If you live in Oakland and you are facing a divorce, a custody dispute, or a restraining order, start with a fact that surprises most people: Oakland has two courthouses, and neither one hears family law cases.
Mock Law is a boutique family law and civil litigation practice serving Oakland and the wider East Bay. When you hire this office, you work directly with an attorney — not a rotating cast of paralegals. I limit my caseload to give my clients the attention they deserve.
Oakland Has Two Courthouses — Neither Hears Family Law
Downtown Oakland is home to two Alameda County Superior Court buildings, and both are easy to confuse with a family court because they are large, active courthouses right in the city. Neither one is.
- Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse — 661 Washington Street, Oakland, CA 94607. This courthouse hears criminal matters only — primarily misdemeanor arraignments, pretrial hearings, and traffic violations. It has no family law calendar at all.
- René C. Davidson Courthouse — 1225 Fallon Street, Oakland, CA 94612. This courthouse hears felony criminal cases, general civil matters, and probate. It is not a family law courthouse — with one narrow exception: petitions requesting a domestic violence restraining order under Family Code section 6200 et seq. may be filed here as well as in Hayward. Filing a DVRO petition at this location does not mean your case will be heard here; it is simply an alternate filing location in the same county court system.
Every other family law matter for an Oakland resident — divorce, custody, child and spousal support, and the actual hearing of most DVRO cases — is filed and heard at the Hayward Hall of Justice.
Getting from Oakland to the Hayward Hall of Justice
The drive from downtown Oakland to Hayward is straightforward, mostly via I-880 South:
- From the René C. Davidson Courthouse (1225 Fallon Street): Take I-880 South toward Hayward/San Jose. Exit at Winton Avenue East and continue east on Winton Avenue. Turn right on Amador Street; the courthouse is on your left, directly across from the County Parking Garage.
- Typical drive time: About 20–25 minutes outside of rush hour (roughly 15–16 miles). During the morning and evening commute, allow closer to 30–40 minutes — I-880 through San Leandro backs up significantly at peak times.
- By BART: Take BART from any downtown Oakland station to South Hayward or Hayward Station, then it’s about a 1.2-mile walk, rideshare, or AC Transit bus connection to the courthouse.
An inexpensive covered parking garage sits directly across the street from the Hayward Hall of Justice, with limited two-hour metered parking directly behind it.
Hayward Hall of Justice: Family Law Departments
Hayward Hall of Justice
24405 Amador Street
Hayward, CA 94544
(510) 690-2700
Building hours: Monday–Friday, 8:30am – 4:30pm
Family law departments run 502–522; Department 501 is the Self-Help Center. As of the court’s assignments effective January 2026:
| Dept. | Judicial Officer | Calendar |
| 502 | Hon. Brian L. Caruth | Domestic violence restraining orders |
| 503 | Hon. Andrew Steckler | Family law long cause (trials) |
| 504 | Hon. Michael Bishay | Settlement conferences |
| 516 | Commissioner Nikki Clark | Family law & motion (RFOs) |
| 507–510, 513, 515, 522 | Various | Family law & motion (RFOs) |
Judicial assignments change. The court publishes its current judicial directory on the Alameda County Superior Court website.
Can You Appear Remotely for a Family Law Hearing?
Yes — Alameda County allows remote appearances in family law courtrooms at the Hayward Hall of Justice, using Zoom (ZoomGov). The rules depend on the type of hearing:
- Status conferences, case resolution conferences, trial-setting conferences, and settlement conferences: remote appearances are generally permitted by default for these conference-type hearings.
- Most other family law hearings (including law and motion / RFOs): you must file and serve a Notice of Remote Appearance (Judicial Council Form RA-010), along with a proposed Order Regarding Remote Appearance (Form RA-020). If the hearing notice was 15 or more court days out, the request generally must be filed at least 10 court days before the hearing.
- Connecting to the hearing: Remote hearings run on ZoomGov (not consumer Zoom). Each department has its own Meeting ID, and the court’s Family Law and Restraining Order ZoomGov instructions (available in English and Spanish) walk through connecting by computer, smartphone, or phone dial-in.
- Not every hearing can be fully remote. Some departments can run a hearing entirely by video, while others only support a “hybrid” format where some parties are remote and others appear in person — check with the specific department before assuming your entire hearing will be virtual.
In short: don’t assume you have to drive to Hayward for every appearance, but don’t assume you can skip it either — confirm the remote-appearance rules for your specific hearing type and department before the date.
Practical Things to Know at the Hayward Hall of Justice
- Parties are sworn in when the case is called. In Hayward family law courtrooms, it is standard practice for the court to place both parties under oath as soon as the case is called — before argument even begins. Expect to be sworn in, not just to sign in.
- There’s a dedicated child support (DCSS) courtroom. Department 509 hears Family Law AB 1058 proceedings — the cases initiated through the Alameda County Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) — and is currently assigned to Commissioner Bradley Kaplan.
- You have the right to refuse to have a commissioner hear your case. A commissioner is not a judge. Under the California Constitution (art. VI, § 21) and Code of Civil Procedure section 259, a commissioner can act as a temporary judge in a contested family law matter only with the stipulation of both parties. If you don’t want a commissioner deciding your case, you can decline to stipulate — but do it promptly. Failing to object before the proceeding begins can itself be treated as an implied stipulation, so this is something to raise up front, not after the hearing has started.
- Most family law courtrooms do not have a court reporter present. Because of a statewide shortage of official court reporters, most Hayward family law departments no longer have one in the room; the court has indicated it intends to keep providing reporters a while longer in a small number of departments, including the domestic violence department, but that isn’t guaranteed to continue. Where no reporter is present, the judicial officer may authorize the court’s Liberty electronic recording system to create a record of the hearing — something Alameda County has leaned on more heavily following California Supreme Court guidance (Jameson v. Desta (2018) 5 Cal.5th 594) that proceeding without any verbatim record can be fatal to a party’s ability to appeal. A Liberty recording isn’t automatic for every hearing, though, so if preserving your appellate rights matters to you, it’s worth asking whether one will be made — or arranging for a private court reporter.
How Mock Law Can Help
Family law is most of what I do: divorce and legal separation, child custody and visitation, spousal and child support, division of property and assets, premarital agreements, and domestic violence restraining orders — both for people who need protection and for people defending against claims they believe are false or exaggerated.
I believe most family law matters are better resolved through mediation than litigation. But when a case must be litigated, it gets litigated properly. I also handle appeals, which most family law attorneys do not.
Alongside standard hourly representation, I offer flat fees for defined, limited work, and unbundled services for people representing themselves who need a lawyer to help navigate the procedural hurdles or prepare legal paperwork. If you are heading into Hayward on your own — in person or by Zoom — unbundled help is often the difference between arriving unprepared and arriving ready.
Is there a family court in Oakland?
No. Oakland’s two courthouses — the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse and the René C. Davidson Courthouse — handle criminal and civil matters, not family law. The one exception is that domestic violence restraining order petitions may be filed (not necessarily heard) at the René C. Davidson Courthouse. All other family law matters for Oakland residents are filed and heard at the Hayward Hall of Justice, 24405 Amador Street, Hayward.
How do I get from Oakland to the Hayward courthouse?
Take I-880 South to the Winton Avenue East exit, continue east on Winton Avenue, then turn right on Amador Street. The drive is typically 20–25 minutes outside of rush hour, longer during the morning and evening commute. BART riders can take BART to South Hayward or Hayward Station and connect via AC Transit, rideshare, or a roughly 1.2-mile walk.
Can I appear at my family law hearing by Zoom instead of driving to Hayward?
Often, yes. Certain conference-type hearings (status conferences, case resolution conferences, trial-setting conferences, and settlement conferences) are generally remote by default. For most other hearings, you need to file and serve a Notice of Remote Appearance (Form RA-010) with a proposed order (Form RA-020), typically at least 10 court days before the hearing if you had 15 or more court days’ notice. Confirm with the assigned department, since not every hearing type supports a fully remote appearance.
Which department hears restraining orders in Hayward?
As of the court’s assignments effective January 2026, domestic violence restraining orders are heard in Department 502 at the Hayward Hall of Justice. Civil harassment restraining orders are heard at the same courthouse, but in the general civil departments — not in family court.
Do I need a lawyer for the whole case?
Not always. If the parties are amicable and want to settle, they may not need full representation. Even in some higher-conflict cases, people choose to represent themselves and hire an attorney for just parts of the case — that is unbundled, limited-scope representation, and it’s available here.
The first consultation is free, and it is a real conversation rather than a pitch. Call (415) 523-7969 or email hello@mmocklaw.com.