William John Martini
How Judge Martini rules, drawn from 39 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Martini
William J. Martini is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Martini received a commission on November 19, 2002. Judge Martini assumed senior status on February 10, 2015.
Judge Martini's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Martini, 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
Motions
Request a conference through the courtroom deputy before summary judgment briefing is scheduled.
“Before the Court sets a schedule for briefing summary judgment, Judge Martini requires the parties to reach out to the Courtroom Deputy to arrange a date for a pre-motion conference by either filing a letter request or calling Chambers.”
Motions
Support every asserted material fact on summary judgment with a pinpoint record citation.
“Each fact must include a pinpoint citation to the record evidence that supports that fact.”
Sealing
Send unredacted sealed filings in hard copy and on a USB drive as searchable PDFs.
“All papers filed under seal shall be submitted in unredacted form to the Court in hard copies and digital copies in searchable PDF format on a USB drive.”
Trial
Submit trial materials to the courtroom deputy by email and hard copy at least two weeks before trial.
“Trial briefs, proposed voir dire questions, proposed jury instructions, lists of pre-marked exhibits (tabs), witness lists including the name and address of each potential witness, and requests to charge should be submitted by counsel at least two weeks prior to the commencement of the trial by both email and hard copy to the Courtroom Deputy.”
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 Martini decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Qualified immunity protects 'all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law' - but an officer who allegedly fabricates grand-jury testimony to manufacture probable cause forfeits it: that claim survives a 12(b)(6) motion while the same claims against officers pled only in conclusory terms are dismissed. Prosecutorial absolute immunity covers judicial-phase acts (presenting evidence, charging decisions) but not investigative functions or pre-arrest legal advice.
“These claims will remain against Reifler because if he did testify falsely and concoct facts to establish probable cause for Plaintiffs' arrest that led to their indictment, he cannot then claim qualified immunity.”
In McKay, he found a pension suspension arbitrary and capricious where the trustees shifted their reasons, gave little detail about deliberations, ignored different job duties, and had a conflict of interest.
“the Court finds Defendant’s shifting rationales for its decision, the absence of specificity of the trustees’ deliberations, the significant differences in employment responsibilities, and Defendant’s clear conflict of interest to be evidence of its abuse of discretion in suspending Plaintiff’s benefits.”
Procedural preferences
In Martucci v. Gonzalez, Martini first denied a motion to vacate default without prejudice because the defendants supplied neither an answer nor a meritorious defense. After they filed both within the allowed 30 days, he found good cause, vacated default, and denied the plaintiff's default-judgment motion.
“Within 30 days of the order, Defendants filed an Answer and a new motion to vacate default. This motion contains meritorious defenses. ... Finding good cause to vacate default”
In Nicasio v. Law Offices of Faloni & Associates, LLC, he ordered limited discovery on arbitrability because the complaint did not establish an agreement to arbitrate on its face.
“Because the Complaint does not establish on its face that the parties agreed to arbitrate, the Court cannot decide the present motion without first ordering limited discovery as to the question of arbitrability.”
Cautions
Section 1983 / civil-rights complaints must plead each individual defendant's role with particularity: blanket allegations that a group of officers acted 'because plaintiffs were African-American' or that a supervisor 'failed to adopt policies' are conclusory under Iqbal and dismissed (without prejudice for the curable ones). The NJCRA is coextensive with Section 1983, and there is no implied private right of action under Section 1981 against state actors.
“the allegations lack particularity as to each individual Defendant's role. Plaintiffs must assert plausibly why there lacked probable cause for arrest and how each individual Defendant acted maliciously”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons stated above, UBS's motion for summary judgment, ECF No. 111, is GRANTED.”
“the State Defendants' motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part in that the NJCRA and Section 1981 claims ... are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE ... As to Reifler, the motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part ... but it is DENIED in part as to dismissing the remaining Section 1983 and state malicious prosecution claims”
“Finding good cause to vacate default ... ORDERED that Defendants' motion to vacate default is hereby GRANTED”
“ORDERED that Plaintiff's motion to enter default judgment is hereby DENIED.”
“Because an agreement to arbitrate cannot be gathered from the face of the Complaint, the Court will deny the motion without prejudice, order limited discovery on whether an agreement to arbitrate exists, and if necessary, entertain a future motion to compel arbitration under a summary judgment standard.”
“Plaintiff’s Motion for Reconsideration, ECF No. 42, is DENIED while her request in the alternative for leave to amend her First Amendment claim is GRANTED.”
“Defendant's motion to dismiss is granted in part and denied in part. Counts II, III, and the punitive damages claim are dismissed without prejudice.”
“Count 23 of the Indictment sufficiently states the elements of aggravated identity theft, 18 U.S.C. § 1028A, where the use of the victim's identity was at the crux of the criminal conduct. The Motion is therefore DENIED.”
“Defendant's motion for reconsideration (ECF No. 54) is DENIED and Plaintiff shall take one Rule 30(b )(6) deposition before a date to be decided by Judge Waldor”
“For the reasons set forth above. Plaintiffs Motion is DENIED.”
“Defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea is denied.”
“Petitioner's motion is DENIED and the Court will not issue a certificate ofappealability.”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss as to Defendant Centroid Systems Corporation is GRANTED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Defendants' motion to dismiss or transfer the case under 28 U.S.C. § 1391 Is DENIED WITH PREJUDICE. Defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and its motion to transfer the case under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) are DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
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 | 10 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 10 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 9 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 11 |
| Sep 2024 | 1 | 11 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 10 |
| Sep 2023 | 2 | 17 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 21 |
| Sep 2022 | 7 | 23 |
| Mar 2022 | 1 | 26 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 19 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 17 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 15 |
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 Martini: 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).
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