Susan L. Greenberg

When Judge Greenberg orders a party to prepare a written order, that party should e-file the order. The party should also email the order in Word format to Department 3 at Dept3@sanmateocourt.org. That email must include the other parties.

The party preparing the order must comply with Rule 3.1312 of the California Rules of Court. Judge Greenberg will reject proposed orders that do not inform her of the opposing party's response, if any, to the proposed order. The party preparing the written order must make a good faith effort to meet and confer with the other parties about the order before submitting it to the Court.

Under Local Rule 3.500(d), "[e]x parte applicants and opponents must appear IN PERSON, subject to the exceptions set forth in CRC Rule 3.1207."

To obtain ex parte relief, the applicant must bring the application and any supporting papers and any copies to be "endorsed filed" to the courtroom at the time of the hearing. The application may NOT be efiled, and the Clerk's Office will NOT accept ex parte applications for filing.

The Applicant MUST inform Judge Greenberg, preferably by email, if there will be an opposition and when that opposition will be filed.

The applicant MUST provide a proposed order or the application will be denied. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1201.) The parties should email their application or opposition, and any supporting papers, and the proposed order AS SOON AS THEY ARE AVAILABLE to the Court at Dept3@sanmateocourt.org or hand deliver the documents to Department 3 at the Southern Courthouse located at 400 County Center, Redwood City. The proposed order should be provided in Word format if possible.

The ex parte application fee may either be paid in advance at the Clerk's Office or by check in the courtroom at the time of the ex parte hearing. Cash will NOT be accepted in the courtroom.

Judge Greenberg hears ex partes on Thursdays and Fridays at 1:30 p.m. but the preference is for Friday. ALL PARTIES MUST APPEAR IN PERSON FOR EX PARTES.

If the matter is urgent and requires an immediate hearing, please contact Department 3 preferably by email at Dept3@sanmateocourt.org or by phone.

All MSCs for civil cases singly assigned to Department 3 will be conducted by a civil direct calendar judge in Redwood City. Please contact the Redwood City judge who has been assigned as your MSC judge to find out whether that judge will be requiring IN PERSON appearances at the MSC.

For civil cases in which Judge Greenberg is conducting the MSC, the MSC will be held at the Southern Courthouse located at 400 County Center, Redwood City California. All appearances at MSCs conducted by Judge Greenberg may be IN PERSON OR ON ZOOM unless otherwise required by Judge Greenberg.

Judge Greenberg typically schedules a pretrial conference on a Wednesday or Friday at least two (2) weeks before the trial date in her unlimited civil cases that require a jury trial. For court trials, Judge Greenberg may schedule the pretrial conference closer to the trial date. Lead trial counsel for all parties MUST appear at the pretrial conference, and all appearances at the pretrial conference MUST be IN PERSON unless otherwise ordered by Judge Greenberg. If the parties do not believe that a pretrial conference is necessary, they must explain why in their Joint Trial Setting/Case Management Conference Statement.

COMMUNICATIONS TO DEPARTMENT 3

Department 3 strongly prefers to be contacted by email at dept3@sanmatecourt.org. If your email requires a response and your inquiry is not answered by Department 3's automatic reply to your email, Department 3 will do its best to respond as quickly as possible. All emails to Department 3 should include the other parties whenever possible.

If you send an email to Department 3, please include the following information in the "subject line" header: (1) case name; (2) case number; and (3) a brief description of the purpose of the email. For example: Smith v. Jones, CIV1234, Proposed Order. Otherwise, a response to your email will likely be delayed.

LAW & MOTION

Judge Greenberg hears Law & Motion on Thursdays at 2:00 p.m. To schedule a hearing date for motions in non-complex cases, please check the Court's web site. Please do not contact Department 3 directly to schedule a hearing date.

INFORMAL DISCOVERY CONFERENCE (IDC)

All IDCs for non-complex cases in Department 3 are conducted by the Civil Commissioner. To schedule an IDC, please check the Court's web site. Please do not contact Department 3 to schedule an IDC. Only the Civil Commissioner can schedule an IDC.

INITIAL CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

In accordance with Local Rule 3.801, the Initial Case Management Conference in every non-complex civil case is conducted by the Civil Commissioner.

TRIAL SETTING/CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE (TSC/CMC)

Judge Greenberg holds her TSC/CMCs on Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. Lead trial counsel must attend the Conference.

Judge Greenberg requires that the parties file a Joint Trial Setting/Case Management Conference Statement.

Following each TSC/CMC, Judge Greenberg will typically order one of the parties to prepare a written order consistent with the Court's rulings at the Conference.

PRETRIAL ORDER

Following the setting of the trial, pretrial conference, and mandatory settlement conference dates, the Court will issue a Pretrial Order. The Pretrial Order will be similar to the standard Pretrial Orders included on this web page for non-complex cases under the heading: "Standard Dept. 3 Orders." The Court strongly advises all parties to review the Pretrial Order issued by the Court in your case carefully and to comply with all of its requirements.

INITIAL CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER

Judge Greenberg will issue an initial case management order with the following provisions in all of her complex civil cases: CMC Order for COMPLEX Cases. Please check the order first before contacting the Court with any questions.

COMMUNICATIONS TO DEPARTMENT 3

Department 3 strongly prefers to be contacted by email. As noted in the Initial Case Management Order, all emails in complex cases to Department 3 should be sent to both dept3@sanmatecourt.org and complexcivil@sanmateocourt.org.

For all complex cases in Department 3, please include the following information in the "subject line" header of the email: (1) case name; (2) case number; (3) "Greenberg," and (4) a brief description of the purpose of the email. For example: Smith v. Jones, CIV1234, Greenberg, Proposed Order.

LAW & MOTION AND CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCES

Judge Greenberg holds Law & Motion and Case Management Conferences in her complex cases on Thursday mornings. To schedule a hearing on a motion or a case management conference in a complex case, please contact Department 3 directly by email at both dept3@sanmatecourt.org and complexcivil@sanmateocourt.org. Please do NOT contact the Civil Clerk's Office. Judge Greenberg does the scheduling for all of her complex cases herself.

Any requests for continuance of a trial date made within 90 days of the scheduled trial date may NOT be made through a stipulation and MUST, instead, comply with rule 3.1332 of the California Rules of Court.