Susan Yvonne Illston
How Judge Illston decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
She resolves civil-rights and coverage disputes on the defendants' merits summary-judgment motions and enters judgment promptly once the merits are decided.
“Defendants' motions for summary judgment are granted. Judgment is entered accordingly in favor of defendants and against plaintiff.”
Procedural preferences
Illston prefers curing a technical service defect over dismissal: faced with a Rule 12(b)(5) motion she denied it and ordered the defendant to serve a proper paper copy within ten days rather than penalize the procedural error, resolving the matter on the papers.
“Therefor, the Court hereby DENIES plaintiff's motion to dismiss and ORDERS defendant to properly serve plaintiff with a paper copy by mail within 10 days of the date of this order.”
She accommodates pro se litigants on amendment deadlines -- granting leave to amend within a set period -- while denying their meritless ancillary motions as without merit.
“The Court GRANTS plaintiff's request to amend the complaint, and if plaintiff wishes to amend the complaint he must do so no later than January 5, 2009... The Court DENIES the balance of plaintiff's motions as without merit. (Docket Nos. 54-57).”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Summary judgment is granted for defendants and against plaintiff. Judgment is entered accordingly.”
“Defendants' motions for summary judgment are granted. Judgment is entered accordingly in favor of defendants and against plaintiff.”
“Therefor, the Court hereby DENIES plaintiff's motion to dismiss and ORDERS defendant to properly serve plaintiff with a paper copy by mail within 10 days of the date of this order.”
“The Court GRANTS plaintiff's request to amend the complaint, and if plaintiff wishes to amend the complaint he must do so no later than January 5, 2009... The Court DENIES the balance of plaintiff's motions as without merit. (Docket Nos. 54-57).”
“the Court GRANTS defendants’ motion as to the Lanham Act claim without leave to amend and DENIES defendants’ motion as to the copyright infringement and trade dress misappropriation claims.”
“the motions to exclude the reports and offered testimony of experts Malek, Putnam, Kong, and Kelly are DENIED. Dkt Nos. 625, 627, 634, 642. The motions to exclude the reports and offered testimony of experts Shamos, Jones, Almeroth, Pooley, and Teece are DENIED in part and GRANTED in part, as explained above.”
“the Court hereby GRANTS plaintiff’s motion to remand this case Alameda County Superior Court, DENIES AS MOOT Target’s motion to dismiss, and DENIES plaintiff’s request for fees.”
“For the reasons stated above, plaintiff’s motion for a TRO (Dkt. No. 24) is DENIED.”
“The Court DENIES MEBA’s motion to dismiss the claims against it from the Third Amended Complaint.”
“The motions to exclude the reports and offered testimony of experts Goodall and Diaz are DENIED in part and GRANTED in part, as explained above.”
“The Court now GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART the motions to dismiss.”
“the Court GRANTS defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the Saxton plaintiffs’ § 1983 claims against Sheriff Essick on the basis of qualified immunity, and GRANTS defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the Estate’s negligence claims for failure to file a tort claim. The Court DENIES the balance of defendants’ motion, finding there are triable issues of fact.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Although Illston took senior status in 2013, she continues to carry a broad San Francisco caseload that includes police and other civil-rights matters, copyright and patent disputes, employment, product liability, consumer credit, immigration and administrative-review cases, and federal criminal matters. The durations below come from terminated cases in a 2021 filing sample rather than a complete count.
Put Judge Illston's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Illston actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Illston's own signed orders and cites them.