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The following
procedures apply in the San Francisco Division for telephone appearances by
counsel or parties appearing in propria persona:
1. Permitted Appearances.
In general, telephonic appearances are
permitted except in situations where the party or counsel:
will be examining
witnesses;
is the proponent of a
chapter 11 disclosure statement or plan;
is counsel for a
client who is present in court; or
is directed by the court to appear personally.
There are no
restrictions on eligibility to appear by telephone based upon the geographic
location of the counsel or the party. The
Court does not require advance permission for telephonic appearances.
2.
Procedure for Arranging for Telephonic Appearances.
Telephonic appearances
are arranged through CourtCall. All
parties/counsel using this service must
have an account or make arrangements to set one up well in advance of the
hearing.
Appearances are arranged by reservation.
To make a reservation, a participant should call 1-866-582-6878 no
later than 4:00 p.m. PT the day before the appearance. (Failure to make a reservation no later
than 4:00 PM the day before the hearing may result in the inability of
CourtCall to arrange for the appearance.)
Note however, CourtCall will not process telephonic appearances unless
an account has been set up. The
coordinator will need:
court date and time;
name of judge;
case name and number;
name
and phone number of the attorney appearing;
verification
that a CourtCall account has been set up.
After scheduling a reservation, attorneys
will receive a confirmation, either by fax or e-mail, providing the party
with dial-in information and telephonic instructions. Attorneys are required to notify CourtCall
of any appearance substitutions.
Telephonic appearances are connected
directly with the courtroom's public address system and electronic recording
equipment so that a normal record is produced. To ensure a quality record, the court
prohibits the use of car phones, cellular phones, public telephone booths, or
phones in other public places except in emergencies or unless the presiding judge
has consented. Participants should be
able to hear all parties without difficulty or echo.
At the time of the hearing, a participant
may initially be able to hear the matter(s) preceding his or her case. After a call is connected to the courtroom,
the courtroom deputy will call the case. The presiding judge will ask for appearances
and direct the manner in which the hearing proceeds. Each time a participant speaks, he or she should
identify himself or herself for the record. The court's teleconferencing system allows
more than one speaker to be heard so that the judge can interrupt a speaker
to ask a question or redirect the discussion. When the judge informs the
participants that the hearing is completed, the participants may disconnect
and the next case will be called.
Failure to comply with these procedures
may result in the imposition of sanctions. Sanctions may include
dropping the matter from the calendar, continuing the hearing, proceeding in
the absence of an unavailable participant, a monetary sanction, or a
temporary or permanent prohibition against a person/firm appearing
telephonically.
When the court conducts a telephone
conference on short notice and uses CourtCall, it may designate one party to
bear the entire cost of the conference call. The court may on occasion
initiate calls to one or two persons directly without use of a conference operator.
In those instances, the courtroom deputy will contact parties to inform them
of the arrangements.
Because the courtroom deputy is usually
in court prior to the initiation of any particular call, last minute changes
are generally impossible to handle and are discouraged.
Judge Carlson's
Courtroom Deputy is Mr. Gordon Hom (415-268-2362 or
Gordon_Hom@canb.uscourts.gov). Judge
Montali's Courtroom Deputy is Ms. Lorena Parada (415-268-2323 or
Lorena_Parada@canb.uscourts.gov).
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