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V. Raymond Swope

Civil Judge

Department Information

V. Raymond Swope, Civil Judge

Department 23
Courtroom 8A
Southern Court, 400 County Center, Redwood City, CA 94063
(650) 261-5123
Dept23@sanmateocourt.org

MPORTANT: Judge Swope will be unavailable commencing October 4, 2024 through January 6, 2025. Nothing will be set in Dept 23 from December 23, 2024 through January 5, 2025. Between October 4, 2024 - December 20, 2024, all matters set in Department 23 will be heard by Judge Nina Shapirshteyn. The department location will remain at 400 County Center, Courtroom 8A, Redwood City, CA 94063.

Standard Dept. 23 Orders

Tentative Rulings

Effective January 1, 2023, the Court policy for court reporters for Pretrial Conferences and Trials in civil cases has changed. Please review the Court's website for procedure.

Parties may secure their own official court reporter for any calendar where the Court does not provide an official court reporter.
More information about Court Reporting »

Communications to Department 23

Department 23 strongly prefers to be contacted by email at Dept23@sanmateocourt.org. If your email requires a response and your inquiry is not answered by Department 23's automatic reply to your email, Department 23 will do its best to respond as quickly as possible. All emails to Department 23 should include the other parties.

If you send an email to Department 23, 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.

All filings, including orders, are to be done through the Civil Clerk's office in Redwood City. Courtesy copies, all pretrial, and trial documents shall be delivered directly to Courtroom 8A in Redwood City.

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 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 Swope hears his regular Law & Motion on Mondays 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 23 directly to schedule a hearing date. Tentative rulings are issued pursuant to Local Rule 3.403.

Judge Swope hears his Complex Law & Motion on Mondays at 3:00 p.m. To schedule a hearing, contact Department 23 rather than the Civil Clerk's office. The clerk's office will reject the motion in complex cases if a hearing date has not been obtained first from Department 23. Please be advised that Judge Swope requires all briefing to be completed at least three (3) weeks before the hearing date. Judge Swope generally issues tentative rulings in his complex cases.

Unless otherwise ordered, all IDCs for cases in Department 23, are conducted by the Civil Commissioner. To schedule an IDC, please check the Court's web site. Please do not contact Department 23 to schedule an IDC. Only the Civil Commissioner can schedule an IDC.

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."

The ex parte application fee must be paid in at the Clerk's Office before proceeding to Department 23. The application may NOT be e-filed.

The Applicant MUST inform Judge Swope, 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 Dept23@sanmateocourt.org. The proposed order should be provided in Word format if possible.

Judge Swope ex partes are on Wednesdays and Fridays at 1:30 p.m.

ALL PARTIES MUST APPEAR IN PERSON FOR EX PARTES.

If the matter is urgent and requires an immediate hearing, please contact Department 23 preferably by email at Dept23@sanmateocourt.org or by phone.

The Initial Case Management Conference is heard by the Civil Commissioner. See Local Rule 3.801.

For non-complex cases, Judge Swope holds his TSC/CMCs on Fridays at 2:00 p.m. Lead trial counsel must attend the Conference. 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.

Judge Swope requires that the parties file a Joint Case Management Conference Statement. The Statement shall address the relevant subjects set forth in Cal. Rules of Court Rule 3.727. Alternatively, the Case Management Conference Statement shall address relevant subjects set forth in Case Management Order No. 1.

Following each Complex Case Management Conference, Judge Swope will order one of the parties to prepare a written order consistent with the Court's rulings at the Conference.

Judge Swope intends to issue the following Order for Civil Trials in all of his unlimited non-complex civil cases and complex cases at the first Trial Setting/Case Management Conference (TSC/CMC): Pretrial Order for NON-COMPLEX and Complex Cases.

Any order prepared by a party after the first TSC/CMC must include the following provision:

"All parties are ordered to comply with the Order for Civil Trials attached hereto."

If any party believes that the Order for Civil Trials should not be implemented or that the Order should be modified, the party should include a description of any changes to the Order being requested and a brief explanation for the change in the parties' Joint Trial Setting/Case Management Conference Statement. Please note that Judge Swope will be more inclined to make change(s) if the parties agree.

All MSCs for civil cases in Department 23 will be conducted by a civil direct calendar judge. The conference will be conducted via Zoom video unless otherwise ordered by the Court.

The Mandatory Settlement Conference (MSC) will be conducted by a Civil Judge who is not assigned as the single-assigned judge for this civil action. You must appear remotely on Zoom for the MSC. On the day of your MSC hearing, you will log into the Zoom calendar, and at that time, a Judge will be assigned to conduct your MSC.

Judge Swope typically schedules a pretrial conference at least two (2) weeks before the trial date in his unlimited civil cases. The conference is held Mondays at 9:00 a.m. 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.

Judge Swope is assigned three (3) trial days per week, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. All jury trials will be held in person. Non-jury trials may be conducted through Zoom upon request.

Parties must contact Department 23 to schedule post-trial motions.

When Judge Swope orders a party to prepare an order to be e-filed. The party should also email the order in Word format to Department 23 at Dept23@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 Swope 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 parties about the order before submitting it to the Court.

Remote Appearance Information and Procedures

Judge Swope now conducts all remote hearings and conferences through Zoom.

All participants must use their full first and last name when signing on to Zoom. Participants should "RE-NAME" how their names appear to the Court on Zoom if they show as phone numbers only. Participants should also mute themselves until their matter is called. Department 23 requests that counsel and parties sign on to Zoom fifteen (15) minutes before the hearing.

Any recording of a court proceeding held by video or audio conference, including "screen-shots" or other visual or audio copying of a hearing or conference IS PROHIBITED. Violation of these prohibitions may result in sanctions, including restricted entry to future hearings and conferences, denial of entry to future hearings and conferences, removal of Court-issued media credentials, or any other sanctions deemed appropriate by the Court

TO ASSIST THE COURT REPORTER, the parties are ORDERED to: (1) state their name each time they speak and only speak when directed by the Court; (2) not to interrupt the Court or anyone else; (3) speak slowly and clearly; (4) if appearing by telephone, use a dedicated land line if at all possible, rather than a cell phone; (5) if a cell phone is absolutely necessary, the parties must be stationary and not driving or moving; (6) no speaker phones under any circumstances; (7) provide the name and citation of any case cites; and (8) spell all names, even common names.

Zoom Hearing Credentials - Department 23 - Courtroom 8A

Click on this link to join the Zoom meeting (no meeting ID or passcode required): CLICK TO JOIN NOW          

Dial in:
Phone Number: +1 (669) 254-5252
Meeting ID: 160 045 1177
Password: 654598

  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
9:00 a.m. Pre-trial Conferences
(Contact Dept)
Trial
(Contact Dept)
Trial
(Contact Dept)
Trial
(Contact Dept)
 
1:30 p.m.     Ex-parte's   Ex-parte's
2:00 p.m. General Law & Motion
(Zoom Audio & Video)
Trial
(Contact Dept)
Trial
(Contact Dept)
Trial
(Contact Dept)
Case Management and Trial Setting Conferences
(Zoom Audio & Video)
3:00 p.m. Complex Law & Motion
(Zoom Audio & Video)
       
2:30 p.m. (Zoom Audio & Video)        

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