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Filing Procedures (San Jose)

The San Jose Clerk's Office is located at:

To supplement the local rules, the following guidelines have been provided to ensure that filing is accomplished with ease and accuracy. For additional information or assistance, please call during office hours.

1. Pursuant to Civil L.R. 3-2(b) documents are to be filed in the Clerk's Office at the location of the chambers of the judge to whom the action has been assigned. The San Jose Division does not accept filings for cases assigned to district judges or magistrate judges in the San Francisco or Oakland divisions.
2. New cases must be accompanied by a completed and signed Civil Cover Sheet and the filing fee or fee waiver request form. There must be an original plus two copies of the complaint and any other documents being submitted for filing with the new case. For Intellectual Property cases, please provide an original plus three copies of the complaint. Please present new cases for filing before 3:30 p.m., as it involves a considerable amount of processing time.
3. In order to facilitate the file stamping process, each original document should be submitted on top of its copies. 
4. This office will retain the original plus one copy of most documents submitted. We will conform as many copies as you bring for your use. Related cases require one extra copy for each related case. The copy retained goes directly to the assigned judge or magistrate judge.
5. The case number must indicate whether it is a civil or criminal matter by the inclusion of C or CR at the beginning of the number. The assigned  judge's intials should follow the case number. Miscellaneous and foreign judgement matters should also be indicated with the letters MISC after the judge's initials.
6. The document caption should include the name of the appropriate judge or magistrate judge involved in a particular matter or before whom an appearance is being made. This is especially important when submitting Settlement Conference Statements.
7. The documents are to be stapled or ACCO-fastened at the top. NO BINDER CLIPS OR RUBBER BANDS PLEASE. To facilitate processing, the original document should have two holes punched at the top. Blue backing paper is not required and should be removed.
8. Courtesy copies or instructions for couriers to deliver a copy to chambers are inappropriate, unless instructed to do so by court order. Courtesy copies are to be delivered to the Clerk's Office.
9. When filing documents by mail, be sure to include an appropriately sized self-addressed stamped return envelope if you would like to receive a filed copy of the document.
10. Proofs of Service should be attached to the back of documents. If submitted separately, a pleading page showing the case number and case caption must be attached in front of the proof of service.
11. The Clerk's Office only accepts payments by credit card, cash, check, or money orders in the exact amount made payable to Clerk, U.S. District Court.
12. A public pay copy machine is located in the reception area for public use. No change can be made by the Clerk's Office for use of the copy machine. Requests for receipts from the public pay copy machine should be made to the company operating the machine.
13. Two computer terminals which allow public access to case dockets are located in the reception area for your convenience. There is a charge of 10 cents per page for each document printed from these public computer terminals. We accept only the exact amount of payment for the total number of pages printed.
14. A fee of 50 cents ($.50) per page will be charged for requested copies of documents made by the Clerk's Office staff.
15. Clerk's Office hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. After hours drop box is available when the Clerk's Office is closed. The courthouse building is open to the public between the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday thru Friday.