David C. Nye
How Judge Nye rules, drawn from 18 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Nye
David Charles Nye is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Idaho. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Nye received a commission on July 12, 2017.
Judge Nye's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Nye, 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.
- Scheduling Conferences ↗
- Discovery Disputes ↗
- Motion Practice ↗
- Trial Procedures ↗
- Criminal Procedures ↗
Key rules
Motions
Contact opposing counsel about perceived pleading deficiencies before filing an Iqbal-Twombly motion to dismiss.
“Judge Nye expects that counsel, prior to filing a motion to dismiss based upon Iqbal-Twombly, will contact opposing counsel, advise them of the perceived shortcomings in the allegations of the complaint, and attempt to reach agreement for the filing of an amended complaint.”
Motions
Present only one summary judgment motion per side when possible.
“Judge Nye prefers only one (1) summary judgment motion per side.”
Discovery
Give the court an opportunity to informally mediate the discovery dispute before filing a written discovery motion.
“Judge Nye will not entertain any written discovery motions until the Court has been provided with an opportunity to informally mediate the parties’ dispute.”
Conferences
File a litigation plan and discovery plan at least one week before the scheduling conference.
“Each party must complete a litigation plan and a discovery plan and file it with the Court at least one week prior to the scheduling conference.”
Sealing
In criminal matters, a sealing request requires a motion, supporting briefing, and a proposed order.
“A request to seal must be made by motion and accompanied by supporting briefing and a proposed order.”
Trial
Plaintiff’s counsel must contact the courtroom deputy within one week of the dispositive-motion decision to arrange a trial-setting conference.
“Plaintiff’s counsel shall contact the Courtroom Deputy within one week following the entry of a decision on all pending dispositive motions to make arrangements for the telephonic trial setting conference”
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 Nye decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Courthouse News Service v. Omundson, he denied the motion to dismiss because the cited circuit decision did not foreclose the case outright.
“Omundson’s Motion to Dismiss is DENIED. She is incorrect in her assertion that Planet III forecloses this case outright.”
Procedural preferences
In Courthouse News Service v. Omundson, he denied the news service's motion for a preliminary injunction.
“CNS’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Dkt. 14) is DENIED.”
In Bymun v. City of Kimberly, he granted the city's summary judgment motion in part and dismissed the federal wage claim with prejudice.
“the City’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 14) is GRANTED in PART and Bymun’s FSLA claim is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
Cautions
In Seifert v. Nationstar Mortgage, he dismissed the amended complaint with prejudice and denied further amendment because its allegations were vague, conclusory, and unsupported.
“Because the allegations in Seifert’s Amended Complaint are vague, conclusory, and unsupported (and, in some cases, contradicted by the facts), his Amended Complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. Further leave to amend will not be permitted.”
In Anderson v. State of Idaho, he granted the state defendants’ motion to dismiss and dismissed them from the case with prejudice.
“The State Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 6) is GRANTED. All State Defendants are hereby dismissed from this case with prejudice.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Omundson’s Motion to Dismiss is DENIED. She is incorrect in her assertion that Planet III forecloses this case outright.”
“CNS’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Dkt. 14) is DENIED.”
“Defendant Governor Little’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 13) is GRANTED. Little is dismissed as a Defendant in this case.”
“Worley’s Motion for Entry of Default Against Defendants Donnellan and Packwood (Dkt. 17) is DENIED.”
“Worley’s Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction (Dkt. 2) is DENIED.”
“Worley’s Motion to Enter Preliminary Injunction against All Defendants (Dkt. 17) is DENIED.”
“The State Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 6) is GRANTED. All State Defendants are hereby dismissed from this case with prejudice.”
“The Meridian Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 12) is DENIED.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion to Extend Time for Service of Process (Dkt. 9) is DENIED AS MOOT.”
“the City’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 14) is GRANTED in PART and Bymun’s FSLA claim is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 53) is GRANTED in PART and DENIED in PART as outlined above.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion to Strike (Dkt. 64) is DENIED.”
“BSD’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 12) and IDOE’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 16) are GRANTED in PART and DENIED in PART as outlined above.”
“Canyon County’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 10) is GRANTED.”
“IDHW’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 11) is GRANTED.”
“The Nationstar Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 20) is GRANTED.”
“Nationstar Defendant’s Motion to Take Judicial Notice (Dkt. 21) is GRANTED.”
“Porter’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 60) is HELD IN ABAYANCE.”
“Defendants Request for 56(d) relief is GRANTED.”
“Magellan and Tovar’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 20) is GRANTED.”
“Magellan and Tovar’s Motion to Compel Arbitration (Dkt. 20) is DENIED as MOOT.”
“Magellan and Tovar’s Motion to Seal (Dkt. 21) is GRANTED.”
“Buck’s Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (Dkt. 3) is DENIED.”
“Buck’s Motion for Leave to File Electronically (Dkt. 6) is GRANTED as outlined above.”
“Buck’s Motion to Disqualify (Dkt. 7) is DENIED.”
“Buck’s Motion for Leave to File (Dkt. 9) is GRANTED.”
“The Government’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 5) is GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The reviewed matters include a commercial trade-secrets dispute, a real-property jurisdictional dispute, and several self-represented prisoner civil-rights and habeas cases. Older matters inherited after Nye's 2017 appointment are excluded from the motion counts unless he personally issued the ruling.
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 | 37 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 3 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 15 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 37 | 15 |
| Sep 2025 | 30 | 13 |
| Mar 2025 | 39 | 14 |
| Sep 2024 | 19 | 15 |
| Mar 2024 | 26 | 14 |
| Sep 2023 | 50 | 14 |
| Mar 2023 | 28 | 15 |
| Sep 2022 | 29 | 18 |
| Mar 2022 | 19 | 18 |
| Sep 2021 | 22 | 16 |
| Mar 2021 | 17 | 12 |
| Sep 2020 | 11 | 8 |
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 Idaho, not for Judge Nye: 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 | 405 | 10.3 months |
| Closed with no court action | 53 | 3.8 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 322 | 10.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 27 | 23.5 months |
| Closed during trial | 3 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 405 | 10.3 months |
| Sep 2024 | 389 | 10.4 months |
| Sep 2023 | 363 | 11.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 381 | 12.5 months |
| Sep 2021 | 352 | 14.3 months |
| Sep 2020 | 348 | 11.3 months |
| Sep 2019 | 365 | 10.4 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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