Matthew Walden McFarland
How Judge McFarland decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Enforces arbitration agreements, including electronically signed clickwrap agreements; an unsupported denial unaccompanied by an affidavit does not create a fact issue defeating arbitration.
“GRANTS the CFL Pizza Defendants Motion to Dismiss and Compel Arbitration (Doc. 17) ... the CFL Pizza Defendants are hereby DISMISSED from this litigation”
Cautions
Treats failure to exhaust administrative remedies as fatal at the threshold: an FTCA claim not first presented administratively is dismissed without prejudice and cannot be cured by amendment.
“Defendant United States of America's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 21) is GRANTED. All claims brought against the United States of America are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
On a premises-liability summary-judgment motion, requires evidence of how long a hazard existed to establish constructive notice; absent it, judgment is entered for the defendant.
“Target's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED. Thus, Count 1 of Plaintiff's Complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“GRANTS the CFL Pizza Defendants Motion to Dismiss and Compel Arbitration (Doc. 17) ... the CFL Pizza Defendants are hereby DISMISSED from this litigation”
“DENIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO REFILING Plaintiff's Motion to Send Notice to Similarly Situated Employees (Doc. 3) ... and STAYS this litigation”
“Target's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED. Thus, Count 1 of Plaintiff's Complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Defendant United States of America's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 21) is GRANTED. All claims brought against the United States of America are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“Plaintiffs ... Motion for Leave to File First Amended Complaint (Doc. 39) is DENIED.”
“Plaintiffs ... Motion to Strike Defendant's Request for Dismissal Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) (Doc. 45) is DENIED.”
“Walmart's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 20) is GRANTED; Plaintiff's claims against Walmart are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE”
“Defendants' Amended Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 44) is GRANTED; Plaintiff's claims are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE”
“the Court DENIES Defendant's Motion for Default Judgment”
“GRANTS Plaintiff's Motion to Amend (Doc. 28).”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 23) is GRANTED;”
“Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 18) is DENIED”
“Defendant fails to satisfy its burden of showing that this is an exceptional case to”
“Defendant's Motion to Stay (Doc. 20) is DENIED.”
“Motion for Class Certification (Doc. 3) is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“Plaintiff's Motion to Remand is GRANTED. This entire matter is”
“DENIED AS MOOT because the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
A sample of cases filed in 2019 and 2020 and terminated from 2020 through 2022 is weighted toward diversity matters, including employment and civil-rights, contract, employee-benefits, and personal-injury disputes, together with federal criminal cases. Several matters were inherited from the prior judge's seat.
Put Judge McFarland's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge McFarland actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge McFarland's own signed orders and cites them.