Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore

Courtesy/Chambers Copy Requirements

The submission of chambers copies is often required for electronically filed documents. Whereas the local rules state whether and how soon chambers copies must be submitted, judges’ individual standing orders sometimes create additional requirements and may differ from the local rules in other particulars. If they are not in agreement, these orders supersede the local rules.

View general information requirements for courtesy/chambers copies under the local rules.

The pertinent parts of Judge Westmore’s standing orders are set forth below:

Chambers copies are required for all formal motions, joint discovery letters, and motions to seal. The Court may request chambers copies of other filings as needed.

(a) Chambers copies must be received within 3 days of filing or the Court’s request.

(b) All chambers copies of e-filed documents must include the running header created by the ECF System on each page, and be marked “Chambers Copy” and submitted to the Oakland Clerk’s Office in an envelope clearly marked “Magistrate Judge Kandis Westmore” with the case number on the envelope.

(c) All exhibits must be clearly marked and tabbed.

(d) E-filed documents must be cited in all other documents as follows: Dkt. No.__ at ___.

(e) For motions to seal, the parties need only provide a courtesy copy of the unredacted version of the document sought to be filed under seal. The unredacted version must indicate, by highlighting or other clear method, the portions of the document that have been omitted from the redacted version, and prominently display the notation “UNREDACTED VERSION OF DOCUMENT(S) SOUGHT TO BE SEALED.” The unredacted copy must be presented in the same form as if no sealing order was being sought. In other words, if a party is seeking to file under seal one or more exhibits to a declaration, or portions thereof, the chambers copy should include the declaration with both exhibits that require no redaction and the exhibits that require redaction.

Any party filing a dispositive motion shall email a copy of the motion in Word format (.doc or .docx) to kawpo@cand.uscourts.gov. This is in addition to the lodged, chambers copy.

Proposed orders filed by an e-filing party shall be submitted in Word format (.doc or .docx) via email to kawpo@cand.uscourts.gov on the same day the document is e-filed. This requirement also applies to stipulations that require court approval, which must include a proposed order on the face of the stipulation. This email address should only be used for this stated purpose unless otherwise directed by the Court.

Delivery Address

About Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore

Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore was appointed in February 2012. Since then, she has presided over a wide variety of consent cases involving contracts, commercial law, civil rights, employment, patent, trademark, and copyright infringement, securities, administrative and constitutional law, immigration, environmental, and personal injury. She also conducts settlement conferences and manages discovery, including in nationwide class actions and multi-district litigation. Judge Westmore currently serves on the court’s Personnel Committee, co-leads the court’s Convictions Alternatives Program (“CAP”), and presides over CAP Aftercare Court, which follows CAP graduates for the first year of their probation and as otherwise needed.

Judge Westmore’s legal career began as a law clerk with the Contra Costa County Public Defender’s Office, before obtaining her first attorney position at an Oakland-based boutique law firm specializing in plaintiffs’ civil rights litigation.

She joined the Oakland City Attorney’s Office in 1999 as a Deputy City Attorney. During her 13-year tenure with the City, she advised City agencies and served as both a trial attorney and a law and motion attorney, where she filed suit on behalf of the City and defended the City and its employees on a wide range of matters in federal and state trial and appellate courts, including civil rights, personal injury, inverse condemnation, labor and employment, and complex litigation. Judge Westmore has been publicly recognized by community organizations, the City of Oakland, and elected officials for her contributions and service to the City of Oakland and its residents.

Prior to taking the bench, Judge Westmore served as President-Elect of the Alameda County Bar Association (“ACBA”), and volunteered for the ACBA Volunteer Legal Services Corporation’s Pro Bono Program representing low-income individuals in family law cases. She also served as the President of the Earl Warren American Inn of Court in 2017. Judge Westmore has been a member of the Charles Houston Bar Association (“CHBA”) since 1998, and she received the CHBA Guardian of Justice Award in 2018. She also received the Judicial Excellence Award from Black Women Lawyers of Northern California in 2022.

She received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from the University of San Francisco, School of Law, all while working full-time and being a wife and mother of two young children. As a law student, Judge Westmore served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Saundra Brown Armstrong.  In 2023, Judge Westmore became an adjunct professor at USF School of Law, where she teaches a judicial externship course. Previously, Judge Westmore taught Honors Evidence at the Golden Gate University School of Law.