U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers wants lawyers to ask themselves a single question before they file any motion: “How does it really advance the litigation?”

Before taking her seat on the federal bench in Oakland, California in 2011, Gonzalez Rogers practiced as a complex litigation partner at Cooley. She says she can remember a time when lawyers didn’t really file motions under Rule 12(b)(6), which allows for dismissal when plaintiffs fail to state a claim. Now, she says, “everybody feels compelled to file them.”