John C. Hinderaker
How Judge Hinderaker rules, drawn from 40 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Hinderaker
John Charles Hinderaker is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Hinderaker received a commission on September 29, 2020.
Judge Hinderaker's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Hinderaker, 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.
Key rules
Contacting chambers
Tell the court before argument if a more experienced lawyer will follow up with argument or clarification.
“If you wish to take advantage of this opportunity, please alert the Court before the argument begins.”
Trial
Address the court from the lectern and stand when making objections.
“Stand at the lectern when addressing the court. Stand when making objections.”
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 Hinderaker decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Thomas v. Shields, he denied dismissal of a promissory-note contract claim after finding the complaint plausibly stated a claim.
“IT IS ORDERED DENYING Defendant Jeffery Shields's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 14).”
In one border-stop suppression order, he treated the combined route, driver behavior, and vehicle characteristics as reasonable suspicion even though individual factors could have innocent explanations.
“Under the totality of the circumstances, these factors gave rise to reasonable suspicion.”
Cautions
In Pfaendler, Hinderaker granted the defendants summary judgment on false arrest and search claims after finding probable cause for the arrest and qualified immunity for the officers.
“IT IS ORDERED GRANTING Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 58). The Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment accordingly.”
In Zuniga, Hinderaker granted the employer summary judgment on the employee's Title VII and ADEA claims after finding insufficient evidence of pretext or age discrimination.
“IT IS ORDERED GRANTING Gowan Milling Company, LLC's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 44). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED DIRECTING the Clerk of the Court to enter Judgment for the Defendant Gowan Milling Company, LLC and against the Plaintiff Maribel Zuniga.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 29). Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED on Counts II, III, IV, VI, VII, VIII, IX, XI, XII, XIII and XV and the portion of Counts I, X and XIV based on negligent failure to warn, and is otherwise DENIED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED GRANTING Defendants' Supplemental Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 89). Count XVII is DISMISSED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE the motions seeking to limit case specific testimony (Docs. 31, 33). The parties may refile motions seeking to limit case specific testimony in light of the claims remaining as set forth in this Order.”
“IT IS ORDERED granting Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 15). Counts One and Two and this action are dismissed with prejudice. The Clerk of Court shall enter judgment accordingly.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED DENYING Defendant's Amended Motion to Suppress (Doc. 73).”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED AFFIRMING Judge Markovich's Order (Doc. 113) denying Defendant's Motion to Compel or Dismiss Indictment.”
“(3) Granting Officers' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. 28) and dismissing with prejudice Plaintiff's state law claims for False Arrest and Imprisonment and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress against Defendants Antonio Apodaca, Jeffrey Glesinger, Jesse Giles, and Jennifer Hawkins.”
“Without good cause appearing, denying Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to File a Second Amended Complaint (Doc. 34) and Motion for Leave to File a Third Amended Complaint (Doc. 49).”
“(2) Denying Plaintiff's Motion Under Rule 56(d) for Extension to Conduct Discovery (Doc. 48).”
“IT IS ORDERED GRANTING Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 58). The Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment accordingly.”
“IT IS ORDERED GRANTING Gowan Milling Company, LLC's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 44). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED DIRECTING the Clerk of the Court to enter Judgment for the Defendant Gowan Milling Company, LLC and against the Plaintiff Maribel Zuniga.”
“IT IS ORDERED DENYING Defendant Jeffery Shields's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 14).”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED denying as moot Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 4).”
“IT IS ORDERED Plaintiff's request for a Temporary Restraining order and Plaintiff's request for Waiver of Fees (Doc. 1) is denied.”
“IT IS ORDERED denying Defendant's Motion to Suppress Other Fires (Doc. 37).”
“IT IS ORDERED GRANTING Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 25). The Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment accordingly.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED DENYING Plaintiff's Partial Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 27).”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED DENYING AS MOOT Plaintiff's Motion to Certify Class (Doc. 26).”
“IT IS ORDERED adopting in full the R&R (Doc. 25) and affirming the decision of the Commissioner.”
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 | 4 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2025 | 3 | 4 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2022 | 1 | 6 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2021 | 2 | 3 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 4 |
| 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 District of Arizona, not for Judge Hinderaker: 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).
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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Hinderaker, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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