F.A. Gossett III
How Judge Gossett rules, drawn from 11 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Gossett
F. A. Gossett III became a United States magistrate judge in the District of Nebraska in 2003 and retired from full-time service in 2017. He later continued to assist the court on recall after years of handling pretrial, criminal, and consent civil matters.
Judge Gossett's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Gossett, 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 Gossett as resolving summary judgment motions at least five days before the pretrial conference.
“The following judges resolve summary judgment motions at least 5 days prior to the date set for the pretrial conference: Magistrate Judge F.A. Gossett, III”
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 Gossett decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In the ERISA benefits case (Monnier) Gossett resolved cross-motions for summary judgment on the administrative record in the claimant's favor and then awarded attorney's fees under 29 U.S.C. 1132(g). Practical lesson: in ERISA matters before him expect a record-based cross-MSJ disposition followed by a fees motion if the claimant prevails.
“ORDER granting 38 plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment; denying 39 defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment. Pursuant to 29 U.S.C. 1132(g), plaintiff may file a Motion for Attorney Fees.”
Procedural preferences
Gossett actively manages summary-judgment timing and ripeness: in Brizendine he set a firm response deadline and a date the MSJ would be 'deemed ripe for decision', and in Monnier he issued a briefing-schedule order setting a single cross-MSJ deadline with NECivR 56.1/7.0.1 briefing windows. Counsel before him should expect court-set SJ briefing schedules and strict ripeness dates.
“All parties are given until 7/20/2009 to file cross-motions for summary judgment and briefs in support thereof. Responses to the summary judgment motions shall be filed within 20 calendar days of service, as provided in NECivR 56.1(b)(2).”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment 19 is denied as moot as to these defendants. Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment 19 is denied as to the City of Omaha and Omaha Police Officer Frank Platt, individually and in his official capacity.”
“MEMORANDUM AND ORDER granting in part and denying in part 78 Motion for Summary Judgment. The motion is granted as to plaintiff's state law claims and denied in all other respects.”
“MEMORANDUM AND ORDER denying 76 Motion for Summary Judgment. Ordered by Magistrate Judge F. A. Gossett.”
“ORDER granting 38 plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment; denying 39 defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment. Pursuant to 29 U.S.C. 1132(g), plaintiff may file a Motion for Attorney Fees.”
“ORDER granting 38 plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment; denying 39 defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment.”
“the Motion to Suppress (#23) be granted in part and denied in part.”
“IT IS RECOMMENDED that the defendants' motions to compel initial disclosures (Filings 138, 140 and 142) be granted, as follows: 1. Carper's claims against Wiebusch & Associates, Inc., Kearney Realty, LLC, Sobatka, Roper, Schumacher & Company, NP Realty, Inc. and Kerri Pearson, should be dismissed with prejudice pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(2)(A)(v).”
“I recommend that the motion for a new competency evaluation be denied without prejudice to reassertion after the defendant is released from the treatment facility”
“that the defendant's ‘Motion to Dismiss Indictment’ (Filing 128) be denied.”
Gossett allowed counsel to withdraw and recommended judgment against the unrepresented corporate plaintiff. He did not decide the individual plaintiff's later voluntary dismissal motion.
“I find that dismissal is appropriate under Rule 48(b)(3). Considering the record and the defendant's condition, I find that the dismissal should be with prejudice. IT THEREFORE IS RECOMMENDED that defendant's MOTION TO DISMISS FOR WANT OF PROSECUTION (#55) be granted and that the indictment be dismissed with prejudice.”
“I construe the Objection as a Motion for Reconsideration. The petitioner states that he needs a copy of the Motion for Postconviction relief which was denied on October 28, 2002, not the Motion dated August 5, 2003. Therefore, filing no. 13 is granted”
“Also before the court is filing no. 14, the petitioner's Motion for Extension of Time, in which he requests an extension of time after the requested records have been provided to him in which to respond to the respondent's Motion for Summary Judgment. Filing no. 14 is granted.”
“The government’s motion for detention is granted as to danger and the defendant shall be detained until further order of the Court.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 97 days (N = 17).
The 20 sampled cases, filed from 2005 through 2015, are weighted toward consumer-credit disputes and government collection matters involving student loans, taxes, and forfeiture. Those matters generally ended more quickly than the contested consent civil cases in the sample.
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 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| 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 Gossett: 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 Gossett with the record in hand
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