E.D. Cal.: Civil Standing Order and Trial Procedures: AI Provisions (Cases Assigned to Ma…
Magistrate Judge Chi Soo Kim · U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
Verified April 27, 2026
- Citation
- Civil Standing Order and Trial Procedures: AI Provisions (Cases Assigned to Magistrate Judge Kim)
- Order date
- November 5, 2025
Summary
Virtual backgrounds, avatars, digital twins, or the use of any tool or AI to alter an individual's appearance or voice are prohibited in virtual proceedings.
What does the order require?
- Virtual backgrounds, avatars, digital twins, or the use of any tool or AI to alter an individual's appearance or voice are prohibited in virtual proceedings.
- Parties must provide written pre-trial notice of AI-generated exhibits and illustrative aids.
- AI-generated exhibits must be identified on the exhibit lists submitted by the parties as 'AI Generated.'
Practice areas: federal civil
What the order requires
Magistrate Judge Chi Soo Kim’s standing orders address AI in two distinct contexts that most other chambers orders ignore: (1) AI alteration of appearance or voice in virtual proceedings (banned), and (2) AI-generated exhibits or illustrative aids at trial (must be pre-noticed and identified on exhibit lists). Effective November 5, 2025 (Civil Standing Order); trial-procedures revision dated October 14, 2025.
The deepfake-style ban is unusual: the order names “virtual backgrounds, avatars, digital twins” and any tool that alters appearance or voice during a virtual hearing. The exhibit-disclosure requirement complements the deepfake ban by requiring pre-trial notice of AI-generated demonstratives, which forces counsel to flag AI-aided trial visuals before they appear in court.
The order does not impose a brief-side disclosure or certification regime, so AI use in drafting briefs is governed by Rule 11 alone in this chambers.
Primary source
Civil Standing Order: https://www.caed.uscourts.gov/caednew/assets/File/CSK_Civil_StdOrder_Eff_2025_11-05.pdf
Civil Trial Procedures: https://www.caed.uscourts.gov/caednew/assets/File/CSK_Civil-Trial-Procedures_Website_FIN-Rev_2025-10-14.pdf
Sanctions cases decided under this order
Cases in our tracker where this rule appears to have produced or directly informed the sanctions decision.
- That Xiong v. Minga Wofford , Jan 2026