Philip Andrew Brimmer
How Judge Brimmer rules, drawn from 38 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Brimmer
Philip A. Brimmer is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Brimmer received a commission on October 14, 2008.
Judge Brimmer's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Brimmer, 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.
Key rules
Filing
File extension requests at least three business days before the paper is due.
“Any motion for extension of time shall be filed no later than three business days before the date the motion, response, reply, or other paper is due.”
Motions
For most motions, use at most fifteen pages; replies are limited to ten pages.
“exceed fifteen pages (This limit does not apply to motions for summary judgment.). Replies shall not exceed ten pages.”
Motions
Summary judgment motions and responses are limited to twenty pages; replies are limited to ten.
“Motions and response briefs shall not exceed twenty pages. Reply briefs shall not exceed ten pages.”
Motions
In criminal cases, motions and responses are limited to fifteen pages, and replies to ten.
“All motions, objections, responses, and briefs shall not exceed fifteen pages. Replies shall not exceed ten pages.”
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 Brimmer decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Rafibaev v. Noem, Brimmer found that Rafibaev's detention without a bond hearing violated section 1226(a) and ordered a hearing within seven days instead of immediate release.
“Because there is no evidence that petitioner has been provided a bond hearing, his current detention violates § 1226(a).”
Procedural preferences
In Silverstein v. Wolf, Brimmer denied default judgment against Rey without prejudice because the second amended complaint first asserted a claim against him and the plaintiff had not shown it was served on Rey.
“Because the second amended complaint states a claim for relief against Mr. Rey, and the first amended complaint did not, Mr. Rey must be served with the second amended complaint before default judgment is appropriate.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket No. 106] is granted in part and denied in part.... The motion is granted as to Claims Five and Six, pled in the alternative, with respect to liability. ... The motion is denied as to Claims One, Three, Four, and Seven.”
“ORDERED that plaintiff's Motion for Additional Time to Respond to Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket No. 31] is DENIED.”
“ORDERED that Defendant, Partner Colorado Credit Union's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) [Docket No. 22] is GRANTED.”
“ORDERED that the Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint [Docket No. 26] is DENIED.”
“ORDERED that the Motion to Dismiss [Docket No. 10] is GRANTED for lack of venue.”
“ORDERED that the Motion to Strike Portions of Defendant's Reply and for a Surreply [Docket No. 14] is DENIED as moot.”
“the Renewed Motion to Dismiss Complaint Against Constitution State Services, LLC [Docket No. 8] is GRANTED”
“Federal Defendants' Motion to Dismiss [Docket No. 26] is GRANTED”
“construed as a Motion to Strike, is GRANTED”
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss First Amended Complaint [Docket No. 52] is GRANTED in part”
“Plaintiffs' Motion Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1)(B) to Extend Deadlines ... is GRANTED”
“Defendants Konstantin Gladyshev and Pavel Sokolov's Motion to Strike Plaintiffs' Response Brief Due to Untimely Filing [Docket No. 98] is DENIED”
“plaintiff's Motion for Remand [Docket No. 19] is DENIED”
“Plaintiff's Motion to Stay Briefing on Defendant's Motion to Compel Arbitration ... [Docket No. 29] is DENIED”
“Defendant's Motion to Stay Briefing on Plaintiff's Motion for Conditional Certification [Docket No. 31] is DENIED”
“Defendant's Corrected Motion to Exclude Opinions of Jeremy Sitcoff [Docket No. 69] is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part”
“the Motion for Preliminary Injunction [Docket No. 2] is DENIED”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Small, non-representative sample of terminated cases. The 33-day Tomiampos insurance case is the kind of fast administrative termination (likely remand/settlement) that contrasts with the multi-year contested matters; not a distribution.
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 | 21 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 21 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 18 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 19 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 22 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 21 |
| Sep 2023 | 16 | 19 |
| Mar 2023 | 12 | 18 |
| Sep 2022 | 23 | 21 |
| Mar 2022 | 17 | 21 |
| Sep 2021 | 8 | 21 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 20 |
| Sep 2020 | 3 | 16 |
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 Brimmer: 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).
Draft for Judge Brimmer with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Brimmer, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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