Donald Ellsworth Walter
How Judge Walter rules, drawn from 13 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Walter
Donald Ellsworth Walter is a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Judge Walter received a commission on July 11, 1985. Judge Walter assumed senior status on November 30, 2001.
Judge Walter's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Walter, 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.
Key rules
Filing
Manually deliver courtesy copies of contested motions and supporting papers to chambers.
“Judge Walter requires courtesy copies of contested motions, supporting memorandum, responses, and attachments. Copies should be manually delivered to chambers at the address indicated above.”
Filing
Manually deliver an ex parte motion when it or its attachments exceed 10 pages.
“Copies of ex-parte motions that are more than 10 pages or have more than 10 pages of attachments, should be manually delivered to chambers at the above address.”
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).
- General Order 0001-2025: Procedures for Access and Management of Sealed or Restricted Documents ↗
- General Order 0001-2024: Procedures for Requesting, Filing, and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- SO 1.74 Service and Scheduling of Immigration Habeas Cases ↗
- SO 1.75 Regarding Third-Party Litigation Funding ↗
How Judge Walter decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Strong, Walter granted summary judgment for the defendants on the plaintiff’s employment claims and dismissed the case with prejudice.
“IT IS ORDERED that defendants’ motions for summary judgment, [Docs. ## 78, 79], be and are hereby GRANTED, and that Strong’s claims be and are hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE”
In one insurance-coverage dispute arising from the Camp Minden explosion, the court granted the insurers partial summary judgment after matching policy exclusions to the insured's admitted explosives-storage violations.
“Accordingly, the motion for partial summary judgment [Doc. #149] is hereby GRANTED.”
Procedural preferences
In Rayborn, Walter granted summary judgment for the defendants after analyzing the plaintiff’s First Amendment retaliation claim.
“Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. #34] is hereby GRANTED. Plaintiffs claims are hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
In a securities dispute, the court stayed litigation for arbitration after finding the broker agreements broad enough to cover the asserted claims.
“Defendant’s Motion in the Alternative is GRANTED. This matter is STAYED pending arbitration.”
Cautions
In Gillet v. Anderson, he adopted a recommendation granting summary judgment because the prisoner filed suit before completing the required administrative grievance process; the judgment barred refiling in forma pauperis.
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 24) is granted and Plaintiffs complaint dismissed with prejudice to its refiling in forma pauperis.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS ORDERED that defendants’ motions for summary judgment, [Docs. ## 78, 79], be and are hereby GRANTED, and that Strong’s claims be and are hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE”
“Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. #34] is hereby GRANTED. Plaintiffs’ claims are hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. #34] is hereby GRANTED. Plaintiffs claims are hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Accordingly, the Government’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED, and plaintiffs claims are DISMISSED.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiffs Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 17) is denied.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 24) is granted and Plaintiffs complaint dismissed with prejudice to its refiling in forma pauperis.”
“IT IS ORDERED that to the extent Petitioner Mihrdat Hovhannisyan seeks release under Zadvydas, his Petition is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to his right to re-file the claim should his confinement become unconstitutional. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner's claims concerning his conditions of confinement and medical care are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE here but WITHOUT PREJUDICE to his right to raise them in a separate civil rights action. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner's claim that the Government failed to afford him a bond hearing and claim under the Administrative Procedure Act is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Petitioner Mihrdat Hovhannisyan’s Petition is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE AS MOOT.”
Walter adopted an unopposed recommendation and dismissed the habeas case without prejudice after the petitioner failed to file the amendment required by an earlier order. The adopted recommendation applied Rule 41(b) sua sponte, so this signed disposition is retained for context but excluded from party-motion statistics.
“Explo’s motion to dismiss [Doc. 14] is hereby DENIED.”
“Accordingly, the motion for partial summary judgment [Doc. #149] is hereby GRANTED.”
“Defendant’s Motion in the Alternative is GRANTED. This matter is STAYED pending arbitration.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiffs Motion to Remand be and is hereby DENIED.”
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 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 2 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 2 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 1 | 2 |
| Mar 2022 | 2 | 2 |
| Sep 2021 | 11 | 5 |
| Mar 2021 | 7 | 16 |
| Sep 2020 | 13 | 18 |
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 Western District of Louisiana, not for Judge Walter: 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 | 1,541 | 13.4 months |
| Closed with no court action | 287 | 8.9 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 832 | 13.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 398 | 16.1 months |
| Closed during trial | 24 | 27.6 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,541 | 13.4 months |
| Sep 2024 | 3,194 | 16.5 months |
| Sep 2023 | 3,966 | 10.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 3,186 | 8.8 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,330 | 8.6 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,064 | 11.3 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,190 | 11.5 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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