Roslyn O. Silver
How Judge Silver rules, drawn from 34 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Silver
Roslyn O. Silver is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Silver received a commission on October 11, 1994. Judge Silver assumed senior status on September 3, 2013.
Judge Silver's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Silver, 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.
- Agenda for Civil Case Management Meeting & Proposed Case Management Plan Format ↗
- Civil Trial Conduct and Decorum ↗
- Court Contact Information ↗
- Criminal Order of Referral ↗
- Deposition Designation Procedure ↗
- Discovery Dispute Instructions ↗
- Exhibit Procedure ↗
- Joint Proposed Pretrial Order ↗
- Juror Questionnaire ↗
- Jury Instructions ↗
- Notice to Court Reporter ↗
- Rule 16 Scheduling Order ↗
- Trial Setting Order ↗
- Verdict Form Instructions ↗
Key rules
Discovery
Do not file a discovery motion unless the court directs you to.
“If unable to resolve a discovery dispute, do not file a motion unless directed by the Court.”
Discovery
File and email chambers a joint dispute statement limited to 14 lines per issue for each party unless enlarged.
“File and e-mail to chambers ([email protected]) a joint statement of the dispute. This joint statement is not to exceed 14 lines per issue for each party unless an enlargement has been approved by the Court.”
Discovery
Personally meet and confer before contacting the court about a discovery dispute.
“counsel and any pro se parties must personally meet and confer and make all reasonable efforts to resolve a discovery dispute prior to contacting the Court.”
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 Silver decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Chavez-DeRemer v. Bensen, Silver denied a request to add a highly confidential tier to an existing protective order because the defendants had not shown particularized harm from leaving the order unchanged.
“Individual Defendants have failed to carry their burden of demonstrating particularized harm that will result if their proposed modification is not granted. The Court does not find good cause to modify the Stipulated Protective Order.”
Cautions
In Arizona Yage Assembly v. Garland, Silver dismissed the Administrative Procedure Act claim without leave to amend while allowing amendment of the Section 1983 and religious-freedom claims.
“Plaintiffs' claim under the Administrative Procedure Act is DISMISSED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND. Plaintiffs' claim against the Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 is DISMISSED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS ORDERED Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 18) is GRANTED. Plaintiff's complaint (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND.”
“IT IS ORDERED Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment (Doc. 30) is DENIED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED Defendant's motion for summary judgment (Doc. 31) is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court shall enter judgment in favor of Defendant.”
“IT IS ORDERED Defendant's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. 59) is GRANTED IN PART. The Court finds: (1) Defendant Christopher Robinson had reasonable suspicion to detain Plaintiff Samantha Glass pursuant to Terry v. Ohio; (2) Robinson began to arrest Glass when he grabbed her arm...; (3) Glass resisted arrest...; (4) Robinson was entitled to use some degree of force...”
“IT IS ORDERED the Motion to Remand (Doc. 7) is DENIED.”
“IT IS ORDERED the Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 68) is DENIED.”
“IT IS ORDERED the Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 23) is GRANTED.”
“IT IS ORDERED Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification (Doc. 43) is GRANTED.”
“IT IS ORDERED the Motion to Strike (Doc. 15) is DENIED.”
“IT IS ORDERED the Plaintiffs' Motion to Strike PCH Defendants' Pleadings and Motion for Sanctions (Doc. 114) is DENIED.”
“IT IS ORDERED Defendant Allstate's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 54) is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is directed to enter judgment in favor of Defendant and close this case.”
“IT IS ORDERED the Request for Judicial Notice (Doc. 28) and Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 27) are GRANTED. The complaint is DIMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. The Clerk of Court shall enter judgment in favor of Defendant.”
“IT IS ORDERED the United States's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 24) for lack of jurisdiction is GRANTED. ... IT IS FURTHER ORDERED Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint (Doc. 20) is DISMISSED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND.”
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 | 1 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 9 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 9 |
| Sep 2025 | 1 | 5 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 9 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 12 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 8 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 8 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 5 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 3 |
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 Silver: 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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