Local Rule 3-2: Commencement and Assignment of Action
N.D. Cal. — Civil rule
3-2. Commencement and Assignment of Action
(a) Civil Cover Sheet Required by Litigants Unrepresented by Counsel ("pro se"). Pro se litigants (except pro se prisoners) must file a completed cover sheet, on a form provided by the Clerk's Office, with any document initiating a civil action.
(b) Commencement of Action. An action may be commenced within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 3 at any office of the Clerk for this district. In cases that permit or require manual filing, once an action is commenced, subsequent manual filings may be made in any division within the district, except that manual filings in matters assigned to the San Francisco, San Jose, or Oakland divisions may not be filed in the Eureka-McKinleyville division.
(c) Assignment to a Division. The Clerk shall assign civil actions and proceedings pursuant to the Court's Assignment Plan (General Order No. 44). For those case categories which are not district-wide, the Clerk shall assign the case to the court division serving the county in which the action arises. A civil action arises in the county where a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or where a substantial part of the property that is the subject of the action is situated.
(d) San Francisco and Oakland. Except as provided in Civil L.R. 3-2(c), all civil actions that arise in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo or Sonoma shall be assigned to the San Francisco Division or the Oakland Division.
(e) San Jose. Except as provided in Civil L.R. 3-2(c), all civil actions that arise in the counties of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito or Monterey shall be assigned to the San Jose Division.
(f) Eureka. Except as provided in Civil L.R. 3-2(c), all civil actions that arise in the counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino, except for cases not assigned to the Magistrate Judges pursuant to the Court's Assignment Plan, shall be assigned to the Eureka Division.
Cross Reference See General Order No. 44, Assignment Plan.
(g) Assignment of Action to the Eureka Division. All cases assigned to the Eureka Division shall be assigned to the full-time Magistrate Judge presiding in that division. Such assignments are subject to the provisions of Civil L.R. 73 and require the consent of the parties. Any case for which all parties do not consent will be reassigned to a District Judge in the San Francisco, Oakland, or San Jose division.
(h) Transfer of Actions and Proceedings. Whenever a Judge finds, upon the Judge's own motion or the motion of any party, that (1) a civil action has not been assigned to the proper division within this district in accordance with this rule, or (2) that the convenience of the parties and witnesses and the interests of justice will be served by transferring the action to a different division within the district, the Judge may order such transfer, subject to the provisions of the Court's Assignment Plan.