Theodore David Chuang
How Judge Chuang rules, drawn from 24 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Chuang
Theodore David Chuang is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Chuang received a commission on May 2, 2014.
Judge Chuang's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Chuang's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
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).
- Order 2026-05: Redacted Filings in FRCP 5.2(c) Cases ↗
- Order 2026-03: Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Court Filings ↗
- Order 2025-05: Procedures for the Filing of Sealed Documents ↗
- Amended Order 2021-13: Removal Actions ↗
- Amended Order 2022-04: Social Security Cases ↗
- Second Amended Order 2021-02: Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- Order 2020-01: Discovery in Criminal Cases ↗
- Order 2018-07: Amicus Briefs ↗
- Order 2018-08: Service of Rule 68 Offers of Judgment ↗
- Second Amended Order 2025-01: Petitions for Writs of Habeas Corpus—Alien Detainee ↗
- Order 2024-01: Deficiency Notices ↗
How Judge Chuang decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Jackson, Chuang denied JTM Capital Management’s summary-judgment motion after finding a genuine factual dispute about whether its relationships with two collection agencies could support vicarious liability under the FDCPA.
“JTM’s Motion for Summary Judgment will be DENIED.”
In Brown, Chuang allowed a second amended complaint to restore a civil conspiracy claim and add supporting facts, but required the plaintiffs to remove previously dismissed counts and meet the 40-page limit.
“Motion for Leave to File a Second Amended Complaint will be GRANTED”
Cautions
In Smith, Chuang dismissed an IDEA suit because the plaintiff had filed it before the state due-process hearing and decision, without showing an exception to administrative exhaustion.
“In these circumstances, the Court must dismiss this case.”
In Stone, Chuang dismissed a state prisoner’s habeas petition as time-barred and declined to issue a certificate of appealability.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Petition will be DISMISSED as time-barred. The Court declines to issue a certificate of appealability.”
In the related Medicare Secondary Payer cases, he denied defendants’ request to certify an appeal from a two-year-old order after finding no substantial ground for difference of opinion; the opinion also called the delay in seeking review unacceptable in litigation filed in 2017.
“waiting one-and-a-half years to seek certification is unacceptable.”
In Washington, he denied a request to vacate an arbitration award based on the lack of live testimony because the employee had an opportunity to oppose summary judgment through written submissions.
“the arbitrator’s decision to forgo live witness testimony and grant summary judgment based on the existing record does not amount to misconduct under 9 U.S.C. § 10(a)(3).”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“MCPS's Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 12, is GRANTED, and the Complaint is DISMISSED. The Clerk is directed to CLOSE the case.”
“the Motion for a Default Judgment will be DENIED, and the Petition will be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. The Court declines to issue a certificate of appealability.”
“the Motion for a Default Judgment will be DENIED ... Respondents' Answer, filed on August 20, 2020, was timely filed.”
“JTM's Motion for Summary Judgment will be DENIED. ... there is, at a minimum, a genuine issue of material fact whether JTM, in fact, had principal-agent relationships with Weinberg and RAM that subject it to vicarious liability.”
“JTM's Interim Motion to Seal will be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”
“Commerce's Motion for Summary Judgment will be GRANTED. ... Fletcher has not provided sufficient evidence to establish a genuine issue of material fact warranting a trial.”
“HHS's Motion to Dismiss or for Summary Judgment, construed as a Motion to Dismiss, will be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The Motion will be granted as to the claim of religious discrimination in Count I of the Amended Complaint and otherwise denied.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' Motions to,Dismiss are GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, Motion for Summary Judgment, will be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The Motion will be granted as to any claims against Defendants Snyder and Gang in their official capacities, which will be dismissed. The Motion will be otherwise denied.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Petition will be DISMISSED as time-barred. The Court declines to issue a certificate of appealability.”
“the Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED as to Bullock's claims for unjust enrichment and negligence. The Motion, construed as a Motion for Summary Judgment, is DENIED as to Bullock's claim for breach of contract.”
“Because Bullock has not had the opportunity to discover information essential to her opposition, Chase's Motion for Summary Judgment is denied.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' Motion to Dismiss will be DENIED. A separate Order shall issue.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' Motions to Dismiss will be GRANTED. A separate Order shall issue.”
“it is hereby ORDERED that Plaintiffs' Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, ECF No. 17, is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The Motion is granted in that the Court grants and issues the accompanying Preliminary Injunction. The Motion is otherwise denied.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 799 days (N = 5).
- A sample of cases filed in 2018 shows a broad civil and criminal mix: prisoner civil-rights (42:1983pr), employment civil-rights (442), contract/diversity removals, copyright (Malibu Media), motor-vehicle PI, arbitration-confirmation, mortgage/consumer, and federal criminal dockets (e.g. US v. Transport Logistics Int'l; US v. Lambert).
- Sits in the Southern Division (Greenbelt). 2025 docket includes high-profile separation-of-powers/administrative-law cases against the federal government (USAID/DOGE).
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 | 3 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 5 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 5 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 11 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 15 |
| Mar 2023 | 1 | 15 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 10 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 8 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 8 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 9 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 12 |
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 District of Maryland, not for Judge Chuang: 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 | 3,191 | 6.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 151 | 5.7 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,564 | 5.9 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 457 | 13.6 months |
| Closed during trial | 19 | 33.9 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 3,191 | 6.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 3,119 | 7.5 months |
| Sep 2023 | 3,370 | 9 months |
| Sep 2022 | 3,053 | 9.5 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,629 | 8.9 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,469 | 9 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,709 | 7.9 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 Chuang with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Chuang, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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