A. David Copperthite
How Judge Copperthite rules, drawn from 7 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Copperthite no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Copperthite
A. David Copperthite served as a magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland from 2016 until his retirement in March 2025. Before joining the court, he practiced law and served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and a Baltimore assistant state's attorney.
How Judge Copperthite decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a consent case concerning a lending app, Copperthite required proof that the interface gave the consumer actual or constructive notice of the arbitration terms. A hyperlink, later emails, and use of the service did not establish assent where the registration screens failed to call adequate attention to the agreement.
“Defendant cannot show that the design of its interface, in either the 2018 or 2019 displays, provided Plaintiff with actual or constructive notice and that Plaintiff assented to the terms and conditions presented in the manner necessary to knowingly form a contract.”
Cautions
In two referred discovery disputes, Copperthite recommended case-ending sanctions only after repeated noncompliance, prejudice, a need for deterrence, and the absence of an effective lesser sanction. These remain recommendations unless the district court adopts them.
“There are no less drastic measures. All four factors in Mutual Federal are satisfied.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Motion for Summary Judgment as to Count I and Count III is GRANTED. Defendant's Motion as to Count II is DENIED”
“the Court GRANTS the motion for sanctions and awards attorney's fees to Defendant”
“I recommend the Court adopt the findings in this Report and Recommendation and GRANT Plaintiffs Judgment by Default”
“For the reasons set forth in this Memorandum Opinion, Annapolis’s Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 34) is GRANTED.”
“Because all of the discrete acts alleged in the Amended Complaint are not timely, any amendment relying on those allegations would be futile. The Court will therefore not grant Plaintiff leave to amend.”
“For the reasons set forth herein, I recommend you GRANT the Motion and DISMISS the case with prejudice, assessing costs in the amount of $420.00.”
“Therefore, I recommend granting the Motion for Sanctions and entering a default judgment in favor of Plaintiff for the total amount of the judgment sought.”
“It follows that this Court DENIES Defendant’s Motion to Compel Arbitration and Stay Proceedings.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 138 days (N = 8).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 90 days (N = 1).
The reviewed cases include consent Social Security disability appeals, immigration mandamus matters, contract and insurance disputes, consumer cases, and pension-fund collections. The eight sampled terminated cases and thirteen dated appeal intervals are small, selected timing samples.
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 | 2 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 2 |
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.
A historical record
Judge Copperthite no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.