David H. Hennessy
How Judge Hennessy rules, drawn from 28 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Hennessy
David H. Hennessy has served as a U.S. magistrate judge for the District of Massachusetts since May 6, 2013. He sits in Worcester and served as chief magistrate judge from 2017 to 2020. He earned degrees from the State University of New York and Fordham University School of Law.
Judge Hennessy's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Hennessy, 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 ↗
- Standing Order - Courtroom Opportunities for Relatively Inexperienced Attorneys ↗
- Civil Scheduling Order ↗
Key rules
Discovery
Be prepared to justify the requested discovery period.
“Parties should be prepared to explain why the length of the discovery period that they request is necessary.”
Conferences
A party representative with decision-making authority must attend mediation; seek any exception well in advance.
“A party with decision making authority must be present. Any deviations from that requirement must be requested well in advance of the mediation.”
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 Hennessy decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Murphy, Hennessy recommended dismissal of a broad unequal-care theory because the guardians described problems at a few homes without facts supporting a system-wide claim.
“the absence of specific, plausible allegations about the entire system of residential care for intellectually disabled persons dooms their attempt”
In Ryan, Hennessy recommended dismissing two corporate parents for lack of personal jurisdiction after finding that the record did not connect either parent to operation of the mill.
“Plaintiffs have failed to show ‘relatedness,’ between the contamination of drinking water and either Greif’s or Caraustar’s operation of the Mill”
Procedural preferences
In Direnzo Towing, Hennessy denied a motion to dismiss without prejudice after the movant failed to certify a good-faith conference under Local Rule 7.1.
“Accordingly, Direnzo’s motion is denied without prejudice.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“I hereby ALLOW the motion for summary judgment (Docket #12) and DENY the motion to amend (Docket #18).”
“the motion to amend is properly denied as futile.”
“For the reasons stated, I recommend that the motions to dismiss (Dockets #48, #50, #62) be granted in part and denied in part”
“Direnzo’s motion to dismiss (Docket # 13) is denied without prejudice.”
“the Motion for Entry of Default (Docket #17) and the related request (Docket #20) are DENIED as set forth in this Order and Plaintiff is granted an extension of time until March 13, 2017 to effectuate service.”
“it is ORDERED that Plaintiff=s Motion for Protective Order of Witness Robert Evans (Docket #64) be DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand (Docket #20) is DENIED to the extent that it seeks remand to a different ALJ and ALLOWED in all other respects,”
“Plaintiff’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Docket #11) is DENIED and Defendant’s Motion for Order Affirming the Decision of the Commissioner (Docket #16) is ALLOWED.”
“Del Rosario’s motion is denied and the Commissioner’s motion is allowed.”
“Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand (Docket #18) is DENIED, and the Commissioner’s Motion to Affirm (Docket #23) is GRANTED.”
“Cook’s Motion to Remand (Docket #11) is DENIED and Defendant’s Motion for Order Affirming the Decision of the Commissioner (Docket #21) is ALLOWED.”
“the Court hereby GRANTS Conway’s motion for an order reversing the decision of the Commissioner (Docket No. 16) and ORDERS the matter remanded for further administrative proceedings before the ALJ.”
“Therefore, the Motion to Dismiss (Docket #6) is hereby DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for failure to comply with Local Rule 7.1.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 468 days (N = 1).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 263 days (N = 5).
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 | 2 |
| 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 | 2 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 3 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2023 | 2 | 2 |
| Sep 2022 | 5 | 2 |
| Mar 2022 | 5 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2020 | 10 | 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 Hennessy: 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 Hennessy with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Hennessy, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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