Rita Faye Lin

Judge Lin presumes motions are heard in person. Parties may request or stipulate to a Zoom hearing at least one week in advance, but the Court may deny the request and is disinclined to use Zoom for complex or dispositive motions.

The Court may notify the parties in advance of the hearing that it will be heard via Zoom rather than in person, but the default rule is that motions are heard in person. Parties may stipulate/request to have a hearing by Zoom video, but they must do so at least one week in advance ... The Court is disinclined to hold hearings via Zoom for complex or dispositive motions.

In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards.

For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location.

The Northern District of California publishes guidance advising counsel to fully test their equipment and schedule a courtroom visit to test it before the proceeding.

The court highly recommends that counsel be familiar their equipment and fully test prior to using anything in the courtroom. ... schedule a visit in the courtroom to test everything before the proceeding.

For e-evidence requiring specialized software, the Northern District of California publishes a process for at least two business days' advance notice through the Courtroom Deputy and approval by the judge and Court IT.

at least two (2) business days advance notice, counsel may request via the Courtroom Deputy that the specialized software be loaded by counsel prior to use of the system. If the judge and the court’s IT Department approve...

Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception.

Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.