Timothy Lloyd Brooks
How Judge Brooks rules, drawn from 26 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Brooks
Timothy Lloyd Brooks is a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Brooks received a commission on March 7, 2014.
Judge Brooks's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Brooks, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Sealing
When a protective order includes Judge Brooks’ specified language, confidential documents may be filed under seal without a separate leave motion.
“If the above language is included in a protective order entered by the Court, a motion for leave to file confidential documents under seal will not be required.”
Sealing
Do not file an entire motion or brief under seal without a public redacted version unless Judge Brooks grants prior leave.
“in no event will an entire motion or entire brief be filed under seal-without a corresponding redacted version of the motion or brief also filed on the public docket-unless prior leave of Court is sought.”
Trial
Exchange deposition page and line designations by the case management deadline, and confer over objections before filing them.
“By the deadline stated in the Case Management Order, the parties must exchange page and line designations for all witness testimony that a party intends to present by deposition.”
Trial
File one joint motion to exclude deposition testimony per witness for unresolved objections by the case management deadline.
“If there are unresolved objections, then, by no later than the deadline stated in the Case Management Order, the parties must file a single Joint Motion to Exclude Deposition Testimony for each witness.”
Trial
Give chambers a color-highlighted condensed deposition transcript identifying each side’s designations and annotate the objections.
“The parties must separately provide Chambers with a color-highlighted version of the complete condensed transcript, visually identifying the Plaintiff’s designations in one highlighter color, and the Defendant’s designations in a different color.”
Trial
Provide the final edited deposition video and matching transcript to opposing counsel at least one full business day before trial.
“A copy of the final edited video and corresponding transcript must be provided to opposing counsel at least one full business day prior to trial,”
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).
How Judge Brooks decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a deadly-force suit against a park ranger, he denied qualified-immunity summary judgment after the video showed that the man had lowered his apparent gun and was turning away before the ranger fired.
“Mr. Bolger was turning away from the rangers, and the immediate threat he posed to the safety of the rangers had passed.”
In an emergency-care benefits dispute, he declined to adopt a magistrate judge’s recommendation and ordered in-network coverage because the insurer’s reading of the plan would make its alternative-care provision meaningless.
“For the reasons explained below, this reading of Article 5.7.1 is unreasonable and makes other Plan provisions meaningless.”
In Stinson, he treated Stone v. Graham as binding precedent when granting the plaintiffs summary judgment against Arkansas’s classroom Ten Commandments display requirement.
“This precedent has not been explicitly overturned and is binding upon all lower courts–– including this one.”
Procedural preferences
After a plaintiff missed her deposition in a civil case, he imposed an interim discovery sanction requiring a new deposition and written responses, while warning that further noncompliance would lead to dismissal.
“Plaintiff Inez Griffin has violated Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(d) by failing to attend her own properly noticed deposition on August 17, 2026.”
Cautions
In an ERISA employee-stock-ownership-plan suit, he granted the trustee summary judgment after reviewing its outside valuations and decision process; the plaintiffs’ preference for the prior arrangement did not establish imprudence.
“Plaintiffs’ disagreement with GreatBanc is less about the process than the fact that Transaction Two happened at all.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For these reasons, Ranger Sullivan's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 34) is DENIED.”
“Defendants' Motions to Dismiss (Docs. 4, 8, 20, and 26) are GRANTED; ... and this case is DISMISSED.”
“Razz's Rule 55(a) Request to Enter Default Against State of Israel (Doc. 49) is DENIED;”
“As liability on Count III has been established, the only remaining question is the amount of the judgment. ... He is therefore personally liable for the taxes owed.”
“Benton County's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 14) is GRANTED, and Benton County, Arkansas is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE as a party to this matter.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 18) is GRANTED. The case is therefore DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“the R&R is ADOPTED IN ITS ENTIRETY, and Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 50) is GRANTED. The case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“The Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 31) filed by separate Defendants Robison and Frederick is GRANTED. All claims against them are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE, and the Clerk is directed to terminate them as parties to this lawsuit. The suit will continue as to the remaining Defendants and claims.”
“the Report and Recommendation is proper and should be and hereby is ADOPTED IN ITS ENTIRETY. For the reasons stated in the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation, the Petition (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“the Report and Recommendation is proper and should be and hereby is ADOPTED IN ITS ENTIRETY. For the reasons stated in the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation, the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“IT IS ORDERED that the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Deputy Koster (Doc. 20) and the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Nurse Robison (Doc. 27) are both GRANTED. The case is therefore DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Defendant Janice Wilson's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 29) is GRANTED, and this case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Defendants' Joint Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 118) is GRANTED. The Amended Complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, and all other pending motions are MOOT.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The four reviewed terminated cases filed in 2019 form a small timing sample and do not describe the full docket or Judge Brooks’s tenure.
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 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 0 |
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 Western District of Arkansas, not for Judge Brooks: 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 | 468 | 9.5 months |
| Closed with no court action | 38 | 3.9 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 341 | 8.8 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 85 | 11.4 months |
| Closed during trial | 4 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 468 | 9.5 months |
| Sep 2024 | 465 | 9.4 months |
| Sep 2023 | 555 | 10.1 months |
| Sep 2022 | 564 | 11.9 months |
| Sep 2021 | 517 | 9.8 months |
| Sep 2020 | 556 | 10.5 months |
| Sep 2019 | 727 | 11.2 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 Brooks with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Brooks, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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