Frank J. Singer
How Judge Singer rules, drawn from 15 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Singer
Frank J. Singer is a United States Magistrate Judge in the Fresno Division of the Eastern District of California. Appointed in March 2026, he previously litigated environmental and public law cases for the Justice Department.
Judge Singer's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Singer, 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.
- Case Management Procedures and Motion Schedule ↗
- Standard Information ↗
- Joint Scheduling Report ↗
- Model Protective Order ↗
- Model Statement of Uncontested Material Facts ↗
Key rules
Motions
Judge Singer lists civil motions for Fridays at 10:00 a.m.
“Motion Type: Civil Day: Friday Time: 10:00 a.m.”
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 9, 2026).
How Judge Singer decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Morrison v. United States, he granted the government 30 additional days to answer the habeas petition after its missed deadline.
“Respondent is GRANTED thirty (30) days from the date of service”
Procedural preferences
In E.H. v. Lifelong Adoptions, he continued the scheduling conference but denied the rest of the parties' joint stay request.
“The joint motion is otherwise DENIED.”
In Collins, he declined a stay while the prisoner complaint awaited screening and no case deadline required a pause.
“there are no other pending deadlines in this action.”
Cautions
In Sharp, Singer noted that this prisoner could obtain the local rules through his institution's law library.
“available to Plaintiff from the law library at his institution.”
In Pittman, Singer recommended denying the prisoner's fee-waiver request after finding that his complaint did not allege imminent danger when filed.
“Plaintiff fails to allege that he was in any imminent danger of serious physical injury at the time the complaint was filed.”
In Munoz, Singer enforced an expert-report deadline after finding that the plaintiffs had not shown adequate diligence; he left any trial-exclusion question for later.
“Plaintiffs have not shown the required diligence.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Respondent is GRANTED thirty (30) days from the date of service”
“Plaintiff’s motion for a copy of the Local Rules, (ECF No. 11), is DENIED.”
“Plaintiff Viengkhone Sikeo’s action against Defendants is terminated by”
“Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis is GRANTED;”
“Defendant’s responsive pleading deadline is continued from September 10, 2026, to September 25,”
“The motion to proceed in forma pauperis, (ECF No. 2), be denied”
“Plaintiff’s motion for discovery or Pitchess motion (ECF No. 36) is DENIED;”
“Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to file expert report out of time (ECF No. 24) is HEREBY DENIED.”
“Sequoia’s motion to file a second amended complaint (ECF No. 13) be GRANTED”
“the petition for writ of habeas corpus be GRANTED and Petitioner be RELEASED.”
“the permanent restraints on re-detention that Petitioner seeks be DENIED.”
“the restraints on third-country removal Petitioner seeks be GRANTED-IN- PART.”
“The petition for writ of habeas corpus (ECF No. 1) be GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 3.0 days (N = 8).
Singer's twenty oldest assignments after appointment, filed from March 23 through May 4, 2026, were all pending when enumerated. They included nine prisoner civil-rights matters, five other civil matters, three Social Security appeals, and three habeas petitions. The new-bench window is descriptive only.
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 | 1 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 5 |
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 Eastern District of California, not for Judge Singer: 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 | 2,984 | 8.1 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,029 | 5.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 1,899 | 9.1 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 36 | 29.9 months |
| Closed during trial | 20 | 50.5 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,984 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,575 | 9.2 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,528 | 10.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,624 | 11.2 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,316 | 9.9 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,319 | 9.2 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,562 | 10.3 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 Singer with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Singer, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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