KYJKnow Your Judge v0.6.2by SwansLake
Judge directoryJoni T. Hiramoto

Active Trial judge

Joni T. Hiramoto

Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa

California · Contra Costa

Identity verifiedOfficial profile locatedOfficial sources collectedPresentation intelligence
01

Overview

Identity and service

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

Judicial role
General Civil Judge, Department 32, Wakefield Taylor Courthouse
Service status
Active
Court level
Trial
Jurisdiction
State
02

Background

Biography and career

Gender
Female
Race
Asian
Political affiliation
Democratic (via other); Republican (via appointer)

Education

  • Harvard Universitymagna cum laude, 19833
  • University of California-BerkeleyJD, 1987

Professional career

No nonjudicial career history is documented in this source.

Judicial service

  • Judge, Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa, 1998-present

Source: CourtListener / Free Law Project public biographical data. Demographic and political labels are incomplete, source-attributed, and are not used to infer judicial behavior. “Via appointer” describes CourtListener’s attribution method, not verified personal party membership.

03

Before you appear

Preparation checklist

  1. 01

    Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.

  2. 02

    Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.

  3. 03

    Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

Scope note

Statewide and courtwide guidance is labeled by scope and is not evidence of a personal preference. Division, judge-specific, or case-specific orders may control.

04

Presentation rules

What the public sources say

Courtroom-specificExplicit
Trial

Allowed with notice

Department 32 permits PowerPoint or other electronic material in opening statements if exchanged one month before the issue conference, followed by a meet-and-confer over objections three weeks before the conference.

Page
Instructions for Issue Conference
Section
Statement of case and openings
Last checked
July 28, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
Opening Statements (including any Powerpoint or electronic presentation proposed for Opening Statement) must be exchanged

The requirement is stated in current official court rules and is attached at court scope, not as a personal preference.

Courtroom-specificExplicit
Trial

Restricted

Department 32 limits the pre-voir-dire mini opening to two minutes and prohibits electronic presentations during that mini opening.

Page
Instructions for Issue Conference
Section
Statement of case and openings
Last checked
July 28, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
Mini Openings (pre voir dire) must not exceed 2 minutes in presentation time and may not include any electronic presentation

The requirement is stated in current official court rules and is attached at court scope, not as a personal preference.

CourtwideExplicit
Pretrial

Allowed

Contra Costa civil departments permit parties to appear remotely through Zoom; Zoom is the court's sole remote-appearance platform and CourtCall is not supported.

Page
Civil Division
Section
Remote appearances
Last checked
July 28, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
Zoom is now the Court's sole remote appearance platform. CourtCall is no longer supported.

The requirement is stated in current official court rules and is attached at court scope, not as a personal preference.

CourtwideExplicit
Pretrial

Allowed with notice

Certain general-civil discovery disputes may be assigned to Department 57; all other discovery matters remain in the assigned judge's department on law-and-motion days.

Page
Civil Discovery
Section
Department 57
Last checked
July 28, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
All other discovery matters will be heard in their assigned departments on Law & Motion days

The requirement is stated in current official court rules and is attached at court scope, not as a personal preference.

StatewideExplicit
Trial

Allowed with notice

A party offering an electronic sound or sound-and-video recording must provide the court and opposing parties a transcript and provide opposing parties a duplicate of the recording.

Page
Official page
Section
Rule 2.1040
Effective
July 1, 2011
Last checked
July 26, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
the party must provide to the court and to opposing parties a transcript of the electronic recording and provide opposing parties with a duplicate of the electronic recording

The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.

StatewideExplicit
Hearing

Allowed

California courts should permit remote participation in covered civil proceedings, subject to the statute, local rules, and controlling orders.

Page
Official page
Section
Rule 3.672
Effective
August 4, 2023
Last checked
July 26, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
courts should permit parties to appear remotely at conferences, hearings, and proceedings in civil cases consistent with Code of Civil Procedure section 367.75

The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.

StatewideExplicit
Hearing

Allowed

Covered civil parties and witnesses may appear remotely, and the court may conduct proceedings in whole or in part using remote technology.

Page
Official page
Section
CCP 367.75
Effective
June 29, 2026
Last checked
July 26, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
that party or witness may appear remotely and the court may conduct conferences, hearings, and proceedings, in whole or in part, through the use of remote technology

The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.

StatewideExplicit
General

Restricted

Court proceedings may not be photographed, recorded, or broadcast except as Rule 1.150 permits.

Page
Official page
Section
Rule 1.150
Effective
January 1, 2007
Last checked
July 26, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
Except as provided in this rule, court proceedings may not be photographed, recorded, or broadcast.

The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.

StatewideExplicit
Jury Trial

Allowed with notice

In expedited jury trials, parties may use slides, electronic presentations, projections, exhibit notebooks, and other methods approved at the pretrial conference.

Page
Official page
Section
Rule 3.1551, expedited jury trials only
Effective
July 1, 2016
Last checked
July 26, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
the parties may present summaries and may use photographs, diagrams, slides, electronic presentations, overhead projections, individual notebooks of exhibits for submission to the jurors, or other innovative methods of presentation approved at the pretrial conference

The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.

StatewideExplicit
Pretrial

Allowed with notice

Voluntary expedited jury trial submissions must identify party agreements concerning electronic presentations and other proposed presentation methods.

Page
Official page
Section
Rule 3.1548, voluntary expedited jury trials only
Effective
July 1, 2016
Last checked
July 26, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
Any agreements of the parties to use photographs, diagrams, slides, electronic presentations, overhead projections, notebooks of exhibits, or other methods of presenting information to the jury

The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.

StatewideExplicit
Trial

Leave required

An exhibit must be admitted by the judge before it may be used in the case.

Page
Official page
Section
Official self-help guidance, not a binding Rule of Court
Last checked
July 26, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
The judge must to allow you to admit the exhibit as evidence in order for you to use it in your case.

The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.

05

Courtroom technology

Published equipment guidance

No technology specification indexed

Technology availability is separate from procedural permission and evidentiary admissibility.

06

Published opinion footprint

Decisions and citations

Opinion data is not yet indexed for this profile

This does not mean the judge has no published opinions or no caseload. KYJ will only show opinion counts after transparent, source-linked CourtListener matching is available.

07

Sources

Public documents behind this profile

08

Change history

How this profile entered KYJ

Current profile indexed

Identity imported from Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa. 11 presentation-related claims migrated with source provenance.