Jacqueline Chooljian
How Judge Chooljian rules, drawn from 3 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Chooljian no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Chooljian
Jacqueline Chooljian served as a United States magistrate judge for the Central District of California from 2006 until her retirement in January 2026. Before taking the bench, she was a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles. She earned degrees from UCLA and the University of Southern California School of Law.
How Judge Chooljian decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Sitting by consent, Chooljian remands a Social Security denial where the ALJ's analysis rests on an incomplete or inaccurate characterization of the record, or improperly substitutes lay judgment for a treating physician's limitations, and the error is not harmless.
“the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security is REVERSED in part, and this matter is REMANDED for further administrative action consistent with this Opinion.”
Cautions
She affirms the Commissioner where the ALJ properly resolved the case (for example at step four), adequately considered the medical opinions and the claimant's obesity, and the findings are supported by substantial evidence.
“the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security is affirmed.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security is REVERSED in part, and this matter is REMANDED for further administrative action consistent with this Opinion.”
“the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security is reversed in part, and this matter is remanded for further administrative action consistent with this Opinion.”
“the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security is affirmed.”
“The Court concurs with and adopts the Report and Recommendation with the following modifications ... IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: (1) the Motion to Dismiss is [granted] in part and denied in part; ... (4) Plaintiff's Summary Judgment Motions are denied”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Across four terminated 2025 consent dockets the median time from filing to termination is about 75 days; the Americans with Disabilities Act access cases and the contract removal resolved especially fast (18-105 days), consistent with early settlement or default.
- This is a small final-year sample, not a tenure-wide census, and is not representative of her earlier Social Security and habeas caseload.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Chooljian was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2025.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 2 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 1 | 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 Chooljian 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.