Nandor J. Vadas
How Judge Vadas rules, drawn from 5 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Vadas no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Vadas
Nandor J. Vadas served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California in the Eureka Division from 2004 until his retirement in 2017. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and later became a mediator and arbitrator.
How Judge Vadas decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Castillo v. Berryhill, he granted the claimant’s summary-judgment motion and remanded the benefits appeal after finding fault with the ALJ’s treatment of a physician’s opinion.
“For the reasons stated above, the court GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and REMANDS this matter for further proceedings in accordance with this Order.”
Procedural preferences
In Bruce v. Sayre, he considered the merits of an unopposed summary-judgment motion and granted it.
“Defendants’ motion for summary judgment (Docket No. 36) is GRANTED.”
Cautions
Recommends enforcing a settlement reached on the record, rejecting a party's later attempt to add terms not stated at the conference.
“Accordingly, the court HEREBY RECOMMENDS that Senior District Judge Armstrong GRANT Defendant’s motion for enforcement of the settlement.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
Section 1915A screening Order of Service in a pro se state-prisoner Section 1983 deliberate-indifference suit in which the parties later consented to magistrate-judge jurisdiction. On screening the amended complaint, Vadas allowed inadequate-medical-care claims to proceed against two treating physicians, dismissed the supervisory defendants with prejudice for failure to allege personal involvement, and granted the plaintiff's extension motion. The dismissals arose from screening rather than a contested party motion.
“Defendants’ motion for summary judgment (Docket No. 36) is GRANTED.”
“For the reasons stated above, the court GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and REMANDS this matter for further proceedings in accordance with this Order.”
“the court will grant Lockwood’s motion for summary judgment, deny Defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this order.”
“The court denies Defendant‟s motion for summary judgment.”
“Accordingly, the court HEREBY RECOMMENDS that Senior District Judge Armstrong GRANT Defendant’s motion for enforcement of the settlement.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Vadas's directly assigned North Coast caseload was dominated by Social Security disability appeals, alongside pro se state-prisoner habeas and civil-rights suits, criminal matters, and occasional government-enforcement actions.
- In 17 consent Social Security appeals decided on contested cross-motions from 2005 through 2014, claimants prevailed in full or in part in roughly half and the agency was affirmed in the rest. The durations below measure filing to termination, not motion-to-ruling time.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Vadas was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of March 31, 2022.
| Motions pending more than six months | 1 |
| 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 |
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 Vadas 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.