David L. Piester
How Judge Piester rules, drawn from 6 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Piester
David L. Piester served as a U.S. magistrate judge for the District of Nebraska. He earned his law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1972. With the parties’ consent, he entered final judgments in civil cases, including civil rights and disability access matters.
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 Piester 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 after a bench trial, Judge Piester held that a university’s roommate assignment policy violated federal disability law as applied to the plaintiff.
“The policy of the defendants in prohibiting plaintiff from participation in the random roommate assignment program at UNL is declared to violate both the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA, as applied to plaintiff.”
In one Social Security appeal, Judge Piester ordered a new hearing before a different administrative law judge because due process required a fair decision maker.
“due process requires a fair and impartial decision maker. Johnson, supra. In this case that means the matter must be remanded for another hearing before a different ALJ. Judgment will be entered accordingly.”
Procedural preferences
The sampled consent Social Security docket includes agreed remands and later attorney-fee awards. These outcomes reflect the parties’ agreements and the facts of those cases.
“Defendant's motion to reverse and remand this case for further proceedings, filing 22, is granted. Judgment will be entered by separate order.”
Cautions
In one civil rights case, Judge Piester denied a request to reserve a qualified-immunity defense for trial when the defendant had not raised it by a timely pretrial motion.
“Defendant’s motion to waive pretrial presentation of qualified immunity but reassert the issue at trial, (filing 22), is denied.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT THEREFORE HEREBY IS ORDERED: 1. Defendants' motion for summary judgment (filing 39) is granted with respect to plaintiff's constitutional and age discrimination claims. 2. Plaintiff's state law claim is dismissed without prejudice.”
Consent case under 28 U.S.C. 636(c) ('the parties have consented to have this action proceed before me pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 636(c)') decided after a two-day bench trial (commenced April 19, 1993) rather than on a party motion. A landmark early disability-access ruling: Piester entered judgment for the plaintiff on her Section 504 Rehabilitation Act and ADA claims, declaring UNL's policy of excluding her from the random roommate-assignment program unlawful as applied, enjoining it, and awarding compensatory damages. The judgment states: 'judgment hereby is entered as follows: 1. With respect to plaintiff's claims under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, for plaintiff and against defendants ... 2. The policy of the defendants in prohibiting plaintiff from participation in the random roommate assignment program at UNL is declared to violate both the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA, as applied to plaintiff. 3. The defendants ... are enjoined from further prohibition of the plaintiff from participating ... 4. Plaintiff is awarded compensatory dam[ages].'
Consent case under 28 U.S.C. 636(c) ('the parties consented to have me preside at trial and enter judgment pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 636(c)'), titled 'Memorandum of Decision'. A merits/declaratory judgment rather than a party-motion ruling: Piester entered judgment for the plaintiff, declaring the University of Nebraska-Kearney freshman on-campus-housing policy unconstitutional as applied to him and enjoining its enforcement. The judgment states: 'judgment will be enter[ed] for the plaintiff, Douglas Rader. IT THEREFORE HEREBY IS ORDERED: 1. The defendants' enforcement of the University of Nebraska-Kearney's freshman housing policy, in its present form and application, against the plaintiff, Douglas Rader, is declared unconstitutional under the First Amendment ... 2. The defendants ... are ordered to refrain from enforcing in any way the Unive[rsity policy].'
“Defendant’s motion to waive pretrial presentation of qualified immunity but reassert the issue at trial, (filing 22), is denied.”
“For reasons discussed more fully below, I shall grant the motion, in part.”
“I shall recommend that the motion be granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 491 days (N = 16).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 52 days (N = 2).
The approximately 21 sampled cases, filed from 1990 through 2008, include civil-rights, prisoner, contract, employee-benefit, disability-access, and Indian Child Welfare Act disputes. Fourteen consent Social Security disability appeals form the largest recurring group, often followed by attorney-fee applications when the claimant prevailed.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the District of Nebraska, not for Judge Piester: 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).
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