Brenda Weksler
How Judge Weksler rules, drawn from 14 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Weksler
Brenda Weksler became a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Nevada in May 2019. She previously served as an assistant federal public defender in Las Vegas and earned her law degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
How Judge Weksler decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Orcutt v. Social Security, Weksler remanded after the ALJ applied listings adopted after the claimant filed and miscalculated the period for her past relevant work. The order directed the ALJ to apply the earlier listing and recalculate past work.
“The Court instead remands to an ALJ to determine whether Plaintiff meets, or equals, Listing 104A.”
In Anzaldo v. Social Security, Weksler remanded because the ALJ omitted significant evidence consistent with Malik’s medical opinion when evaluating that opinion’s supportability and consistency.
“In rejecting Malik’s opinion regarding Plaintiff’s limitations, the ALJ failed to address significant evidence that was consistent with Malik’s opinion. This was legal error.”
In Rogers, the court remanded when the administrative law judge did not explain which specific symptom testimony conflicted with the cited medical evidence.
“The Court cannot fill in the gaps or speculate to an ALJ’s reasoning.”
In Corpening v. United Services Automobile Association, Weksler remanded an insurance suit after finding that detailed alter-ego allegations made a Nevada defendant potentially liable and defeated the removing insurer’s fraudulent-joinder argument.
“Because Plaintiff alleged facts that could indicate an alter ego relationship, it is”
Procedural preferences
In Francois, Weksler denied the claimant's motion to remand and granted the Commissioner's countermotion to affirm the disability decision.
“ORDER Denying 12 Motion to Remand to Social Security Administration. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that 15 Defendant's Countermotion to Affirm the Agency Decision is GRANTED.”
Cautions
In Christiana v. Kijakazi, Weksler awarded the claimant’s counsel fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) and ordered counsel to reimburse the claimant for EAJA fees previously received.
“ORDER granting 30 Motion for Attorney Fees. ... the Court grants Plaintiff's motion for fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 406(b). The Court awards Mark Kalagian attorney fees in the amount of $28,512.00. The Court orders Mark Kalagian to reimburse Plaintiff the amount of $4,900.00 for EAJA fees previously received.”
In Harris, the court affirmed where later medical developments and allegations about care did not show error on the record considered by the administrative law judge.
“Merely showing that the ALJ could have decided differently is not enough.”
In Pixley v. Bisignano, Weksler affirmed the benefits denial after finding the administrative law judge connected particular symptom allegations to contradictory evidence rather than only summarizing medical records.
“ALJ here expressly tied evidence from the record to his conclusion”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ORDER Granting, consistent with this Order, 26 Motion to Remand and Denying 29 Countermotion to Affirm the Agency Decision. ... on remand, the ALJ apply the listings in effect at the time Plaintiff filed her claim, and that the ALJ calculate Plaintiff's past relevant work period pursuant to Social Security Regulation 82-62. ... the Clerk of Court enter judgment in favor of Plaintiff and close this case.”
“ORDER Granting, consistent with this Order, 26 Motion to Remand and Denying 29 Countermotion to Affirm the Agency Decision.”
“ORDER Denying 12 Motion to Remand to Social Security Administration. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that 15 Defendant's Countermotion to Affirm the Agency Decision is GRANTED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that 15 Defendant's Countermotion to Affirm the Agency Decision is GRANTED.”
“ORDER Granting 24 Stipulation to Remand pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. 405(g) and to entry of judgment for Plaintiff. Signed by Magistrate Judge Brenda Weksler on 7/21/2023.; Case terminated.”
“ORDER granting 30 Motion for Attorney Fees. ... the Court grants Plaintiff's motion for fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 406(b). The Court awards Mark Kalagian attorney fees in the amount of $28,512.00. The Court orders Mark Kalagian to reimburse Plaintiff the amount of $4,900.00 for EAJA fees previously received.”
“ORDER Granting 1 Motion to proceed in forma pauperis. The Clerk of Court must file the complaint (ECF No. 1-1). ... Signed by Magistrate Judge Brenda Weksler on 2/21/2023.”
“IT IS ORDERED that ECF No. 10 is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of Court is kindly directed to close this case. Signed by Magistrate Judge Brenda Weksler on 2/14/2023.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion for Reversal and Remand (ECF No. 18) is GRANTED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant’s Countermotion to Affirm the Agency Decision (ECF No. 22) is DENIED.”
“(ECF No. 16) is DENIED.”
“No. 18) is GRANTED.”
“proceedings is GRANTED consistent with this Order.”
“this Court denies Plaintiff’s request and affirms the Commissioner’s decision.”
“this Court denies Plaintiff’s request and affirms the Commissioner’s decision.”
“with the approval of the Court, that this action be remanded for further administrative”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- The reviewed docket is dominated by Social Security appeals that Judge Weksler decides with the parties' consent under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).
- These matters are commonly resolved through cross-motions to remand or affirm, and many also end through stipulated sentence-four remands.
- Her docket also includes criminal magistrate matters such as grand-jury subpoenas and sealed warrant applications.
- The durations below measure Social Security appeals from filing to termination.
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 | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2025 | 1 | 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 Nevada, not for Judge Weksler: 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 | 2,100 | 8 months |
| Closed with no court action | 290 | 5.4 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 1,769 | 8.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 28 | 8 months |
| Closed during trial | 13 | 62 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,100 | 8 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,177 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,000 | 8.4 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,030 | 8.8 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,291 | 8.6 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,392 | 10.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,679 | 11.5 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 Weksler with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Weksler, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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