIES the motion to compel production of documents in response to request No. 1.”

Samuel Kornhauser v. United States of America
14-cv-05610-HSG (SK) · 2016-01-08
Motions to compel (plaintiff) Granted in part

“Upon review of the discovery, the briefs of the parties, and the file of this action, the Court hereby GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Plaintiff's motion to compel, as set forth below.”

Maria Andrade v. American First Finance, Inc., et al.
18-cv-06743-SK · 2022-08-16
Class certification (plaintiff) Denied

“the Court denies Andrade's motion and grants AFF's motion regarding class certification. ... the Court DENIES Andrade's motion for class certification and GRANTS AFF's motion to deny class certification.”

Maria Andrade v. American First Finance, Inc., et al.
18-cv-06743-SK · 2023-06-27
Motion for new trial (plaintiff) Denied

“For the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES Plaintiff's motion for a new trial in its entirety.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

The sample covers cases filed in 2022. As an initially assigned San Francisco magistrate judge, Kim handles a substantial False Claims Act caseload along with securities, disability-access, labor, civil-rights, federal tort, immigration, copyright, Social Security, employee-benefit collection, and public-records matters. The durations measure filing to termination, not motion-to-ruling time.

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