Maria Valdez
How Judge Valdez decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
On consent, she decides Social Security appeals to final judgment and will affirm the ALJ where the decision is supported (denying the claimant's motion to reverse/remand and granting the Commissioner's cross-motion). A claimant should not assume a remand; build the substantial-evidence record carefully.
“For the reasons that follow, Plaintiff's motion to reverse or remand the Commissioner's decision [Doc. No. 16] is denied, and the Commissioner's cross-motion for summary judgment [Doc. No. 21] is granted.”
On discovery she tends to split the difference, granting a motion to compel in part and denying it in part rather than ordering wholesale production. Tailor the requests; an all-or-nothing motion is likely to be only partly granted.
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel Discovery Responses [Doc. No. 39] is granted in part and denied in part.”
Cautions
On consent she will award substantial statutory attorney's fees to a prevailing party (here $164,955.37). A defendant litigating a fee-shifting claim before her on consent faces real exposure on a full fee petition.
“Plaintiff is awarded $164,955.37 in attorney's fees.”
Motion outcomes
Counted from classified signed orders only. Percentages are shown only where the sample is large enough to be meaningful; smaller samples are reported as raw counts.
| Social security review N = 2 |
Denied: 2 | counts only |
| Motions to dismiss N = 1 |
Denied: 1 | counts only |
| Preliminary injunction N = 1 |
Denied: 1 | counts only |
| Motions to compel N = 1 |
Granted in part: 1 | counts only |
| Motion to bar testimony N = 1 |
Granted in part: 1 | counts only |
| Motion for attorney fees N = 1 |
Granted: 1 | counts only |
| Motion to enforce settlement N = 1 |
Granted: 1 | counts only |
A "1 of 1" is one ruling, not a tendency. Treat small samples as illustrative, not predictive.
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons that follow, Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment [Doc. No. 19] is denied and the Commissioner's cross-motion for summary judgment [Doc. No. 27] is granted.”
“For the reasons that follow, Plaintiff's motion to reverse or remand the Commissioner's decision [Doc. No. 16] is denied, and the Commissioner's cross-motion for summary judgment [Doc. No. 21] is granted.”
“For the reasons stated herein, Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) [Doc. No. 13] is denied.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction [Doc. No. 20] is denied.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel Discovery Responses [Doc. No. 39] is granted in part and denied in part.”
“For the reasons stated above, Defendants' Motion to Bar J. Thomas' Testimony or in the Alternative to Depose Thomas [Doc. No. 180] is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“Plaintiff is awarded $164,955.37 in attorney's fees.”
“It is for those aforementioned reasons; the Court respectfully recommends that Defendants' Motion to Enforce Settlement Agreement [Doc. No. 42] be GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Valdez is an active magistrate judge; her enumerable docket docket under 'Maria G. Valdez' in 2026 is duty-magistrate work (sealed/suppressed search-warrant and grand-jury mc matters, criminal duty assignments). Her civil reasoning work — Social Security consent dispositions, consent civil rulings (12(b)(6), preliminary injunction, fee petitions), referred discovery, witness-bar motions, and settlement-enforcement R&Rs — is reflected in the GovInfo reasoning layer. She is known for e-discovery expertise and settlement mediation (endorsed The Sedona Conference Cooperation Proclamation).