Michael L. Mau

The Court requires courtesy copies of all Law & Motion filings, CMC Statements, and trial-related filings (e.g. Motions in Limine, witness lists, exhibit lists, etc.). The Court does not require courtesy copies of initial pleadings such as Complaints and Answers. Additionally, the Court does not require courtesy copies of Stipulations and Proposed Orders, or Proposed Orders after Law & Motion hearings, as those must be efiled and routed to the Court for electronic signature. Any courtesy copy document more than five (5) pages must be sent to the Court in hardcopy. Documents 5 pages or less may be submitted in hardcopy or via email to Dept20@sanmateocourt.org. Please note “Courtesy Copy(ies)” and include the Case name and # in the subject line of any email. Courtesy copies submitted via hardcopy must be delivered to:

Michael L. Mau
Judge of the Superior Court, San Mateo County
Department 20
Courtroom G
Central Courthouse
800 North Humboldt St.
San Mateo, CA 94401
 

Local Rule 3.500 has been revised to allow for remote appearances in ex parte hearings. Please review and comply with the requirements stated in the rule.

To be approved for remote appearance, you must do the following (from the rule):

• LR 3.500(e): Except as ordered by the court under subdivision (d), applicants seeking an ex parte order may appear remotely provided that the moving papers, including a proposed order, have been served on all parties, and submitted in paper form to the assigned judge, and the fee paid to the clerk’s office, by at least 10:00 a.m. two court days before the ex parte appearance. Parties opposing an ex parte order may appear remotely except as ordered by the court under subdivision (d). Notice of intent to appear remotely must be given to the court and to all parties or persons entitled to receive notice of the proceedings. (See CRC Rule 3.672.)
• Failure to follow the provisions of Local Rule 3.500 will result in denial of remote appearance.
• Parties are encouraged to ALSO email their ex parte documents to the department hearing the ex parte, but paper copies are required as stated above.

If appearing in person 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 Dept. 20 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 CRC 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 Dept20@sanmateocourt.org or hand deliver the documents to Department 20 at the Central Courthouse located at 800 North Humboldt St., San Mateo, CA 94401. The proposed order should be provided in Word format.

Central and Northern Courthouse

Parties may pay their Central or Northern Ex-Parte Fees by phone with a Credit or Debit card. Payments in the form of a check can be submitted directly to the Courtroom Clerk.

To pay by phone please dial 650-261-5100, select Option "0" and enter extension 7243 to be connected to a clerk to process your payment.

Judge Mau hears ex partes on Mondays and Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. but the preference is for Thursday.

Unless otherwise ordered, all IDCs for non-complex cases in Department 20, are conducted by the Case Management Judicial Officer. To schedule an IDC, please check the Court's web site. Please do not contact Department 20 to schedule an IDC. Only the Case Management Judicial Officer can schedule an IDC.

IDCs for complex cases are conducted by Judge Mau. Contact Dept. 20 by phone or email to schedule an IDC in a complex case.

New: Due to limited Court resources, there can be a delay between eFiling documents, and the documents being uploaded into the Court’s electronic file making them available to the Court. In order to ensure your reply brief is received by the Court in a timely manner, you must email a copy of any reply brief, or any Unlawful Detainer Opposition or Motion for Summary Judgment to lawandmotionreplybriefs@sanmateocourt.org. If you fail to do so and your reply brief is not available to the Court in a timely manner, please be advised that this may result in your matter being continued. Also, please note that this requirement is in addition to any separate requirement individual Judges have regarding the delivery of courtesy copies to their chambers, as well as the obligation to email all briefs, including reply briefs, to the complexcivil@sanmateocourt.org email address for complex matters. Thank you.

Judge Mau hears Law & Motion in non-complex cases on Fridays at 9:00 a.m. To schedule a hearing date for motions in non-complex cases, please check the Court's web site. Please do not contact Dept. 20 directly to schedule a hearing date.

Judge Mau holds Law & Motion in complex cases on Friday afternoons at 2:00 p.m. To schedule a hearing on a motion in a complex case, please contact Dept. 20 directly by email at both dept20@sanmateocourt.org complexcivil@sanmateocourt.org. Do NOT contact the Civil Clerk's Office.

For cases single assigned to Judge Mau for all purposes, the Mandatory Settlement Conference will be conducted by another Judicial Officer.

If Judge Mau is assigned to conduct a Mandatory Settlement Conference on a case that is single assigned to another Judge, then please contact Dept. 20 for more information. Judge Mau requires in-person attendance on all Mandatory Settlement Conferences that he is conducting, by lead trial counsel, parties and insurance adjusters with full settlement authority.

PRETRIAL ORDERS
Judge Michael L. Mau, Department 20
Superior Court of California, San Mateo County

All parties are ordered to comply with the following:

1. In addition to the meet and confer requirements of CCP §2016.040, per Local Rule 3.700, all parties are encouraged to hold an Informal Discovery Conference (IDC) prior to filing a motion to compel or any other discovery motion. If parties fail to hold an IDC prior to the filing of any discovery motion, the Court has the discretion to (and very likely will) continue your discovery motion and then Order the parties to an IDC.
2. Pre-Trial Conferences require the in-person attendance of all lead trial counsel.

When Judge Mau orders a party to prepare a written order, that party should e-file the order. The party must also email the order in Word format to Department 20 at Dept20@sanmateocourt.org. That email must include the other parties.

The party preparing the order must comply with CRC Rule 3.1312. Judge Mau will reject proposed orders that do not inform him 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 party(ies) about the order before submitting it to the Court.

For non-complex cases, Judge Mau holds his TSC/CMCs on Mondays at 9:00 a.m. Lead trial counsel must attend the conference, and counsel may appear by Zoom or in-person. This conference is not scheduled until the case has had an Initial Case Management Conference before the Commissioner and the parties have engaged in an ADR process.

• The Court prefers, but does not require, the parties to file Joint Trial Setting/Case Management Conference Statement. 

For complex cases, Judge Mau holds TSC/CMCs on Friday afternoons at 2:00 p.m. Lead trial counsel must attend the conference, and counsel may appear by Zoom or in-person. To schedule a case management conference in a complex case, please contact Dept. 20 directly by email at both dept20@sanmateocourt.org and complexcivil@sanmateocourt.org. Do NOT contact the Civil Clerk's Office.