Valerie E. Torres
How Judge Torres rules, drawn from 6 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Torres
Valerie E. Torres was appointed a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of California on December 8, 2023, and is based in San Diego. She previously litigated in private practice and served as a Deputy Chief in the Civil Division of the United States Attorney’s Office. She earned degrees from Princeton University and Pepperdine University’s law school.
Judge Torres's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Torres, 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
Filing
Provide courtesy copies for filings or lodgments exceeding 50 pages, including exhibits.
“Courtesy copies shall be provided for documents filed or lodged that exceed fifty (50) pages, inclusive of exhibits.”
Discovery
File a joint discovery plan at least seven calendar days before the ENE and case management conference.
“No later than seven (7) calendar days prior to the scheduled ENE/CMC, the parties shall file a Joint Discovery Plan in CM/ECF.”
Conferences
Lodge each confidential ENE statement by email at least seven calendar days before the ENE.
“No later than seven (7) calendar days before the ENE, each party must lodge a ‘Confidential ENE Statement’ by email to efile_torres@casd.”
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).
- General Order 514-E: Policy on Privacy and Public Access to Electronic Case Files ↗
- General Order 596: Pro Bono Plan ↗
- Chief Judge Order 144: Standard Procedures for Immigration Habeas Petitions ↗
- Chief Judge Order 134-A: Appointment of Counsel for Certain Immigration Detainees Seeking Habeas Relief ↗
How Judge Torres decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In United States v. City of San Diego, she denied the City's motion to compel sampling access because it waited until after the fact-discovery cutoff to seek the relief.
“For the reasons set forth above, the City's Motion to Compel is DENIED. ... because the City failed to timely propounded and seek the requested sampling, the Court denies the Motion.”
Cautions
In Thompson v. Pfeiffer, she recommended granting the habeas dismissal motion with prejudice; the district judge adopted that recommendation and denied a certificate of appealability.
“Considering the foregoing, the Court ADOPTS Magistrate Judge Torres's R&R, (ECF No. 22), and GRANTS Respondents' Motion to Dismiss, (ECF No. 10), with prejudice. ... the Court DENIES Petitioner a certificate of appealability. The case is hereby closed.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Considering the foregoing, the Court ADOPTS Magistrate Judge Torres's R&R, (ECF No. 22), and GRANTS Respondents' Motion to Dismiss, (ECF No. 10), with prejudice. ... the Court DENIES Petitioner a certificate of appealability. The case is hereby closed.”
“On December 18, 2024, the Honorable Valerie E. Torres, United States Magistrate Judge, issued a Report & Recommendation ('R&R'), which recommended that the Court deny Plaintiff's Motion. ... the Court (1) OVERRULES the Objections and CONFIRMS the adoption of the R&R in its entirety”
“For the reasons set forth above, the City's Motion to Compel is DENIED. ... because the City failed to timely propounded and seek the requested sampling, the Court denies the Motion.”
“the Court GRANTS the Motion (ECF No. 19) and awards the Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC attorney’s fees in the amount of $11,500.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court RECOMMENDS the Commissioner’s final decision be VACATED and REMANDED to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings consistent with this Report and Recommendation.”
“Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the Motion to File A-File Under Seal. ECF No. 15. The Clerk of the Court SHALL FILE the Lodgment (ECF No. 16) UNDER SEAL.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Beyond the directly-assigned duty docket (criminal initial appearances, device-seizure matters) and referred R&R work, Torres sits on a recurring consent Social Security docket: parties consent under 28 U.S.C. 636(c) and she enters the final memorandum order and judgment.
- Many of these appeals reach her by reassignment from predecessor magistrate judges, so their long pendency is not attributable to her alone.
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 | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 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 Southern District of California, not for Judge Torres: 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 | 2,204 | 5.3 months |
| Closed with no court action | 642 | 3.3 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 1,066 | 5.3 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 484 | 10.4 months |
| Closed during trial | 12 | 38.3 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,204 | 5.3 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,146 | 6.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,133 | 6 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,974 | 9 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,381 | 7.4 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,885 | 6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,265 | 6.2 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 Torres with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Torres, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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