Alison S. Bachus
How Judge Bachus rules, drawn from 28 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Bachus
Alison S. Bachus began serving as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Arizona in Phoenix on April 12, 2023. Before joining the federal bench, she served as a judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court.
Judge Bachus's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Bachus, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- Case Management Order ↗
- Guidelines for Jury Instructions in Civil Matters ↗
- Order Setting Final Pretrial Conference ↗
- Order Setting Rule 16 Case Management Conference ↗
- Proposed Final Pretrial Order for Bench Trial ↗
- Proposed Final Pretrial Order for Jury Trial ↗
- Standard Voir Dire in Civil Matters ↗
- Trial Conduct & Decorum ↗
- Waiver of Appearance at Arraignment ↗
Key rules
Discovery
Email and file a joint notice of discovery dispute; it may not exceed two pages per side or include attachments.
“If a discovery dispute arises, the parties shall provide a Joint Notice of Discovery Dispute via email to [email protected] and file same.”
Discovery
The joint notice of a discovery dispute may not exceed two pages per side or include attachments.
“The Joint Notice shall be no more than two pages per side and contain no attachments.”
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 8, 2026).
How Judge Bachus decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Kvirkveliia’s first immigration habeas petition, Magistrate Judge Bachus recommended dismissal without prejudice and leave to amend. The petition did not allege a pending appellate challenge to the removal order, but that missing fact could be added.
“could be cured by the allegation of other facts, e.g., an appeal to the Circuit is pending.”
In the same amended petition, Magistrate Judge Bachus recommended a neutral bond hearing and protection against renewed detention without another individualized hearing, but declined to recommend immediate release on the undeveloped record.
“does not appear warranted as the record is too undeveloped.”
In Ramos Perez v. Evolet’s Painting Service, Magistrate Judge Bachus recommended a reduced FLSA fee award. She found $395 rather than the requested $495 hourly rate reasonable and excluded 1.5 hours for clerical work and revisiting fee issues already explained to counsel.
“which represents 11.8 hours for Clifford Bendau, II, at an hourly rate of $395.00.”
In Quigley, Bachus recommended excluding proposed future collection costs from an FLSA fee award because their reasonableness could not yet be assessed; the district judge agreed.
“$5,748.53 in anticipated collection costs be denied.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS ORDERED overruling Plaintiff’s Objections (Doc. 24) and adopting the reasoning and conclusions of the R&R (Doc. 23). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED reversing and remanding the final decision of the Commissioner for further proceedings consistent with this Order.”
“IT IS ORDERED the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 209) is adopted. The Motion to Disqualify (Doc. 195) is denied.”
“IT IS ORDERED adopting in whole the R&R (Doc. 13) submitted by Judge Bachus and denying and dismissing with prejudice the Petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 for a Writ of Habeas Corpus (Doc. 1).”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED granting in-part Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs. (Doc. 31). Plaintiff is awarded $3,555.00 in attorney fees and $796.00 in costs, for a total of $4,351.00 ...”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED approving the Stipulation to Dismiss with Prejudice. (Doc. 13). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED dismissing with prejudice this matter in its entirety, each party to bear its own attorney fees and costs.”
“IT IS ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 31) is accepted and adopted as the Order of this Court. Plaintiffs’ Motion for Entry of Default Judgment against Defendants Ryan Morgan and All Done Consulting, LLC (Doc. 21) is granted.”
“IT IS FINALLY ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Award of Attorneys’ Fees and Costs Against Defendants All Done Consulting, LLC and Ryan Morgan (Doc. 25) is denied without prejudice.”
“IT IS ORDERED adopting the R&R filed by Magistrate Judge Bachus (Doc. 11) in its entirety and denying and dismissing with prejudice the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (Doc. 1).”
“The Honorable Alison S. Bachus, United States Magistrate Judge, issued a Report and Recommendation (‘R&R’) (Doc. 7) recommending that the Court deny the Petition. Petitioner filed an Objection to the R&R (Doc. 8), and following review, on September 12, 2024, the Court adopted the R&R, denied the petition, and overruled the Petitioner’s objections. (Doc. 9).”
“On August 15, 2025, Magistrate Judge Bachus issued an 18-page report and recommendation (‘R&R’) concluding that Petitioner’s habeas petition should be denied and dismissed with prejudice. IT IS ORDERED that: 1. The R&R (Doc. 13) is adopted. 2. Petitioner’s objections (Doc. 14) are overruled. 3. The petition (Doc. 1) is denied.”
“IT IS ORDERED that the R&R’s recommended disposition (Doc. 11) is accepted, that the petition (Doc. 1) is denied and dismissed with prejudice, and that the Clerk of Court shall enter judgment accordingly.”
“IT IS ORDERED the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 16) is ADOPTED IN FULL. The petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. 1) is DENIED and this case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“ORDER that the R&R 10 is accepted. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Petition in this case is denied and dismissed, with prejudice, and the Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment accordingly. ... Signed by Senior Judge James A Teilborg on 3/8/2024.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- The sampled Phoenix assignments include search-warrant and criminal-duty matters, a removed patent case, a Federal Tort Claims Act suit, and other consent civil cases.
- Because the current-duty cases are from 2026, they do not support duration figures.
- Older terminated consent cases from 2021 through 2023 include wage-and-hour matters, Social Security appeals, ERISA and disability disputes, and smaller civil suits, many resolved by settlement or stipulated dismissal.
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 |
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 Arizona, not for Judge Bachus: 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 | 2,485 | 6 months |
| Closed with no court action | 135 | 2.2 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,001 | 5.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 335 | 15.2 months |
| Closed during trial | 14 | 32.4 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,485 | 6 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,278 | 6.7 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,126 | 8.3 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,181 | 9.4 months |
| Sep 2021 | 3,857 | 20.9 months |
| Sep 2020 | 8,128 | 12.2 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,842 | 9.6 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 Bachus with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Bachus, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Bachus's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace