Santa Clara /divisions/civil-division/important-updates-and-information-civil-cases

Source: https://santaclara.courts.ca.gov/divisions/civil-division/important-updates-and-information-civil-cases

Important Updates and Information for Civil Cases

Please read the information at these links before filing motions and appearing at hearings in the Civil division.

Announcements

Notice: Effective Thursday, August 20, 2026, Judge Peterson will be assigned to the Complex Division. All Department 19 complex cases will now be reassigned to Judge Peterson in Department 8 at Downtown Superior Court.

Effective 9/22/25, Non-CEQA Writs of Mandate will be heard in Department 66 at Family Justice Center Courthouse.

Calendars

Civil Calendars Available Dates Civil Case Manager Dept. Calendars

Procedures for Filing a Motion

Effective 1/1/24, Local Civil Rule 8(B)(2) was amended to require compliance with the procedures set forth in the Civil law and motion section of this website when filing pretrial motions in Civil matters. Moving party must reserve a court hearing date, online or by phone, prior to filing a motion. Motions filed without a court date, will be rejected with instructions to obtain a court date first.

Click here to reserve a hearing date in a Civil or Eviction case:

CourtSchedule

Reserving motion hearing dates by phone:

Phone number: 408-882-2430

Hours of operation: Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.; Friday 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Mandatory requirement: Moving papers must be filed within 5 business days of reserving a court date or the date will be released for use in other cases. This will help us avoid long backlogs for hearing dates in these departments.

This requirement does not apply to:

Motions filed in Complex departments

Motions that have to be served prior to filing

Anatomy of a Civil Motion Training Series

Videos