Gordon Paul Gallagher
How Judge Gallagher rules, drawn from 13 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Gallagher
Gordon Paul Gallagher is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Judge Gallagher received a commission on March 24, 2023.
Judge Gallagher's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Gallagher, 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.
- Standing Order Regarding Pretrial and Trial Procedures — Civil ↗
- Criminal Practice Standards ↗
- Uniform Civil Practice Standards ↗
Key rules
Motions
File motions in limine 21 days before the trial preparation conference; responses are due 14 days before it.
“If motions in limine are filed, they must be filed twenty-one days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Any responses to the motions in limine shall be filed fourteen days before the Trial Preparation Conference.”
Motions
Each party is limited to one motion in limine unless the court permits another.
“Each party shall be limited to one motion in limine unless the Court grants leave for a supplemental filing.”
Motions
In criminal cases, motions and responses are limited to fifteen pages, and permitted replies to ten.
“All motions, objections, responses, and concomitant briefs shall not exceed fifteen pages. Replies, if permitted, are limited to ten pages.”
Conferences
Submit the proposed final pretrial order at least seven days before the conference in both the docket and an editable Word email to chambers.
“Unless otherwise ordered, the parties shall submit their proposed Final Pretrial Order no later than seven days before the date of the Final Pretrial Conference. The proposed Final Pretrial Order should be filed in CM/ECF and submitted electronically in editable (Word) format directly to Chambers”
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 Gallagher decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Ascent Classical Academies v. Ascent Classical Academy Charter Schools, Gallagher dismissed the federal trademark claims after reading the parties’ unambiguous license as written rather than adding restrictions absent from the contract.
“Colorado courts have made clear that 'courts may not rewrite clear and unambiguous contract provisions.' ... Contracts should be enforced as they are made.”
In United States v. Arvay, he denied suppression after finding probable cause for the arcade search warrant and, alternatively, good-faith reliance on it; he also rejected an unspecified claim that officers seized items outside its scope.
“The Court finds that law enforcement acted in good faith reliance on a search warrant signed by a magistrate judge.”
Procedural preferences
In Ascent Classical Academies, Gallagher declined supplemental jurisdiction over remaining state claims after dismissing the federal claims.
“when all the 'federal claims have been dismissed, the court may, and usually should, decline to exercise jurisdiction over any remaining state claims.'”
In The Aaron H. Fleck Revocable Trust v. First Western Trust Bank, Gallagher recommended denying partial dismissal because the contract’s language differed from the precedent the defendants invoked; the district judge adopted his recommendation.
“the contractual language noted in Micale is not identical to the instant contractual provisions.”
In Pisani, Gallagher recommended dismissal without prejudice after the plaintiff had known of defective service for over six months but made no effort to serve that defendant properly.
“Without even considering the state court’s docket, Plaintiff has been aware for over six months (188 days and counting) that Harrington was not properly served. Nothing in the record indicates that Plaintiff has made any effort to arrange for proper service of process on Harrington.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED that Motion to Dismiss Defendant the Three Federal Claims (D. 23) is GRANTED. It is FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall close this case.”
“This matter is before the Court on the recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge Gordon P. Gallagher (ECF No. 32) to grant Defendants' motions to dismiss (ECF Nos. 8, 14). The Court accepts and adopts the recommendation... Therefore, the Court GRANTS the motions to dismiss (ECF Nos. 8, 14) and directs the Clerk to CLOSE this case.”
“The Motion to Dismiss filed by defendants Two Rivers Drug Enforcement Team, Garfield County (Colorado) Board of Commissioners, and Garfield County Sheriff' [Docket No. 17] is granted.”
“The Motion to Dismiss filed by defendants City of Glenwood Springs and Town of Silt [Docket No. 22] is granted.”
“Therefore, the Court OVERRULES Defendant's objection (ECF No. 107), ACCEPTS and ADOPTS the recommendation (ECF No. 101), and GRANTS IN PART the motion to dismiss (ECF No. 55). In all other respects, the motion to dismiss remains referred to the magistrate judge for a further recommendation.”
“(1) The Magistrate Judge's Recommendation (ECF No. 54) is ADOPTED in its entirety; (2) Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Complaint Pursuant to F.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) (ECF No. 37) is GRANTED; and (3) The Prisoner Complaint (ECF No. 1) is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE; and (4) Plaintiff Simpson is GRANTED LEAVE to file an amended complaint no later than February 26, 2021.”
“Accordingly, Defendant Arvay's Motion to Suppress is DENIED.”
“Accordingly, the Bankruptcy Court's March 8, 2022, Order is AFFIRMED (D. 9).”
“Accordingly, the Petition (D. 1) is GRANTED and the Motion (D. 11) is GRANTED. Respondents are ORDERED to IMMEDIATELY RELEASE MARCELO RAMIREZ VILLASENOR, A221-489-912 from custody...”
“Pursuant to the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(b), and in order to preserve the Court's jurisdiction, Defendants SHALL NOT REMOVE Petitioner Hossein Batooie from the District of Colorado or the United States unless or until this Court or the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit vacates this Order.”
“the Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Gordon P. Gallagher (Doc. # 38) is AFFIRMED AND ADOPTED as an Order of this Court; Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. # 24) is GRANTED; and this case is DISMISSED.”
“Magistrate Judge Gallagher's Recommendation (Doc. # 45) is AFFIRMED AND ADOPTED as an order of this Court; Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint (Doc. # 34) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART... Plaintiff's negligent defamation claim (Claim 3) is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, and Plaintiff's negligent infliction of emotional distress claim (Claim 4) is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for the reasons the Court stated in Section III(B).”
“the February 17, 2022 Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge (Doc. # 47)... The Court overrules Defendants' Objection, affirms and adopts the Recommendation, and denies Defendants' Partial Motion to Dismiss (Doc. # 21).”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The available terminated-case set is small and non-representative. Most of his 2026 district cases remain pending, so no meaningful case-duration distribution is available.
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 | 16 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 16 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 11 |
| Mar 2025 | 6 | 11 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 7 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2023 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 1 | 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 District of Colorado, not for Judge Gallagher: 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 | 2,669 | 7.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 497 | 7.6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,076 | 7.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 63 | 26.2 months |
| Closed during trial | 33 | 39.3 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,669 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,704 | 7.4 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,560 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,614 | 9 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,637 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,637 | 7.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,577 | 7.5 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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