Sallie Kim
How Judge Kim decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On spoliation, Kim applies the Clear-View Technologies framework: an obligation to preserve at the time of destruction, a culpable state of mind, and relevance of the lost evidence -- and will recommend a (permissive) adverse-inference instruction when all three are met.
“the Magistrate found that: (1) Defendant had an obligation to preserve the file when it was destroyed; (2) she acted with ‘a culpable state of mind’; and (3) the evidence was potentially relevant to the claims made by Plaintiff.”
Cautions
A magistrate's recommendation is not a guaranteed outcome: here the district judge accepted Kim's spoliation findings but rejected the recommended adverse-inference instruction as premature, deferring it to motions in limine. Treat R&R recommendations as recommendations, not final rulings.
“the Court finds, upon further review of the matter, that it is premature to address Plaintiff's request for an adverse inference instruction.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The Court has reviewed Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim's Report and Recommendation ... recommending dismissal of this case based on res judicata grounds. ... this case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE based on res judicata.”
“The Court has reviewed Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim's report and recommendation ... and her amended report and recommendation ... to grant Plaintiff RIC (San Leandro) LLC's motion for default judgment ... and adopts them in every respect. Default judgment against Defendant Miller is granted in the amount of $42,264,930.42.”
“On September 30, 2024, Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim issued a Report and Recommendation that I dismiss this case without prejudice. ... I agree with Judge Kim's Report and Recommendation and adopt it in full. ... Accordingly, this action is DISMISSED without prejudice.”
“Magistrate's Report and Recommendation is ACCEPTED, except with respect to her recommendation to give an adverse inference instruction, which is REJECTED as premature. Plaintiff's Motion for Adverse Inference Instruction is DENIED without prejudice to renewal upon the Court's resolution of the admissibility of evidence pertaining to Defendant's relationship with Mr. Kelley.”
“the Court hereby DENIES Coinbase's motion to compel arbitration”
“the Court DENIES Coinbase's motion to compel arbitration and GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Coinbase's alternative motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Therefore, the Court GRANTS WITH LEAVE TO AMEND Coinbase's motion to dismiss as to Plaintiffs' first claim ... in full and Plaintiffs' second claim ... and sixth claim ... to the extent they are is premised on a violation of Penal Code Section 320. The Court DENIES Coinbase's motion to dismiss as to the remainder of Plaintiff's claims.”
“the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Coinbase's and Marden-Kane's motions to dismiss. The Court GRANTS WITH PREJUDICE the motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' requests for injunctive relief, GRANTS WITH PREJUDICE the motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' CLRA claims 6 and 7 against both Defendants, and GRANTS WITH PREJUDICE Plaintiffs' claims 1 and 5 to the extent they are premised on an unlawful lottery. The Court DENIES the remainder of both motions.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS Defendant's motion to dismiss.”
“The Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART the motion to compel documents from Hochster.”
“The Court GRANTS the motion to compel response to interrogatories 4, 5 and 6 and ORDERS Defendants to provide that information by October 8, 2021. The Court DENIES the motion to compel production of documents in response to request No. 1.”
“Upon review of the discovery, the briefs of the parties, and the file of this action, the Court hereby GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Plaintiff's motion to compel, as set forth below.”
“the Court denies Andrade's motion and grants AFF's motion regarding class certification. ... the Court DENIES Andrade's motion for class certification and GRANTS AFF's motion to deny class certification.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES Plaintiff's motion for a new trial in its entirety.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The sample covers cases filed in 2022. As an initially assigned San Francisco magistrate judge, Kim handles a substantial False Claims Act caseload along with securities, disability-access, labor, civil-rights, federal tort, immigration, copyright, Social Security, employee-benefit collection, and public-records matters. The durations measure filing to termination, not motion-to-ruling time.
Put Judge Kim's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Kim actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Kim's own signed orders and cites them.