Mary Ann Vial Lemmon
How Judge Lemmon rules, drawn from 39 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Lemmon
Mary Ann Vial Lemmon is a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Lemmon received a commission on July 25, 1996. Judge Lemmon assumed senior status on January 1, 2011.
Judge Lemmon's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Lemmon'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 Lemmon decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a maritime injury suit, treats detailed directions to the rig medic on assessing a crew member and seeking disembarkation advice as enough to create a fact issue about the operator's control of its medical contractor.
“At a minimum, this raises a fact issue regarding the extent of Seadrill's actual operational control.”
Procedural preferences
Remands a general maritime law case filed in state court when the removing party identifies no independent basis for federal jurisdiction.
“general maritime law claims are not removable under Section 1333 as part of the original jurisdiction of the court and require an independent basis of jurisdiction.”
In a maritime case pending in parallel federal districts, the court stayed one action while related transfer and remand motions were resolved in the other, citing duplicated issues and inconsistent-ruling risk.
“Parallel proceedings in two courts undermine judicial economy and create a risk of inconsistent rulings.”
In Johnson’s compassionate-release request, the court enforced exhaustion after finding no proof the prison received his email; the motion also raised grounds different from the email.
“On these facts, the court cannot conclude that the email was ever received by the BOP, and thus the 30-day waiting period has not commenced.”
Cautions
In United States v. Session, she denied a renewed sentence reduction request because she had already considered the Section 851 argument and the motion did not show grounds for relief under Rule 60(b).
“the assertions of the instant motion do not meet the standard required for relief under Federal Rule 60(b), nor do they establish the presence of extraordinary circumstances requiring the court to revisit its prior ruling.”
In Shawley’s early-termination request, the court acknowledged his employment and other progress but retained supervision after weighing the serious underlying offense and a positive cocaine test during supervision.
“While Shawley appears to be on the right track, keeping him under court supervision serves to help protect the public, provide drug testing and rehabilitation services for the defendant, and deter him from committing additional crimes.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Motion to Dismiss filed by Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick, Jr. and former Jefferson Parish Assistant District Attorney John J. Molaison, Jr. (Doc. #12) is GRANTED, and plaintiff's claims against them are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“the Motion to Dismiss filed by defendant, Bryan Gibbs (Doc. #14) is DENIED.”
“the Motion to Dismiss filed by defendant, Brandon Gibbs (Doc. #24), is DENIED.”
“the Motion to Dismiss filed by defendant, Treneka Young (Doc. #25), is DENIED.”
“defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment on Medical Causation Against Plaintiff Ethel Ross (Rec. Doc. 18) ... [is] DENIED.”
“Motion for Partial Summary Judgment to dismiss the claims by Plaintiff Eula Evans related to her C3-4 neck problems (Rec. Doc. 19) are DENIED.”
“the Motion to Strike Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Rec. Doc. 44) is DENIED as moot. However, because the evidence has not been provided to counsel within 15 days of the noticed submission date ... the submission date for the Motion for Summary Judgment (Rec. Doc. 42) is CONTINUED until April 15, 2020.”
“because defendant has raised a qualified immunity defense, the Motion to Stay Discovery (Rec. Doc. 43) is granted in part and denied in part. Discovery required in connection with the pending motion for summary judgment may proceed; all other discovery ... is stayed pending resolution of the motion for summary judgment.”
“defendant Kevin Curlee's Motion for Summary Judgment (Rec. Doc. 42) is GRANTED in part, and plaintiff Adam Kokesh's sec1983 claim for excessive force is dismissed with prejudice; ... DENIED in part, and summary judgment seeking dismissal of plaintiff's sec1983 claims for unreasonable seizure and First Amendment retaliation, and a finding that Curlee is entitled to qualified immunity, is denied.”
“the Motion to Stay Pending Interlocutory Appeal (Rec. Doc. 66) filed by defendant, Ponchartrain Partners, LLC, is DENIED.”
“the Motion for Summary Judgment (Rec. Doc. 16) is GRANTED, awarding judgment in favor of the defendants in the amount of $89,220.68 plus reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, to be established through a separate motion.”
“Jordan Wade's motion under Rule 56(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Doc. #64) to stay Premiere, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment as to Jordan Wade's Seaman Status (Doc. #63) is GRANTED, and decision on Permiere's motion for summary judgment is STAYED.”
“Plaintiff's Motion to Remand (Doc. #7) is GRANTED, and this matter is REMANDED to the Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana.”
“plaintiffs' request for attorneys' fees and costs is DENIED.”
“the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. #22) is GRANTED, and plaintiff's claims are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“the Motion Pursuant to Rule 60(b)(4) (Rec. Doc. 30) filed by petitioner, Donald Logan, Jr. is DENIED.”
“the Report and Recommendation to deny the plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, grant the Commissioner's Motion for Summary Judgment, and dismiss plaintiff's claims is hereby ADOPTED in its entirety; ... the Commissioner's decision is AFFIRMED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
From the 11 enumerated 2022-filed cases: a heavily HURRICANE IDA (Aug. 2021) first-party property-INSURANCE docket (diversity) plus bankruptcy appeals (28:158), FLSA labor (29:207), 2254 state habeas, antitrust (15:1), FTCA, and other statutory actions. Insurance disputes predominate and overwhelmingly settle. NOS/cause examples captured below.
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 | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2024 | 1 | 3 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2020 | 1 | 0 |
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 Eastern District of Louisiana, not for Judge Lemmon: 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 | 10,411 | 79.9 months |
| Closed with no court action | 3,511 | 86.6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,814 | 14.6 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 4,062 | 86.8 months |
| Closed during trial | 24 | 23.2 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 10,411 | 79.9 months |
| Sep 2024 | 6,506 | 10.7 months |
| Sep 2023 | 6,610 | 24.2 months |
| Sep 2022 | 8,635 | 69.4 months |
| Sep 2021 | 11,535 | 24.9 months |
| Sep 2020 | 16,631 | 36 months |
| Sep 2019 | 9,196 | 10.3 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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