Karyn L. Bass Ehler
How Judge Ehler rules, drawn from 9 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Ehler
Karyn L. Bass Ehler became a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois in May 2026. She previously held senior civil-rights and public-health roles in the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and Illinois Department of Public Health. She earned degrees from Northwestern University and DePaul University College of Law.
Judge Ehler's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Ehler, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Discovery
If a status hearing is set, lead trial counsel or another lawyer familiar with the case must attend prepared to discuss it.
“Consistent with the scope of the consent or referral and after reviewing the joint initial status report, the Court will either set an initial status hearing or by minute order set discovery schedules, briefing schedules, and other deadlines and timetables. If the Court sets a status hearing, the lead trial counsel for each party, or an attorney with substantial familiarity with and responsibility for the case, shall appear and be prepared to discuss all aspects of the case.”
Conferences
For a consent or referral assignment, file the joint status report required by the court’s minute order.
“Upon assignment of cases by consent or referral to Judge Bass Ehler, the Court will enter a minute order requiring the parties to file a joint status report. See Judge Bass Ehler’s Standing Order for Initial Status Report for the information to be included in the parties' joint initial status report.”
Conferences
A joint status report is ordinarily unnecessary for a settlement-only referral unless the court orders one.
“A joint status report is not required in cases that are referred solely for a settlement conference, unless otherwise specifically ordered by the Court.”
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 8, 2026).
How Judge Ehler decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a consent Social Security appeal, Bass Ehler remanded because the ALJ did not explain how restrictions to simple, routine instructions accommodated the claimant’s moderate limitations in concentration, persistence, or pace. She directed the ALJ on remand to consider the aggregate effects of pain and headaches on those abilities.
“the Court concludes the mental limitations in the RFC are not supported by substantial evidence because the ALJ did not explain how those restrictions accommodated Claimant's moderate limitations in CPP.”
Procedural preferences
In Ginger L. R. v. Bisignano, Bass Ehler affirmed a benefits denial after reading the ALJ’s explanation as a whole. She found that the ALJ’s references to mental status exams, consulting opinions, and daily activities supported the decision to omit mental limits, even though the explanation could have been clearer.
“In the Court’s view, the ALJ provided the requisite logical bridge from the evidence to her conclusions.”
In Durr v. Vermilion Investments, Bass Ehler criticized a motion in limine for repeating factual background from summary judgment briefing when a citation to that briefing would have sufficed.
“it was unnecessary for Plaintiff to include factual background that appears to have largely been copied from the summary judgment briefing in his motions in limine. A simple citation to the summary judgment briefing would have sufficed”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Accordingly, for all the reasons set forth above, Claimant’s request for remand in Claimant’s Brief in Support of Reversing the Decision of the Commissioner of Social Security [ECF No. 14] is denied and Defendant’s request for summary judgment in Defendant’s Response to Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 20] is granted.”
“Accordingly, for all the reasons set forth above, Claimant’s request for remand in Plaintiff’s Brief in Support of Her Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 14] is granted and the Commissioner’s Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 19] is denied.”
“Accordingly, for all the reasons set forth above, Claimant’s Memorandum in Support of Reversing or Remanding Commissioner’s Decision [ECF No. 16] is denied and Commissioner’s Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 20] is granted.”
“For the reasons set forth in the Court’s Memorandum Opinion and Order, the Court grants Claimant’s Memorandum in Support of Reversing or Remanding Commissioner’s Decision [17] and denies the Commissioner’s Motion for Summary Judgment [19].”
“Accordingly, for all the reasons set forth above, Claimant’s request for remand in Plaintiff’s Brief in Support of Reversing the Decision of the Commissioner of Social Security [ECF No. 18] is granted and Commissioner’s Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 21] is denied.”
“Accordingly, for all the reasons set forth above, Plaintiff’s Memorandum in Support of Reversing or Remanding Commissioner’s Decision [ECF No. 18] is denied and Commissioner’s Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 22] is granted.”
“For the reasons set forth in the Court’s Memorandum Opinion and Order, Claimant’s Motion for Summary Judgment [14] is denied, and the Commissioner’s Memorandum in Support of Summary Judgment [15] is granted. The Commissioner’s decision is affirmed, and this case is closed.”
“Claimant’s request for remand in Plaintiff’s Brief in Support of Reversing the Decision of the Commissioner of Social Security [ECF No. 16] is granted and Commissioner’s Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 21] is denied.”
“Claimant’s Brief in Support of Reversing the Decision of the Commissioner of Social Security [ECF No. 17] is granted, and the Commissioner’s Memorandum in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 21] is denied.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Judge Bass Ehler took the bench on May 7, 2026, inheriting the initial calendar of retiring Magistrate Judge Jeffrey T.
- Gilbert under the court's Executive Committee General Order 26-0008: roughly thirty consent Social Security disability appeals (decided under 28 U.S.C.
- Section 636(c), where the parties agree to have a magistrate judge decide the case for all purposes), well over a hundred referred civil discovery and settlement matters in cases assigned to other district judges, and one case already on track for a jury trial before her, a Fair Housing Act dispute (Durr v. Vermilion Investments).
- Because the inherited docket is still working through its existing schedule, most of it has not yet reached a ruling under her.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, not for Judge Ehler: 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 | 12,205 | 5.9 months |
| Closed with no court action | 4,300 | 7 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 7,558 | 5.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 305 | 12.6 months |
| Closed during trial | 42 | 49.5 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 12,205 | 5.9 months |
| Sep 2024 | 9,700 | 6.8 months |
| Sep 2023 | 7,093 | 6 months |
| Sep 2022 | 6,841 | 7.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 9,703 | 15.1 months |
| Sep 2020 | 8,046 | 10.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 8,134 | 7.4 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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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Ehler, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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