San Francisco Superior Court Mission Statement

To assure equal access, fair treatment, and the just and efficient resolution of disputes for all people asserting their rights under the law.

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We will be happy to help you if we can. However, we are allowed to help you only in certain ways since we want to be fair to everyone. This is a list of some things the court staff can and cannot do for you.

 We can explain and answer questions about how the court works.  We cannot tell you whether or not you should bring your case to court.
 We can provide you the number of the local lawyer referral service, legal aid program and other services where you can get legal advice.  We cannot tell what words to use in your court papers. However, we will check your papers for completeness. For example, we check for signatures, notarization, correct county name, correct case number and presence of attachments.
 We can give you general information about court rules, procedures and practices.  We cannot tell you what to say in court.
 We can provide court schedules and information on how to get a case scheduled.  We cannot give you an opinion about what will happen if you bring your case to court.
 We can give you information from your case file.  We cannot talk to the judge for you.
 We can provide you with court forms that are available,  We cannot let you talk to the judge outside of court.
 We can usually answer questions about court deadlines and how to compute them.  We cannot change an order signed by a judge.
Court staff do not know the answers to all questions about court rules, procedures and practices.  We have been instructed not to answer questions if we do not know the correct answer.  For additional information, please contact a lawyer or your local law library, or check the California Courts Self-help Center Web Site at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp.