Donovan Wayne Frank
How Judge Frank rules, drawn from 26 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Frank
Donovan W. Frank is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Frank received a commission on October 22, 1998. Judge Frank assumed senior status on October 31, 2016.
Judge Frank's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Frank, 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
Motions
Submit TRO papers before the hearing is scheduled and send two courtesy copies immediately after filing.
“A party moving for a temporary restraining order (‘TRO’) must submit its motion papers before the Court will schedule the TRO hearing. Two courtesy copies of the TRO papers must be provided to chambers immediately after the motion is filed on ECF.”
Motions
Brief transfer, remand, and arbitration motions as dispositive motions.
“Motions to transfer, remand, and compel arbitration are to be briefed as dispositive motions under the Local Rules.”
Discovery
Direct all discovery motions to the magistrate judge.
“All discovery motions are heard by the Magistrate Judge.”
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).
- Amended Administrative Order: Procedures for Storage and Management of Sealed Documents ↗
- General Order No. 1: Filing Sealed Documents with Highly Sensitive Information ↗
- General Order No. 2: Removing Sealed Documents with Highly Sensitive Information from CM/ECF ↗
- Administrative Order: Encryption of Electronic Materials and Cloud Storage Links ↗
How Judge Frank decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Bix Produce Company v. Bilimbi Bay Minnesota, Frank denied summary judgment because the movant had not shown the absence of evidence in the record, as required when it would not bear the burden of persuasion at trial.
“a party who moves for summary judgment on the ground that the nonmoving party has no evidence must affirmatively show the absence of evidence in the record. ... If the moving party has not fully discharged this initial burden of production, its motion for summary judgment must be denied”
Procedural preferences
In Bix Produce Company v. Bilimbi Bay Minnesota, Frank applied the local rule requiring 'compelling circumstances' for leave to seek reconsideration.
“Pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(g), a request for leave to file a motion for reconsideration will only be granted upon a showing of ‘compelling circumstances.’”
In Hicks v. Astrue, Frank stated that he had reviewed the record de novo before ruling on a magistrate judge's recommendation.
“The Court has conducted a de novo review of the record, including a review of the arguments and submissions of counsel, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1) and Local Rule 72.2(b).”
Cautions
In Scheffler v. Alltran Financial, LP, Frank vacated an order adopting a recommendation and the resulting judgment after the plaintiff filed objections. He directed the defendant to respond and later entered a new adoption order.
“The Court's Order Adopting Report and Recommendation filed on August 29, 2018 (Doc. No. 30) is hereby VACATED. ... The Court respectfully directs the defendant to respond to Plaintiff's objections (Doc. No. 31) within 14 days”
In United Healthcare, Frank reopened a judgment to permit an amended complaint, then dismissed the revised claims when the new allegations still failed to resolve the timeliness problem.
“additional allegations in the FAC do not cure the untimeliness of their claims.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendant Alltran Financial, LP's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. No. [9]) is GRANTED. ... Plaintiff Troy K. Scheffler's Complaint (Doc. No. [1]) is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. [6]) is DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. [9]) is GRANTED.”
“Bilimbi Bay Minnesota, LLC, d/b/a Bilimbi Bay, (‘Bilimbi Bay’) and F. Lamar Hamilton's request for leave to file a motion to reconsider (Doc. No. 24) is DENIED.”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss (Doc. No. [15]) is GRANTED. This action is DISMISSED.”
“Defendant Benjaman Shelabarger's Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint (Doc. No. [34]) is DENIED.”
“Defendant Jesse France Brown's motion to dismiss the indictment (Doc. No. [24]) is DENIED.”
“Defendant Jesse France Brown's motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of a search and seizure (Doc. No. [26]) is DENIED.”
“Plaintiff Jamestown Villas Homeowners Association's motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. [69]) is DENIED.”
“Defendant State Farm Fire and Casualty Company's motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. [74]) is GRANTED.”
“Defendant Vantage Financial, LLC's motion to dismiss Plaintiff Patti Hussey's amended complaint (Doc. No. [27]) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”
“ICC's motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. [56]) is DENIED.”
“Kladek's motion for summary judgment on its cross claim for declaratory judgment (Doc. No. [62]) is GRANTED.”
“Plaintiffs' motion to reconsider (Doc. No. [79]) the Court's February 21, 2025 Order (Doc. No. [57]) is respectfully DENIED.”
“Plaintiff Jim Nelson's amended motion for default judgment (Doc. No. [19]) is DENIED.”
“Defendant SIS Software, LLC's motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, to transfer (Doc. No. [33]) is GRANTED IN PART.”
“Plaintiff Larry Gehl's motion for entry of judgment on attorneys' fees and costs (Doc. No. [59]) is GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 324 days (N = 1).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 197.5 days (N = 14).
- Frank-assigned dockets confirmed via the docket records.
- His current (2026) active docket is heavy with consolidated payer/insurer litigation against Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group / Optum (e.g. Johnson, Apex Physical Rehab, Dr.
- Stefana Pecher, Care Counseling Services v. UnitedHealth; Allied World / Radiology Associates v. Optum) and a wave of Medtronic product-liability filings (Holmes, Jackson, Van der Steeg, McGrew, Loughry, Williams v. Medtronic), plus federal criminal matters (e.g. US v. Dayib, US v. Godinez-Herrera).
- The older sample reviewed here spans FDCPA/Consumer Credit (Scheffler), Social Security (Hicks), pro se jail-conditions civil rights (Schill), and PACA produce disputes (Bix).
- Not exhaustive.
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 | 21 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 21 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 38 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 50 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 54 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 58 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 63 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 73 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 74 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 90 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 109 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 248 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 215 |
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 Minnesota, not for Judge Frank: 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 | 2,681 | 8.2 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,499 | 5.6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 645 | 7.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 525 | 13.3 months |
| Closed during trial | 12 | 39.4 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,681 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,636 | 8.3 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,579 | 7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,701 | 5.8 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,737 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2020 | 3,259 | 14.3 months |
| Sep 2019 | 8,151 | 21.6 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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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Frank, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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