Cheryl Renae Zwart
How Judge Zwart rules, drawn from 18 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Zwart
Cheryl Renae Zwart serves as a recalled United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Nebraska. She served a regular magistrate appointment from January 2010 through January 2024 and continues to sit on recall. She earned a law degree from Creighton University School of Law.
Judge Zwart's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Zwart, as published on the court's website (checked October 17, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Motions
The court lists Zwart as resolving summary judgment motions within 60 days after the motion is ripe.
“The following judges resolve summary judgment motions within 60 days of the ripe date of the motion: Senior Judge Richard G. Kopf Magistrate Judge Cheryl R. Zwart”
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 Zwart decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Wojtalewicz v. Pioneer Hi-Bred, Zwart compelled arbitration of the remaining seed-corn claims after finding that the arbitration clause bound the purchasers and, through agency or assignment, the other claimants.
“All claims raised in this case shall be promptly submitted to binding arbitration in accordance with the arbitration clause quoted and discussed in this opinion.”
In Adams Bank & Trust v. FirsTier Bank, Zwart granted the FDIC’s motion to transfer a pre-receivership case to Colorado. She treated the dispute as one over venue rather than subject-matter jurisdiction and read FIRREA’s parenthetical as part of its venue restriction.
“In short, I conclude the relevant federal law allows a pre-receivership case to continue after the appointment of a receiver, but once a receiver is appointed, the proper venue becomes the District of Columbia or the district court of the institution’s principal place of business.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons set forth below, the defendant's motion to change venue is *930granted and the plaintiffs motion to determine proper parties is denied.”
“The defendant has moved for an order staying this litigation and compelling arbitration of the claims of Kendra Wojtalewicz and the claims assigned to the plaintiffs ... For the reasons discussed below, the motion will be granted.”
“The defendant has filed a Motion to Stay and Compel Arbitration, (filing no. 10), and a Motion to Stay Discovery and Scheduling Activities, (filing no. 12). ... As explained below, the defendants' motions will be granted in part as set forth in this memorandum and order.”
“that the motion to suppress filed by the defendant (Filing No. 20) be denied in its entirety.”
“IT IS ORDERED: 1) Defendant's Motion to Strike, (filing no. 21), is granted. 2) Plaintiff's Reply, (filing no. 20), is stricken from the record.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff's motion, (Filing No. 186), is denied.”
“Plaintiff’s motion to compel specialized discovery is granted in part,”
“both the motion to compel and the motion to stay will be granted in part, and denied in part, as stated below.”
“Infogroup’s motion to compel and for limited relief from the close of discovery (Filing No. 172) is granted in part and in part denied as moot,”
“Ameritas’ motion to compel will be granted, Wells Fargo’s motion to compel will be granted in part, and the parties’ motion to modify the case progression schedule will be granted.”
“For the reasons stated below, Defendants’ motion to compel arbitration will be granted.”
“UPRR’s motion for protective order will be granted, and Plaintiff’s motion to strike will be denied.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 652 days (N = 5).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 81 days (N = 3).
The 21 sampled consent civil cases include employment and disability claims, personal-injury and motor-vehicle disputes, railroad-injury cases, Social Security appeals, trademark litigation, and civil forfeiture. All 21 sampled cases had terminated; the sample is not a complete account of her caseload.
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 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 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 Nebraska, not for Judge Zwart: 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 | 734 | 5.4 months |
| Closed with no court action | 210 | 3 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 506 | 6.9 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 13 | 27.1 months |
| Closed during trial | 5 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 734 | 5.4 months |
| Sep 2024 | 522 | 7.8 months |
| Sep 2023 | 467 | 7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 667 | 5.2 months |
| Sep 2021 | 588 | 6.8 months |
| Sep 2020 | 508 | 8 months |
| Sep 2019 | 492 | 8.6 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 Zwart with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Zwart, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Zwart's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace