Brian Edward Murphy
How Judge Murphy rules, drawn from 34 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Murphy
Brian Edward Murphy is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Judge Murphy received a commission on December 6, 2024.
Judge Murphy's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Murphy, 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.
- Judicial Forum Survey ↗
- Scheduling Order ↗
- Standing Order Regarding Summary Judgement Motion Practice ↗
Key rules
Motions
Additional briefs require leave unless the local rules permit them.
“The Court will typically allow motions for leave to file. However, additional briefs are not permitted without leave, except where provided for in the local rules.”
Trial
Submit trial exhibits in a tabbed binder.
“Exhibits should be submitted in a tabbed binder.”
Trial
File a joint jury questionnaire, noting disagreements, before the final pretrial conference.
“The parties should prepare a joint questionnaire with any points of disagreement noted and file the questionnaire in advance of 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 Murphy decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a class challenge to third-country removal, he partly granted a preliminary injunction requiring advance notice of the destination and a meaningful opportunity to raise a fear-of-return claim.
“This case presents a simple question: before the United States forcibly sends someone to a country other than their country of origin, must that person be told where they are going and be given a chance to tell the United States that they might be killed if sent there?”
Procedural preferences
In a genetic privacy class action, he allowed an inference that website tracking documented in October 2024 had also occurred during the plaintiff’s earlier use, and denied dismissal of her claim.
“That technology in use in October 2024 was also in use for some period of time between 2021 and 2023 is a reasonable inference the Court is permitted to make at this stage, before Portillo has had the benefit of discovery.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Plaintiffs' motion for class certification (Dkt. 4) is GRANTED and motion for a preliminary injunction (Dkt. 6) is GRANTED in part.”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part. Counts II and III are DISMISSED. Counts V and VI, including all claims against Defendant Antone Moniz, are DISMISSED without prejudice.”
“Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment against the remaining Defendants is GRANTED as to Counts I and IV. Judgment will enter for Plaintiffs.”
“For the foregoing reasons, MIT's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Nebula's motion to dismiss is DENIED.”
“Defendants' motion for to dismiss (Dkt. 22) is GRANTED in part. Counts VI and VII are dismissed, and Ms. Quinlan-Jaskot is dismissed from the case entirely. The motion is otherwise DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, SBA's motion to dismiss is GRANTED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' motion to dismiss, Dkt. 96, is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Equitable's motion for preliminary injunction is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendant's motion for summary judgment, Dkt. 30, is GRANTED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' motions to dismiss are GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 110 days (N = 2).
Murphy's sampled docket includes immigration and habeas litigation, employment and civil-rights disputes, wage-and-hour and consumer class actions, credit-reporting claims, and commercial contract matters. Several sampled cases were reassigned to him early in his tenure. The examples describe the range of matters reviewed and are not a quantitative measure of his full caseload.
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 |
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 U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, not for Judge Murphy: 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 | 2,682 | 7.3 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,095 | 3.8 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 881 | 7.1 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 676 | 17.4 months |
| Closed during trial | 30 | 34.8 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,682 | 7.3 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,439 | 7.2 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,756 | 9.1 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,222 | 10.2 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,582 | 12.2 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,391 | 11.2 months |
| Sep 2019 | 4,438 | 23 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).
Draft for Judge Murphy with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Murphy, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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