Michael F. Iasparro
How Judge Iasparro rules, drawn from 14 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Iasparro
Michael F. Iasparro began serving as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois in May 2025. He sits in the court’s Western Division in Rockford, where his calendar includes civil referrals, consent cases, Social Security appeals, and criminal matters.
Judge Iasparro's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Iasparro, 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.
- Case Procedures ↗
- Standing Order Governing Proposed Final Pretrial Orders ↗
- Joint Initial Status Report and Proposed Case Management Order ↗
Key rules
Motions
In a consent bench trial, file the plaintiff’s post-trial memorandum within 21 days after stipulated facts and the defendant’s response within 21 days after that.
“Twenty-one days after the filing of the Proposed Statement of Stipulated Facts, the plaintiff(s) shall file a memorandum of law with citations to the trial transcript and pertinent authority, along with any supplemental statements of fact not in the Statement of Stipulated Facts. Twenty-one days after the filing of the plaintiff’s memorandum, the defendant shall file a response brief, along with any supplemental statements of fact not in the Statement of Stipulated Facts and responses to the plaintiff’s supplemental statements of fact.”
Sealing
Confer or attempt to confer in good faith before moving for a confidentiality order.
“Before requesting entry of a confidentiality order to preserve the confidentiality of materials disclosed in discovery, counsel shall carefully review Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), which requires that the movant has in good faith conferred or attempted to confer with other affected parties in an effort to resolve the dispute without court action.”
Trial
For a consent bench trial, order the trial transcript and jointly file proposed stipulated facts 35 days after the transcript is completed.
“Parties to a bench trial shall comply with the following procedures and requirements. The parties must order the transcript upon the completion of the trial. Thirty-five days after completion of the transcript, the parties must jointly file a Proposed Statement of Stipulated Facts. The parties must reasonably agree on the Proposed Statement of Stipulated Facts. The Court understands that facts and the inferences drawn from facts can be—and usually are—very different.”
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 Iasparro decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
A claimant obtained remand by showing that the administrative decision stated a residual functional capacity without connecting the medical evidence to its particular restrictions. The ruling emphasized that, where no persuasive medical opinion supplies the bridge, the administrative judge must tie record evidence to each limitation rather than leave the court to fill the gap.
“an ALJ still ‘must build a “logical bridge” from the evidence to [his] conclusion by providing an explanation sufficient to allow [the Court] to assess the validity of the ultimate findings and afford meaningful review.’”
In Owners Insurance Co. v. Step Seven, Iasparro denied the insurer’s summary-judgment motion seeking a single-occurrence coverage limit. The sequence and proximity of the fires, deaths, and injuries remained disputed, so he could not determine the occurrence limit on that record.
“But the critical facts necessary for any such determination remain disputed, precluding summary judgment on this record.”
Procedural preferences
He treats reconsideration as a narrow remedy for genuinely new evidence or manifest error, not a second opportunity to repeat arguments. His related interlocutory-appeal analysis also requires a controlling legal question rather than disagreement about whether facts are genuinely disputed.
“Reconsideration is not an appropriate forum for rehashing previously rejected arguments or arguing matters that could have been heard during the pendency of the previous motion.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the foregoing reasons, Owners’ motion for summary judgment is denied.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendant’s motion to dismiss is denied.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s motion for reversal and remand is granted, and the Commissioner’s motion is denied. The decision of the Commissioner is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s motion for remand is denied, and the Commissioner’s motion for summary judgment is granted. The Commissioner’s decision is affirmed.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s motion for reversal and remand is denied, and the Commissioner’s motion for summary judgment is granted. The Commissioner’s decision is affirmed.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s motion to reverse or remand the Commissioner’s decision is denied, and Defendant’s motion for summary judgment is granted. The Commissioner’s decision is affirmed.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is granted, and the Commissioner’s motion is denied. The decision of the Commissioner is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is denied, and Defendant’s motion for summary judgment is granted. The Commissioner’s decision is affirmed.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s motion for reversal and remand is denied, and the Commissioner’s motion for summary judgment is granted. The Commissioner’s decision is affirmed.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s motion for reversal and remand is denied, and the Commissioner’s motion for summary judgment is granted. The Commissioner’s decision is affirmed.”
“Accordingly, Owners’ motion to reconsider, or in the alternative, for leave to appeal [137] is denied.”
“For the reasons stated in the attached order, it is this Court's report and recommendation that Plaintiff's Unopposed Motion for Approval of Settlement 21 be granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The reviewed calendar spans consent Social Security appeals, prisoner civil-rights cases, insurance and trade-secret disputes, employment and wage litigation, and rotating criminal-duty and search-warrant matters in the Western Division. Consent appeals supplied most written merits opinions, while referred dockets supplied discovery and case-management rulings.
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 Iasparro: 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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