Katherine Marie Menendez
How Judge Menendez rules, drawn from 30 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Menendez
Katherine Marie Menendez is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Judge Menendez received a commission on December 21, 2021.
Judge Menendez's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Menendez, 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
Filing
Do not send courtesy copies of motion papers except in the stated narrow instances.
“Judge Menendez does not accept courtesy copies of motion papers and supporting documents, except in the narrow instances outlined below.”
Motions
Schedule all motion hearings through the courtroom deputy.
“All motions to be heard by the Court must be scheduled through Judge Menendez’s Courtroom Deputy at 612-664-5140.”
Motions
Get court permission for summary judgment before discovery ends or for more than one summary judgment motion.
“No party may file a Motion for Summary Judgment prior to the discovery deadline without leave of the Court. Additionally, Judge Menendez does not allow any party to file more than one summary judgment motion in any case without permission.”
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 Menendez decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Christiansen v. Honeywell International, Menendez declined to enter summary judgment while there was doubt that discovery had been conducted fully and fairly.
“the Court strongly disfavors the entry of summary judgment ... if there is any doubt that discovery has been conducted fully and fairly”
In Williams v. BHI Energy I Power Services, Menendez held on cross-motions that the employer violated the Minnesota Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace Act.
“the Court holds as a matter of law that BHI violated DATWA”
In Kasso's employment case, Menendez dismissed the defamation claim as time barred and ordered a second amended complaint addressing deficiencies in the Title VII claim.
“Ms. Kasso is ORDERED to file a Second Amended Complaint within 30 days ... or risk the dismissal of her Title VII claim”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“BHI's Motion for Summary Judgment [Dkt. No. 108] is DENIED.”
“Ms. Williams's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment [Dkt. No. 102] is GRANTED.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF 18) is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint or in the Alternative Motion for a More Definite Statement (ECF 37) is GRANTED;”
“Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 40] is GRANTED IN PART”
“Commissioner Harrington's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 45] is DENIED”
“Sheriffs Lorge, Wolbersen, and Starry's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 52] is DENIED”
“The United States moved for the entry of a Preliminary Injunction on August 2, 2024. ECF No. 21. The Court held a hearing on that motion on August 9, 2024. ... IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendants ... are hereby restrained and enjoined”
“Mr. Glover's Petition Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 for a Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in State Custody (ECF 1) is DENIED”
“Robert Larson's Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 is DENIED.”
“The petition for a writ of habeas corpus (ECF 1) is DENIED.”
“that Mr. Regenscheid's Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 5] is GRANTED, ... that the Court GRANTS Mx. Putmon leave to amend the First Amended Complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(2)”
“The Motion for Preliminary Approval of Settlement Between Plaintiff and the MUY Defendants, including the Settlement Agreement attached thereto as Exhibit 1, is hereby GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff's Second Motion to File a Third Amended Complaint (ECF 249) is DENIED.”
“The Motion to Remand [ECF No. 8] filed by Plaintiff Federal National Mortgage Association is GRANTED.”
“Mr. Mashak's Motion to Strike and for an Extension of Time [ECF No. 27] is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 1095 days (N = 2).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 171 days (N = 7).
Twenty reviewed civil dockets include employment, prisoner civil rights, benefits, intellectual property, tax, and other disputes. Nineteen had terminated and one remained pending when checked. Fourteen were selected from a January 2022 filing cohort by a fixed seed; the pending case and five earlier cases were selected separately. This mix is a description of the reviewed cases only.
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 | 5 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 5 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 9 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 6 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 7 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 8 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2022 | 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 United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, not for Judge Menendez: 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).
Draft for Judge Menendez with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Menendez, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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