Nicole S. Healy
Civil Judge
Department Information
Nicole S. Healy, Civil Judge
Department 28
Courtroom I
Central Courthouse, 800 North Humboldt St., San Mateo, CA 94401
(650) 261-5128
Dept28@sanmateocourt.org
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.
Standard Dept. 28 Orders
Tentative Rulings:
Non-complex — Dept. 28 Tentative Rulings
Complex — Dept. 28 Tentative Rulings
Information About Judge Healy
Communications to Department 28
Department 28 strongly prefers to be contacted by email at Dept28@sanmateocourt.org. If your email requires a response and your inquiry is not answered by Department 28's automatic reply to your email, Department 28 will do its best to respond as quickly as possible. All emails to Department 28 should include all parties.
If you send an email to Department 28, 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, 23-CIV-01234, 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 motions, pretrial, and trial documents shall be delivered directly to Courtroom I in Central Court, 800 North Humboldt St., San Mateo, CA, 94401. Unless Judge Healy gives permission to send courtesy copies by email, all courtesy copies for all documents are to be sent via messenger, mail or overnight delivery to Department 28.
Judge Healy hears Complex Law & Motion on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. or another time set by the Court. To schedule a hearing, contact Department 28 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 28. All briefing must be completed at least three (3) weeks before the hearing date.
Unless otherwise ordered, all IDCs for non-complex cases in Department 28, are conducted by the Civil Commissioner. To schedule an IDC, please check the Court's web site. Please do not contact Department 28 to schedule an IDC in a non-complex case. Only the Civil Commissioner can schedule an IDC.
Judge Healy hears Ex Parte proceedings at 1:30 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays. ALL PARTIES MUST APPEAR IN PERSON FOR EX PARTES, except as provided in Calfornia Rules of Court, rule 3.1207. (See Local Rule 3.500(d).)
To obtain ex parte relief, the applicant must bring the application and any supporting papers and any copies to be “endorsed filed” to the courtroom at the time of the hearing. The application may NOT be e-filed, and the Clerk's Office will NOT accept ex parte applications for filing.
The Applicant MUST inform Judge Healy, 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 AVAILBLE to the Court at Dept28@sanmateocourt.org or hand deliver the documents to Department 28 at the Central Courthouse located at 800 North Humboldt St., San Mateo. The proposed order should be provided in Word format if possible.
If the matter is urgent and requires an immediate hearing, please contact Department 28 preferably by email at Dept28@sanmateocourt.org or by phone.
Payment of Fees
Payment of all ex parte motions and applications for stays of eviction fees shall be paid at the Civil Clerk's Office, Room A in the Hall of Justice for Redwood City cases.
Central Courthouse
Beginning on April 2, 2024, parties may pay their Central Ex-Parte Fees by phone with a Credit or Debit card. Payments in the form of a check can be submitted directly to the Courtroom Clerk.
To pay by phone please dial 650-261-5100, select Option "O" and enter extension 7243 to be connected to a clerk to process your payment.
The courtroom clerk will provide the parties with endorsed filed copies. For any approved Stay of Eviction orders, the defendant must post the rental money due for the Stay of Eviction with the Civil Clerk's Office in Redwood City on the same day that the Stay is approved. Once posted, the defendant will be directed to serve the Stay of Eviction Order to the San Mateo Sheriff's Office on the third floor of the Hall Justice.
The Initial Case Management Conference is heard by the Civil Commissioner. See Local Rule 3.801.
The Court does not provide court reporters for TSCs/CMCs. Parties may secure their own official court reporter for any calendar where the Court does not provide an official court reporter. See Privately Retained Court Reporting.
For non-complex cases, Judge Healy holds her TSC/CMCs on Wednesdays at 9:00 a.m. Lead trial counsel must attend the Conference. TSC/CMCs will not be scheduled until the case has had an Initial Case Management Conference before the Civil Commissioner and the parties have engaged in an ADR process.
Judge Healy strongly prefers that the parties file a Joint Trial Setting/Case Management Conference Statement. The Statement should comply with Local Rule 3.1000 and also address as many of the issues in her Pretrial Conference Order (see link under Pretrial Order) as possible.
Following each TSC/CMC, Judge Healy will order one of the parties to prepare a written order consistent with the Court's rulings at the Conference.
Pretrial Order - Jury Trials
Pretrial Order - Court Trials
If any party believes that Judge Healy should not issue her standard Pretrial Order for Civil Trials or that the Order should be modified, that party should explain their request and describe any proposed changes to the Order in the parties’ Joint Trial Setting/Case Management Conference Statement. Please note that Judge Healy will be more inclined to make change(s) if the parties agree to the proposed changes.
Many motions in limine are brought that are either too general or should be a subject of a stipulation between the parties. If the parties reach a stipulation regarding any unopposed motion, please file a written stipulation and proposed order when filing the motions in limine.
Judge Healy typically schedules a pretrial conference at least two (2) weeks before the trial date in unlimited civil cases. 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 Healy is assigned three (3) trial days per week — Monday, Thursday, and Friday. Due to a number of factors, scheduled trials may not start on the assigned date. Judge Healy will notify the parties as early as possible if it appears that the trial will be unable to begin on the scheduled day. All jury trials will be held in person. Non-jury trials may be conducted through Zoom.
The parties should obtain a hearing date for any post-trial motions by emailing Department 28 at Dept28@sanmateocourt.org.
When Judge Healy orders a party to prepare a written order, that party should e-file the order. If Judge Healy requests a Word version in addition to the e-filed document, the Word version should be emailed to dept28@sanmateocourt.org. All parties must be copied on the email.
The party preparing the order must comply with California Rule of Court 3.1312. Judge Healy will reject proposed orders that do not inform her of the opposing party’s response 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
Except for Ex Partes, Pretrial Conferences, and Trials, the parties may appear by Zoom. If possible, all participants appearing by Zoom should appear by video rather than telephone or audio only. All participants must use their full first and last name when signing on to Zoom. Participants should also mute themselves until their matter is called. Department 28 requests that participants sign on to Zoom ten (10) 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 STRICTLY 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.
| Click on this link to join the Zoom meeting (no meeting ID or passcode required): CLICK TO JOIN NOW
Dial in: |
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
| 9:00 a.m. | Trial |
Case Management & Trial Setting Conferences (CMC/TSC) - Zoom Audio / Video |
Trial |
Trial |
|
| 10:00 a.m. | Pretrial Conferences – Zoom Audio / Video | ||||
| 1:30 p.m. | Ex Partes | Ex Partes | |||
| 2:00 p.m. | Trial | CMC/TSC Complex |
Complex & Non-complex Law & Motion |
Trial | Trial |
Mandatory Settlement Conferences
All parties and their counsel — including insurance carriers’ representatives — must be present either in person or by Zoom unless Judge Healy has expressly excused a party, counsel, or representative.
If you are appearing by Zoom, please log in using the credentials below. If you are appearing by Zoom, you must appear by video. Audio only appearances will not be permitted.
| Click on this link to join the Zoom meeting (no meeting ID or passcode required): CLICK TO JOIN NOW
Dial in: |