Eileen S. Willett
How Judge Willett rules, drawn from 6 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Willett no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Willett
Eileen S. Willett served as a U.S. magistrate judge for the District of Arizona from 2014 until her retirement in 2026. She previously served as a Maricopa County Superior Court judge and as chief administrative law judge of the Industrial Commission of Arizona. She earned degrees from the University of Georgia and Rutgers Law School.
How Judge Willett decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Hiles v. Progressive Relocation Systems, she recommended default judgment for the plaintiffs, and the district judge adopted the recommendation.
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED ACCEPTING AND ADOPTING as an Order of this Court Magistrate Judge Willett’s R&R (Doc. 34). ... IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Default Judgment (Doc. 20) is GRANTED.”
Procedural preferences
In Pologa-Seiuli, Willett recommended dismissing an unserved defendant without prejudice under Rule 4(m) after the plaintiff did not show good cause for failing to complete service.
“The undersigned finds that Plaintiff has failed to show good cause why Defendant Rice should not be dismissed from the lawsuit for failure to timely serve.”
Cautions
In Jackson, Willett recommended denying four habeas grounds on the merits and dismissing three with prejudice for procedural default or failure to state a cognizable habeas claim.
“IT IS RECOMMENDED that the Court (i) deny Grounds One, Two, Three, and Six of the Amended Petition (Doc. 14) and (ii) dismiss with prejudice Grounds Four, Five, and Seven.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS RECOMMENDED that the Court (i) deny Grounds One, Two, Three, and Six of the Amended Petition (Doc. 14) and (ii) dismiss with prejudice Grounds Four, Five, and Seven.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED ACCEPTING AND ADOPTING as an Order of this Court Magistrate Judge Willett’s R&R (Doc. 34). ... IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Default Judgment (Doc. 20) is GRANTED.”
“IT IS RECOMMENDED that the Court dismiss without prejudice Defendant Rice”
“IT IS ORDERED the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 20) is ADOPTED. The Clerk of Court shall enter a judgment of dismissal without prejudice and close this case.”
“The R&R recommends that the Motion be dismissed with prejudice. ... IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge (Doc.19) is accepted. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court enter judgment dismissing Movant's Motion to Vacate, Set Aside or Correct Sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (Doc. 1) with prejudice.”
“Defendants' Motion to for Summary Judgment (Doc. 21) is denied as moot.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Two distinct slices: (1) her duty rotation (criminal-duty search warrants, filed/terminated same day) and (2) her own civil docket, taken by 28 U.S.C. 636(c) consent — Social Security disability appeals dominate, with ADA-accommodation, employment-discrimination, and contract matters.
- Many consent civil cases settle; Social Security appeals reliably reach a signed final judgment (affirm or remand).
- Composition only; not a grant rate or base rate.
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 | 1 |
| 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.
A historical record
Judge Willett no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.