Elizabeth A. Pascal
How Judge Pascal rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Pascal
Elizabeth A. Pascal was appointed a United States magistrate judge for the District of New Jersey on June 6, 2022. She serves in the court’s Camden Vicinage.
Judge Pascal's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Pascal, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Filing
Mail one courtesy copy of each filed document exceeding 20 pages.
“One (1) copy of all filed papers, briefs, or other submissions exceeding twenty (20) pages per individual document shall be mailed to Chambers.”
Discovery
Seek leave before filing a discovery motion, after meeting and conferring and presenting the dispute by docketed letter.
“Any dispute not resolved shall be brought to the Court’s attention by letter filed on the docket after counsel’s good faith attempt to resolve the dispute has failed. The letter shall set forth the specific efforts the parties made to resolve the dispute before contacting the Court. No discovery motion shall be made without prior leave of Court.”
Conferences
Email a settlement memorandum of no more than five double-spaced pages at least three business days before the conference.
“Each party shall submit a confidential settlement memorandum of no more than five (5) double-spaced pages, including exhibits, via email to [email protected]”
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).
- Second Amended Standing Order 2026-02: In Re Increase in Immigration-Related Habeas Corpus Petitions seeking Emergent Relief ↗
- Standing Order 2025-05: IN RE Procedures for Access to and Service of Sealed Documents ↗
- Standing Order 2025-04: IN RE "Schedule A" Cases ↗
- Standing Order 2024-03: In re: Amendment to Procedures for Requesting, Filing, and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents and Guidance for Same ↗
- Standing Order 2024-02: Electronic Signatures ↗
How Judge Pascal decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In an admiralty case involving the fishing vessel Conch'rd, Pascal stayed proceedings pending appeals after finding that repeated depositions could waste resources and that a stay would preserve insurance proceeds for the claimant.
“While the Court acknowledges that a stay delays Claimant’s day in court, which is a significant consideration, the Court agrees with Plaintiffs that a stay would ultimately benefit Claimant by preserving the insurance proceeds.”
Late amendment is disfavored when the factual basis was known months earlier and the new pleading would restart discovery around additional defendants and theories.
“Such unexplained delay is undue.”
A request to depose opposing counsel is weak when the information is peripheral to the claims, privileged, and available from other witnesses.
“Here, the subpoenaed information does not implicate core factual issues relevant to any”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Complaint is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE; and it is further”
“reasons, Plaintiffs’ Motion to Stay is GRANTED. However, since the current parties have been”
“ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion to Redact and Seal, ECF No. 78, is DENIED”
“ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion to amend, ECF No. 25, is DENIED WITHOUT”
“ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel, ECF No. 43, is DENIED WITHOUT”
“Accordingly, the parties’ Joint Motion for approval of their Settlement Agreement is GRANTED,”
“GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. An appropriate Order follows.”
“Defendants and nonparty Abraham Foster in civil contempt and requiring them to pay Plaintiff’s”
“attorneys’ fees in an amount to be determined. In addition, the Court recommends that bench”
“issuance of bench warrants for Defendant Andrew Foster and nonparty Abraham Foster.”
“notice of Jason Blessing’s deposition is GRANTED. An appropriate Order shall follow.”
“Plaintiff’s Motion for leave to amend the Complaint is DENIED.”
“appointment of pro bono counsel are GRANTED.”
“discovery before a Rule 26(f) conference is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”
“Complaint and the First Motion, and to redact portions of the Complaint are DENIED because”
“motion to proceed anonymously under the pseudonym of ‘Joe Doe’ is DENIED pursuant to an”
“DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE because Plaintiff has not provided an affidavit of inquiry”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The 23 identified matters filed from 2022 through 2024 included 18 terminated and five pending matters. The set mixes consent civil cases, referred civil matters, and criminal-duty proceedings, so it is a descriptive slice rather than a complete merits 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 | 1 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 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 U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, not for Judge Pascal: 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 | 8,970 | 8.1 months |
| Closed with no court action | 370 | 4.6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 6,266 | 5.3 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 2,317 | 14.4 months |
| Closed during trial | 17 | 36.6 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 8,970 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2024 | 7,921 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2023 | 8,378 | 10.3 months |
| Sep 2022 | 7,053 | 7.9 months |
| Sep 2021 | 9,064 | 9.2 months |
| Sep 2020 | 9,031 | 9.9 months |
| Sep 2019 | 10,590 | 9 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 Pascal with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Pascal, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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