Shelly Deckert Dick
How Judge Dick rules, drawn from 39 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Dick
Shelly Deckert Dick is a judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Dick received a commission on May 10, 2013.
Judge Dick's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Dick, 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.
- Chambers instructions ↗
- Notice to Counsel Setting Jury Trial with JERS ↗
- Uniform Pretrial Order Notice ↗
- Final Affidavit of Settlement Efforts Instructions ↗
Key rules
Trial
File proposed voir dire, jury charges, and motions in limine 14 days before a Dick jury trial.
“Requested Voir Dire, proposed Jury Charges and Motions in Limine shall be filed fourteen (14) days prior to trial.”
Trial
Provide the witness list on the morning of trial without filing it on the docket.
“Each party shall provide a Witness List to the Court on the morning of trial. These should NOT be filed in the record.”
Trial
Submit a pretrial order signed by all counsel 14 days before the final pretrial conference.
“shall prepare a written Pretrial Order in this case to be signed by all counsel of record and then submitted to the Court fourteen (14) days prior to the final pretrial 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 Dick decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Vetter, the court granted summary judgment where the opposing party identified no factual dispute and relied on legal arguments rejected in an earlier ruling.
“Defendant’s reassertion of the same legal arguments the Court has rejected is insufficient to defeat Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment.”
In Franks v. State National Insurance Company, Dick denied a Rule 59 motion after the plaintiff sought a larger award than the jury wrote on its verdict form. She treated the jury’s stated damages figure as the starting point rather than adding interest from the underlying state judgment.
“the jury explicitly provided the starting number of $3,816,421”
Procedural preferences
In Lavigne, Dick required current evidence of danger before staying habeas relief pending appeal; decades-old convictions alone did not overcome the release presumption.
“Respondent has not offered any evidence showing that the petitioner is currently dangerous or likely to commit crime.”
In Uber v. PENN Entertainment, Dick granted summary judgment after a late and deficient opposition left the plaintiff without competent evidence to support her casino injury claim.
“Because Plaintiff has failed to present any competent summary judgment evidence to create an issue of fact on the merits, Defendants’ summary judgment motion is uncontroverted, justifying a judgment of summary dismissal.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ACCORDINGLY, the Defendant's Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss (Rec. Doc. 8) is hereby GRANTED, and the claims of Plaintiff against Lofton are hereby DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDER Plaintiff's Motion for Hearing (Rec. Doc. 12) is hereby DENIED.”
“ACCORDINGLY, Plaintiff's Motion for Leave (Rec. Doc. 13) is hereby GRANTED. Plaintiff's Amended Complaint (Rec. Doc. 16) has already been filed in the record by the Clerk of Court and will now serve as the operative pleading.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants' initial Motion to Dismiss (Rec. Doc. 4) is hereby DENIED AS MOOT.”
“ACCORDINGLY, the Motion shall be treated as a Motion to Dismiss (Rec. Doc. 15) voluntarily, pursuant to Rule 41(a)(2), and the Court hereby issues an Order of Dismissal without prejudice.”
“Plaintiffs' Motion to Recuse Chief Judge Shelly Dick, Magistrate Judge Scott Johnson, Magistrate Judge John W. DeGravelles, Magistrate Judge Erin Winder-Doomes and All Remaining Magistrate and District Judges Within the United States of America Federal Middle District ... are DENIED.”
“Plaintiffs' Motion for Reconsideration and Nullification of Chief Judge December 11, 2024, Remand Order ... are DENIED.”
“Accordingly, the Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment is hereby GRANTED. The Plaintiff shall submit a proposed Order in conformance with the Court's Ruling.”
“ACCORDINGLY, the Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED, and Plaintiff's claim and this matter is dismissed with prejudice.”
“ACCORDINGLY, the Motion for Summary Judgment is hereby GRANTED and Plaintiff's claims against Tracy Falgout and Randy Lavespere are hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“ACCORDINGLY, the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment is hereby granted in part, and the Plaintiff's claims against Defendant, Joseph McKneely, are hereby dismissed without prejudice pursuant to Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that in all other regards the Motion (Rec. Doc. 16) is hereby denied, and this matter is referred back to the Magistrate Judge for further proceedings.”
“For foregoing reasons, the Motion to Certify Interlocutory Order for Appeal filed by Murphy Oil, USA, Inc. is DENIED.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Expedited Consideration (Rec. Doc. 336) and Motion for Relief from Judgment Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6) (Rec. Doc. 318) are hereby GRANTED. This Court’s March 31, 2022 Judgment, which dismissed this matter without prejudice, is hereby VACATED.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion, as a Motion for Summary Judgment, is DENIED.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants Motion to Dismiss is denied, without prejudice, as moot.”
“Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that LCI’s Motion13 is GRANTED.”
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 | 4 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 7 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2024 | 1 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 5 | 3 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 8 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 8 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 7 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 42 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 74 |
| Sep 2020 | 1 | 17 |
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 Middle District of Louisiana, not for Judge Dick: 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 | 1,130 | 13.9 months |
| Closed with no court action | 185 | 14.7 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 924 | 13.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 15 | 25.7 months |
| Closed during trial | 6 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,130 | 13.9 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,251 | 9.1 months |
| Sep 2023 | 801 | 10.2 months |
| Sep 2022 | 732 | 14.9 months |
| Sep 2021 | 843 | 18.1 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,041 | 24 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,007 | 13.3 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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