Linda Rae Reade
How Judge Reade rules, drawn from 18 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Reade
Linda R. Reade is a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Reade received a commission on November 26, 2002. Judge Reade assumed senior status on October 1, 2017.
Judge Reade's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Reade's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
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 Reade decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In GreatAmerica Leasing Corporation v. Davis-Lynch, Inc., she granted the equipment financier summary judgment after enforcing the lease's payment and waiver-of-defense terms under Iowa law and finding the lessee had accepted the equipment.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Motion (docket no. 24) is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to enter judgment in Plaintiff's favor in the amount of $214,081.38, with interest at the rate of 8% per annum.”
Procedural preferences
In Farmers Cooperative Society v. Leading Edge Pork LLC, she granted partial summary judgment on the feed supplier's breach-of-contract claim while leaving other damages and the counterclaims for trial.
“FCS's Motion for Summary Judgment (docket no. 53) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The court shall enter judgment in favor of FCS on its breach of contract claim, in the amount of $18,406.60, to be made payable from the court-attached funds currently held by the Clerk of Court. Assessment of all other damages and determination of the merits of Leading Edge's counterclaims remain pending for trial;”
Cautions
In Hood v. Upah, Reade dismissed the Section 1983 claims against Benton County for lack of municipal liability while leaving a First Amendment claim against the deputy for further proceedings.
“Defendants' ‘Motion for Summary Judgment’ (docket no. 7) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART; (2) Plaintiff's claims against Benton County are DISMISSED;”
In one products liability case, the court denied a request for voluntary dismissal without prejudice after comparing the plaintiff’s explanation with earlier filings and a parallel state action.
“Black Soil’s asserted reason for seeking dismissal rings hollow”
In one prisoner religious-materials case, the court granted summary judgment and dismissed without prejudice because the claim had not been exhausted through the prison process.
“because this dismissal is based on 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) it is without prejudice.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Motion (docket no. 24) is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to enter judgment in Plaintiff's favor in the amount of $214,081.38, with interest at the rate of 8% per annum.”
“Leading Edge's Motion to Strike (docket no. 77) is DENIED;”
“FCS's Motion for Summary Judgment (docket no. 53) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The court shall enter judgment in favor of FCS on its breach of contract claim, in the amount of $18,406.60, to be made payable from the court-attached funds currently held by the Clerk of Court. Assessment of all other damages and determination of the merits of Leading Edge's counterclaims remain pending for trial;”
“Leading Edge's Motion to Vacate (docket no. 70) is DENIED.”
“Defendants' ‘Motion for Summary Judgment’ (docket no. 7) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART; (2) Plaintiff's claims against Benton County are DISMISSED;”
“Plaintiff's ‘Motion for Leave to File First Amended and Substituted Complaint and Jury Demand’ (docket no. 18) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”
“Defendants PACCAR, Inc and Peterbilt Motors Company’s Motion for Summary Judgment (docket no. 54) is DENIED.”
“Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (docket no. 12) is GRANTED.”
“Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (docket no. 28) is GRANTED.”
“defendants’ motions to dismiss (docket nos. 7 and 8) are granted”
“the Renewed Motion to Dismiss (docket no. 48) is DENIED.”
“Summary Judgment and Motion to Exclude Expert (docket no. 49) is DENIED.”
“Land O’Lake’s Motion for Summary Judgment (docket no. 42) is GRANTED;”
“CCP’s Motion for Summary Judgment (docket no. 20) is GRANTED”
“Faur’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (docket no. 22) is DENIED.”
“the petition (docket no. 1) is denied and this case is dismissed.”
“The motion to stay (docket no. 10) is denied.”
“The motion for extension of time to file a reply brief (docket no. 18) is denied.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 175 days (N = 9).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 61 days (N = 3).
The nine reviewed terminated civil cases are mostly from before Reade took senior status in 2017. They are weighted toward wage-and-hour and labor disputes, with additional employment, environmental, statutory, and motor-vehicle matters, and do not represent her full pre-2017 docket.
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 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 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 Northern District of Iowa, not for Judge Reade: 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 | 248 | 7.1 months |
| Closed with no court action | 62 | 8.9 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 184 | 5.8 months |
| Closed during trial | 2 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 248 | 7.1 months |
| Sep 2024 | 259 | 6.9 months |
| Sep 2023 | 270 | 8 months |
| Sep 2022 | 299 | 9.1 months |
| Sep 2021 | 287 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2020 | 294 | 7.5 months |
| Sep 2019 | 266 | 9.9 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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