Timothy Mark Burgess
How Judge Burgess rules, drawn from 37 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Burgess
Timothy Mark Burgess is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Burgess received a commission on January 23, 2006. Judge Burgess assumed senior status on December 31, 2021.
Judge Burgess's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Burgess's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026).
- Procedure for Access and Management of Sealed, Restricted and Ex Parte Documents (Second Amended) ↗
- Procedures for the Filing, Service, and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- Appointment of Counsel and Procedures for Compassionate Release Motions ↗
- Electronic Communication Devices in the Courtroom ↗
How Judge Burgess decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In McManus, Burgess allowed teachers’ Section 504 retaliation claim against their school district past dismissal. Their allegations linked protected advocacy for disabled students to the loss of teaching positions under the but-for causation standard.
“Plaintiffs have plausibly alleged that but for their reporting of the denial of access of protected services to students with disabilities, they would not have suffered retaliation.”
Cautions
In Fashjian, Burgess granted summary judgment on an employment retaliation claim where the employer documented performance concerns and the employee offered no evidence to discredit that explanation.
“Plaintiff does not proffer any evidence to refute those assertions, i.e., evidence that she received positive evaluations.”
In Specter, Burgess rejected a product manufacturer’s substantial alteration defense to a plane crash based on alleged overloading or damage. The defendants had not shown a third party changed the plane itself in a way covered by that defense.
“Defendants have not shown that Rainbow King, Pilot Furnia, or any other third party, altered the plane in a manner that would allow the substantial alteration defense to apply.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Motion to Dismiss Count 1 at Docket 30 is GRANTED in PART and DENIED in part.”
“TTC's Motion for Summary Judgment at Docket 170 is DENIED.”
“For the forgoing reasons, MBM's Motion at docket 5 is DENIED.”
“For the forgoing reasons, ILWU's Motion at Docket 11 is GRANTED.”
“For the forgoing reasons, ILWU's Motion at Docket 38 is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“Having carefully reviewed the allegations in the TAC and the parties' briefing, the Motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part as follows. The Court GRANTS in part loanDepot's Motion as to the Kellys' RESPA claim in Count IV for (1) emotional and psychological damages and (2) statutory damages. The Court further finds that permitting the Kellys leave to amend the TAC would be futile. The Court DENIES in part the Motion as to the Kellys' RESPA claim in Count IV for certain actual damages including ‘the costs of copying documents, travel expenses to and from their attorney's office, [and] postage fees[.]’”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS Aspen's Motion to Dismiss.”
“Accordingly, for the forgoing reasons, NYLIFE's Motion at Docket 8 is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the International's Motion to Dismiss the Second Amended Complaint at Docket 169 is GRANTED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment (at Dkt. 67) is GRANTED.”
“Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment at Docket 20 is GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
During active service, Burgess handled aviation-disaster and product-liability suits, admiralty and marine contracts, federal fisheries and agency review, insurance, civil rights, and a substantial criminal calendar. In senior status his work has been more criminal-focused, including suppression, sentencing, sentence challenges, and compassionate-release motions.
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 2 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the District of Alaska, not for Judge Burgess: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 235 | 10.1 months |
| Closed with no court action | 38 | 10.3 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 191 | 9.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 2 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 4 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 235 | 10.1 months |
| Sep 2024 | 230 | 9 months |
| Sep 2023 | 259 | 6.3 months |
| Sep 2022 | 358 | 6.4 months |
| Sep 2021 | 281 | 9.4 months |
| Sep 2020 | 263 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2019 | 336 | 8.3 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
Draft for Judge Burgess with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Burgess, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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