William Joseph Martínez
How Judge Martínez rules, drawn from 42 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Martínez
William Joseph Martinez is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Martinez received a commission on December 21, 2010. Judge Martinez assumed senior status on February 10, 2023.
Judge Martínez's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Martínez, 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
Motions
Before a Rule 12 motion, confer about whether amendment can correct the claimed pleading defect.
“counsel must confer prior to the filing of a Rule 12 motion to determine whether the deficiency (e.g., failure to plead fraud with specificity) can be corrected by amendment”
Motions
A traditional summary judgment motion and response each have a thirty-page limit; a reply has a fifteen-page limit.
“a traditional summary judgment motion (i.e., one usually but not necessarily filed after the close of discovery), and the response thereto shall not exceed 30 pages. Any reply shall not exceed 15 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 Martínez decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Quiroz Zacarias, he granted renewed habeas relief and ordered release after finding that the immigration judge had not followed the burden and evidentiary sequence required by his earlier bond-hearing order.
“Requiring him to undergo yet another sham bond hearing, as the Government would have it, in the Court’s view would only add further insult to the constitutional injury to which Petitioner has already been subjected. This the Court will not do. Accordingly, the Court will order Quiroz Zacarias’s immediate release.”
Cautions
In the Club Q survivors’ suit, he dismissed the state-created-danger claim against county defendants because their alleged failure to use the red-flag law did not create or increase the risk through affirmative conduct.
“These allegations plainly aver that Government Defendants did too little—not too much.”
In a construction-contract dispute, he barred an expert from interpreting the parties’ contracts even from a contractor’s perspective, while leaving factual testimony for trial.
“Buchanan is precluded from offering interpretations of the contracts in this case from a contractor’s point of view.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For all these reasons, the Court has no choice but to dismiss the state-created danger claims. ... For the foregoing reasons, the Motion is GRANTED. (ECF Nos. 32, 57)”
“The Recommendation (ECF No. 84) is ADOPTED in its entirety; ... Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 37) is GRANTED; ... Plaintiff's Complaint (ECF No. 1) is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE”
“For the reasons stated above, the Court DENIES Plaintiff's Motion to Alter or Amend the Court's Judgment. (ECF No. 49.)”
“In sum, because Zipris has not shown that there was an intervening change in the law, newly discovered evidence, or the need to correct clear error or manifest injustice, his Motion (ECF No. 70) is DENIED.”
“Colorado's Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 13) is DENIED;”
“Plaintiff Neil Peterson's Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, to Strike Defendant's Counterclaims (ECF No. 161) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as set forth above; ... Defendant's second and third counterclaims are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE”
“The Buchanan Motion (ECF No. 290) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART as set forth above;”
“The Kalayjian Motion (ECF No. 291) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART as set forth above; and”
“the Court grants in part and denies in part Plaintiffs' motion to exclude expert testimony from Jamie Jost. (ECF No. 195.)”
“Colorado's Amended Motion for Preliminary Injunction (ECF No. 24), construed as a motion for stay of agency action under 5 U.S.C. Section 705, is GRANTED;”
“Plaintiff Ziankovich's Second Application for Temporary Restraining Order and Motion For Reconsider The Previous Order is DENIED.”
“the Court ORDERS that the Motions (ECF Nos. 53 and 56) are DENIED. This action remains CLOSED.”
“Defendants' Motion to Exclude the Expert Report, Opinions, and Testimony of Jeffrey B. Opp (ECF No. 135) is GRANTED in PART and DENIED IN PART, as described herein.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Small, non-representative sample. A representative civil-duration distribution would require a broader terminated-civil sample.
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 | 8 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 8 | 6 |
| Sep 2025 | 4 | 11 |
| Mar 2025 | 15 | 14 |
| Sep 2024 | 21 | 11 |
| Mar 2024 | 17 | 11 |
| Sep 2023 | 32 | 13 |
| Mar 2023 | 27 | 14 |
| Sep 2022 | 12 | 13 |
| Mar 2022 | 5 | 13 |
| Sep 2021 | 10 | 13 |
| Mar 2021 | 14 | 13 |
| Sep 2020 | 8 | 7 |
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 Martínez: 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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