**Judge John W. Holcomb** was appointed to the Central District of California by President Donald Trump in 2020. He sits in the Southern Division in Santa Ana. Holcomb attended MIT on a Naval ROTC scholarship, earning a B.S. in civil engineering. He served five years as an active-duty naval officer before earning a joint J.D./M.B.A. cum laude from Harvard. After clerking in the Northern District of Illinois, he spent his career in intellectual property litigation, primarily at Knobbe Martens where he became a partner in 2002, and later at Greenberg Gross where he also served as mediator and Special Master. **Education** - Harvard Law School, J.D., 1993 (cum laude) - Harvard Business School, M.B.A., 1993 - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, B.S. in Civil Engineering, 1984 **Career** - U.S. Navy, active duty (including USS New Jersey and Pentagon Joint Staff), 1984–1989 - Law clerk, Judge Ronald Barliant, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Illinois, 1993–1994 - Associate, Irell & Manella, 1994–1997 - Associate and partner, Knobbe Martens, 1997–2018 - Partner, Greenberg Gross, 2019–2020 - U.S. District Judge, Central District of California, 2020–present
**Courthouse:** Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, 411 W. 4th Street, Santa Ana, CA 92701 **Division:** Southern Division (Santa Ana) **Chambers Staff** - Chambers Email: JWH_Chambers@cacd.uscourts.gov
Courtesy copies are required for all covered filings. Details: 1 copy, delivery upon filing, by hand delivery. Mandatory chambers copy required for all motion-related documents via drop box or overnight delivery.
Judge John W. Holcomb's rules set a pre-motion procedure for rule 56. Parties must meet and confer to complete the Joint Statement at least two weeks before the moving party's filing deadline.
Judge John W. Holcomb's rule states these limits: 2 pages. Joint Rule 26(f) Report must include 2-page Statement of the Case.
Judge John W. Holcomb's rule states these limits: 10 pages. Motions in limine memoranda limited to 10 pages.
Judge John W. Holcomb's formatting rule includes other font, 12 point type, margins top 1 inches, bottom 1 inches, left 1.5 inches, right 1 inches, binding three ring binder, exhibits in three-ring binders, tabbed down right side, volume numbers on spine, index in each volume, and exhibit tags in upper right corner. Exhibits must be in three-ring binders with tabs, volume numbers, indexes, and exhibit tags.
The rule identifies required filing content or certificates. All citations to the record must include a pin cite.
The rule identifies required filing content or certificates. All parties must file a compliant Disclosure Statement per Rule 7.1; in diversity cases all parties must file, and failure to do so is a basis for sanctions.
Parties may contact Judge John W. Holcomb's court reporter by email only as allowed by the rule. The rule lists email ReportersCACD@cacd.uscourts.gov. Email unusual words list to court reporter 7 days before trial.
Requests should be made at least 7 calendar days in advance when this rule applies before Judge John W. Holcomb. The request must include reason for request, original date, number of previous requests, previous requests granted or denied, adversary position, proposed new dates, proposed rescheduled date, affects other dates, and emergency nature. Withdrawal of motions or oppositions must be filed 7 days before hearing.
Yes. Judge John W. Holcomb requires bundling for covered papers. Parties must consolidate all evidence cited in summary judgment motions into a single Joint Exhibit, which may be split into consecutively paginated parts if too large, with any table of contents filed separately.
Yes. Electronic filing is required for the covered filings. The Excel version of the Joint Statement must be emailed to chambers and a PDF version lodged on the docket when filing the motion.
The rule addresses filing timing, filing status, or cure windows. Opposition to an ex parte application is due 24 hours after receipt, not the next court day.
All citations to the record must include a pin cite.
The removing Defendant (or Plaintiff in non-removed cases) must promptly serve this Order on all other parties.
Plaintiff must promptly serve the Complaint per Rule 4 and file proof of service per Local Rule 5-3.1.
In removed actions, state-court answers must be re-filed in this Court and pending motions re-noticed per Local Rule 6-1.
All parties must file a compliant Disclosure Statement per Rule 7.1; in diversity cases all parties must file, and failure to do so is a basis for sanctions.
The Court uses an electronic filing system (ECF) for documents.
Parties must consolidate all evidence cited in summary judgment motions into a single Joint Exhibit, which may be split into consecutively paginated parts if too large, with any table of contents filed separately.
Recommended citation format for the Joint Exhibit is 'Joint Exhibit Part C at 250:3-7 (Deposition of Passenger B)'.
Summary judgment motions must cite specific page and line numbers in depositions and paragraph numbers in declarations and affidavits; page numbers alone suffice only when line/paragraph numbers are unavailable, and evidence must be properly authenticated.
Summary judgment motions must be accompanied by a Joint Statement of Undisputed Facts and Genuine Disputes; briefs must cite the Joint Statement, which cites only the Joint Exhibit, and citations to individual exhibits will be disregarded.
Parties must meet and confer to complete the Joint Statement at least two weeks before the moving party's filing deadline.
The Joint Statement must be presented in a table format.
The Joint Statement of Undisputed Facts must include five columns: fact number, Proponent name, plain statement of fact, citation to admissible evidence, and dispute status with evidentiary objection.
Facts in the Joint Statement must not be compound; legal arguments and conclusions do not constitute facts.
Each fact must include a pin cite to admissible evidence, or the fact will be deemed unsupported; pin citations should cover no more than five pages at a time.
The fifth column must begin with either 'Disputed.' or 'Undisputed.' and provide any evidentiary objection.
Counter-evidence disputing a fact must include a pin cite to the record.
A reply to an objection must either rehabilitate the statement, make a specific evidentiary objection, or explain why the objection is erroneous.
A fact is deemed undisputed if a party fails to offer counter-evidence or offers counter-evidence that does not contradict the proffered fact.
Evidentiary objections must cite a specific rule and provide a short rationale; boilerplate or blanket objections will be disregarded.
Parties should avoid extraneous punctuation in the Joint Statement because it can interfere with Excel sorting, and should double-check their work before lodging.
Routine objections due to the other party's failure to follow instructions indicate the parties are not ready to submit the Joint Statement, and the offending party's conduct may be factored into any award of attorneys' fees and costs.
Objections in the statement of facts must be numbered sequentially.
Replies to objections in the statement of facts must be lettered (A), (B), (C), etc.
Ex parte applications are decided on the papers and must not be set for hearing.
The declaration supporting an ex parte application must show compliance with L.R. 7-19 and state the opposing party's position.
Opposition to an ex parte application is due 24 hours after receipt, not the next court day.
The Court discourages filing ex parte applications on Fridays or the day before a court holiday unless there is a true emergency.
The Excel version of the Joint Statement must be emailed to chambers and a PDF version lodged on the docket when filing the motion.
Excel versions of the Joint Statement should not merge cells; use alt-enter for paragraph breaks, and parties may stipulate to another program for legibility.