Los Angeles County operates 38 courthouses across 12 judicial districts. Filing or serving in the wrong one is one of the most common procedural mistakes a paralegal can make. Here is the working map.
Stanley Mosk Courthouse
Located at 111 N. Hill Street downtown. This is the main civil filing courthouse for LA County. Civil cases over $25,000 file here unless venue dictates a different district. Family law has its own dedicated divisions inside the building. Probate, civil unlimited, civil unlawful detainer (commercial), and most appellate civil work flow through Mosk.
For service: the courthouse address itself is rarely a service target. You serve at the defendant's home or workplace, not at the courthouse. The courthouse is where the filing happens.
Spring Street Courthouse
312 N. Spring Street. Houses most of the LA County family law operation. RFOs, dissolutions, custody, and most §6300 protective-order proceedings file here.
Compton Courthouse
200 W. Compton Boulevard. Serves the Compton Judicial District — Compton, Carson, Lynwood, Paramount, Willowbrook. Handles civil, family, and unlawful detainer for cases venued in that district. The clerks here run a fast UD calendar.
Long Beach Courthouse
275 Magnolia Avenue. Civil and UD filings for the Long Beach judicial district — Long Beach, Signal Hill, Lakewood, Cerritos.
Norwalk Courthouse
12720 Norwalk Boulevard. Handles civil and UD for the Southeast district — Norwalk, Whittier, Bellflower, Pico Rivera, Downey. High UD volume; expect a packed civil calendar.
Pomona Courthouse
400 Civic Center Plaza. East district civil and UD — Pomona, Claremont, San Dimas, La Verne.
Van Nuys Courthouse East and West
6230 Sylmar Avenue (East) and 14400 Erwin Street Mall (West). North San Fernando Valley civil and family work.
Burbank Courthouse
300 E. Olive Avenue. North district civil and UD — Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada.
Pasadena Courthouse
300 E. Walnut Street. Pasadena, Altadena, La Cañada Flintridge civil and family.
Santa Monica Courthouse
1725 Main Street. West district civil — Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Culver City. Family law has its own dedicated wing here.
Inglewood Courthouse
One Regent Street. Southwest district civil, family, and UD — Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale.
Torrance Courthouse
825 Maple Avenue. South Bay civil, family, and UD — Torrance, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, El Segundo.
Mental health and probate
For mental health LPS conservatorships, filings go to the Stanley Mosk fourth floor mental health division. Probate (full and limited) is also at Stanley Mosk. Service of probate citations follows §1215 of the Probate Code, not the civil CCP rules.
What this means for service
Two things.
First, venue. Cases venued in the wrong district will get transferred and your service timeline restarts at the new courthouse. Confirm the defendant's residence or the cause of action's situs before filing. Civil unlimited cases over $25,000 sometimes have venue flexibility under CCP §395; small claims and UD do not.
Second, hearing dates. The hearing-date calendar varies wildly between districts. Mosk family law can run six weeks out for a custody hearing; Burbank may slot you in two weeks earlier on the same motion type. If your client is time-sensitive, the venue choice (where it's flexible) shapes the calendar.
When in doubt
Call the courthouse clerk's office before filing. The phone numbers are listed on the LA Superior Court website. A 90-second call beats a refiled motion.