Rebecca Leigh Goodgame Ebinger
How Judge Ebinger rules, drawn from 13 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Ebinger
Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Ebinger received a commission on February 16, 2016.
Judge Ebinger's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Ebinger'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 Ebinger decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Rossley v. Drake University, Ebinger granted summary judgment on the Title IX erroneous-outcome and deliberate-indifference theories but allowed the selective-enforcement theory to proceed.
“The Court grants Defendants' motion for summary judgment as to Plaintiff's Title IX claim regarding Plaintiff's erroneous outcome and deliberate indifference theories, but denies Defendants' motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff's Title IX claim regarding Plaintiff's selective enforcement theory.”
In Summers Manufacturing Co. v. Tri-County AG, LLC, she denied Summers's motion to strike the second affirmative defense while separately deciding its dismissal motion on the counterclaims.
“and denies Summers's Motion to Strike Tri-County's second affirmative defense.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court grants Summers's Motion to Dismiss Tri-County's Counterclaims I, II, III, and IV for failure to state a claim”
“and denies Summers's Motion to Strike Tri-County's second affirmative defense.”
“the Court grants the Cities' motions for summary judgment”
“and denies Bellino's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and the Cities' Motion to Continue or Bifurcate.”
“finds the Cities' motions to continue or bifurcate the trial are moot.”
“The Court grants Defendants' motion for summary judgment as to Plaintiff's Title IX claim regarding Plaintiff's erroneous outcome and deliberate indifference theories, but denies Defendants' motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff's Title IX claim regarding Plaintiff's selective enforcement theory. ... The Court denies Defendants' motion for summary judgment on some but not all of Plaintiff's alleged breaches of contract.”
“Defendant Abendroth & Russell's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction, ECF No. 9, is GRANTED. This case is dismissed. The Clerk of Court is directed to enter judgment in favor of Defendant Abendroth & Russell against Plaintiff Patrick Jackson.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Defendants' Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 62, is GRANTED. The case is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.”
“IT IS SO ORDERED that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 34, is GRANTED.”
“IT IS SO ORDERED that Defendants' Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings, ECF No. 53, is GRANTED.”
“Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff Troy Tyler's Motion to Amend Second Amended Petition, ECF No. 32, is GRANTED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants' First Hospitality, LLC, First Hospitality Group, Inc., Kerri Blanchard, Kyler Miriani, Dillon Douglas, Neil Upadhyay, and Brian Atkins's Motion to Partially Dismiss, ECF No. 12, is DENIED as moot.”
“Appoint Counsel, ECF No. 8, is GRANTED.”
“For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants in part and denies in part Deputy Sanchez and Dallas County’s motion to dismiss.”
“Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 28, is GRANTED.”
“Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 22, is GRANTED.”
“Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, ECF No. 15, is DENIED.”
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, not for Judge Ebinger: 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 | 395 | 8 months |
| Closed with no court action | 161 | 9.1 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 222 | 5.8 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 4 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 8 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 395 | 8 months |
| Sep 2024 | 360 | 7.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 363 | 8.9 months |
| Sep 2022 | 311 | 10.5 months |
| Sep 2021 | 372 | 9.5 months |
| Sep 2020 | 339 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2019 | 341 | 9.4 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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