The United States District Court for the Northern District of California (in case citations, N.D. Cal.) is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma. The court hears cases in its courtrooms in Eureka, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. It is headquartered in San Francisco. Cases from the Northern District of California are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Because it covers San Francisco and Silicon Valley, the Northern District of California has become the presumptive destination for major federal lawsuits (such as large class actions and multi-district litigation) involving "Big Tech" defendants.

These cases usually involve patent law and intellectual property law (such as copyright law and DMCA issues as well as trademark law and trade secret law) - especially in the semiconductor, telecommunications and software industries and other high technology areas, antitrust law, securities law, and technology law in general (e.g., cybersecurity, Internet law, computer law and cases involving software).

thumb|Phillip Burton Federal Building & United States Courthouse in 2025

History

California was admitted as a state on September 9, 1850, and was initially divided into two districts, the Northern and the Southern, by Act of Congress approved September 28, 1850, 9 Stat. 521. The boundary line was at the 37th parallel of North Latitude. The creating act provided that:

:In addition to the ordinary jurisdiction and powers of a District Court of the United States, with which the Southern District Court of New York has been invested, the said Courts be and hereby are invested respectively within the limits of its district with the exercise of concurrent jurisdiction and power in all civil cases now exercised by the Circuit Courts of the United States; and that in all cases where said Courts shall exercise such jurisdiction, appeals may be taken from the judgments, orders or decrees of said Courts to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The Act of August 31, 1852 made the Judge of the Northern District be Judge of the Southern District as well until otherwise provided, by 10 Stat. 76, 84,<br>1886–1891

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| appointer = <span data-sort-value="Fillmore, "> Fillmore</span><br>Operation of law

| termination = reassignment<br>death

Chief judges

Succession of seats

United States attorney

The United States Attorney for the Northern District of California represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. the United States attorney is Patrick D Robbins.

  • Calhoun Benham 1850-53
  • Samuel Williams Inge 1853-56
  • William Blanding 1856-57
  • Peter della Torre 1857-60
  • Calhoun Benham 1860-61
  • William H. Sharp 1861-64
  • Delos Lake 1864-69
  • Frank M. Pixley 1869
  • Lorenzo D. Latimer 1869-73
  • Walter Van Dyke 1873-76
  • John M. Coghlan 1876-78
  • Phillip Teare 1878-83
  • Samuel G. Hilborn 1883-86
  • John T. Carey 1886-90
  • Charles A. Garter 1890-94
  • Samuel Knight 1894-95
  • Henry S. Foote 1895-99
  • Frank L. Coombs 1899-1901
  • Marshall B. Woodworth 1901-05
  • Robert T. Devlin 1905-12
  • John L. McNab 1912-13
  • B. L. McKinley 1913
  • John W. Preston 1913-18
  • Mrs. A. A. Adams 1918-20
  • Frank M. Silva 1920-21
  • J. T. Williams 1921-24
  • Sterling Carr 1924-25
  • George J. Hatfield 1925-33
  • I. M. Peckham 1933
  • Harry H. McPike 1933-37
  • Frank J. Hennessy 1937-51
  • Chauncey F. Tramutolo 1951
  • Lloyd H. Burke 1953-58
  • Robert H. Schnacke 1958-59
  • Lynn J. Gillard 1959-60
  • Laurence E. Dayton 1960-61
  • Cecil F. Poole 1961-69
  • James L. Browning, Jr. 1969-77
  • G. William Hunter 1977-81
  • Rodney H. Hamblen 1981
  • Joseph P. Russoniello 1981-90
  • William T. McGivern 1990-92
  • John A. Mendez 1992-93
  • Michael J. Yamaguchi 1993-98
  • Robert S. Mueller 1998-2001
  • Kevin V. Ryan 2002-2007
  • Scott Schools 2007-2008
  • Joseph P. Russoniello 2008-2010
  • Melinda Haag 2010-2016
  • David L. Anderson 2019-2021
  • Stephanie Hinds (acting) 2021–2023
  • Ismail Ramsey 2023-2025
  • Patrick D Robbins (acting) 2025
  • Craig H. Missakian 2025-Present

See also

  • Courts of California
  • List of current United States district judges
  • List of United States federal courthouses in California

References

  • United States District Court for the Northern District of California Official Main, misconduct and ombudsperson websites
  • United States Attorney for the Northern District of California Official Website
  • Community History Exhibits at San Francisco Court facilities