is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma.

Because it covers San Francisco and Silicon Valley, the Northern District of California has become the presumptive destination for major federal lawsuits (such as large class actions and multi-district litigation) involving "Big Tech" defendants.

[2][3] Twenty years later, on August 5, 1886, Congress re-created the Southern District of California by 24 Stat.

[3] Erskine M. Ross was appointed Judge of the new district and served until his promotion to the Circuit Judgeship, when he was succeeded by Olin Wellborn.

The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first.

As of March 21, 2023[update] the United States attorney is Ismail Ramsey.