Mark D. Clarke
How Judge Clarke rules, drawn from 33 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Clarke
Mark D. Clarke became a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Oregon in February 2007. He sits in Medford and previously practiced liability and commercial litigation.
Judge Clarke's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Clarke, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- United States Magistrate Judge Mark D. Clarke ↗
- Trial Management Order ↗
- Settlement Conference Instructions ↗
Key rules
Discovery
Contact Judge Clarke to seek informal resolution of a discovery dispute.
“The parties may contact Judge Clarke at (541) 608-8750 to informally resolve discovery disputes.”
Conferences
Come to the Rule 16 conference ready to discuss a discovery plan and case dates.
“Prior to the conference, the parties should consult regarding a discovery plan and anticipate advising Judge Clarke of their plan.”
Trial
Pretrial conferences are held in person at the Medford courthouse.
“Pretrial conferences are in person at the Courthouse in Medford.”
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 Clarke decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
For PLRA exhaustion, a grievance must address the actual incident and responsible conduct underlying the lawsuit; grievances about adjacent medical issues do not exhaust the claim.
“none of the three Grievances address the 'incident, issue, or action' at the heart of Plaintiff's claims”
Procedural preferences
In a limitations dispute, Clarke found that the plaintiff filed the action on June 5, 2024, one day after the applicable period expired.
“Plaintiff filed this action on June 5th, 2024-one day after the limitations period had run.”
When a self-represented plaintiff stopped communicating and failed for more than sixty days to provide a current address, Clarke weighed the five dismissal factors and recommended dismissal without prejudice rather than leaving the case indefinitely stalled.
“the first, second, third, and fifth Carey factors thus weigh in favor of dismissal. Though disposition on the merits is preferred, the other factors together outweigh the public interest in disposing of this case on the merits.”
Cautions
A self-represented plaintiff ordinarily receives an opportunity to amend, but repeated failure to state a claim can lead to dismissal with prejudice when further amendment would be futile.
“The Court has already granted Plaintiff leave to amend her complaint and finds that providing addition opportunities would be futile and a waste of judicial resources.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The City's Motion (#9) should be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Plaintiffs fourth and fifth claims for relief should be dismissed, and the prayer for prejudgment interest is construed to apply to the $150,000 bond amount only. Dismissal should be without prejudice.”
“Judge Clarke recommends that Respondent's Motion to Dismiss, ECF No 11, be granted and the petitions dismissed. ... Judge Clarke's F&R is therefore ADOPTED and Respondent's Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 11, is GRANTED. The Petitions are DISMISSED”
“Judge Clarke recommends that Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 29, be denied. ... The F&R, ECF No. 41, is therefore ADOPTED and Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 29, is DENIED.”
“Judge Clarke recommends that Plaintiffs' Petition for Return of Property, ECF No. 1, be DENIED and this case be DISMISSED. ... The F&R is ADOPTED. Plaintiffs' Petition for Return of Property is DENIED and this case is DISMISSED.”
“the defendants' motion (#32) should be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Plaintiff should be given leave to replead her damages within 30 days of a ruling by the District Court on this matter.”
“The F&R is therefore ADOPTED and the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, ECF No. 1, is DENIED and this case is DISMISSED with prejudice.”
“Magistrate Judge Clarke's Findings and Recommendation (ECF No. 30) is adopted in full. FedLoan Servicing's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (ECF No. 20) is GRANTED and this case is DISMISSED.”
“Magistrate Judge Clarke's Findings and Recommendation (ECF No. 18) is adopted in full. The social security case should be reversed and remanded for further proceedings.”
“Magistrate Judge Clarke's Findings and Recommendation (ECF No. 39) is adopted in full. Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 31) is GRANTED.”
“Magistrate Judge Clarke's Findings and Recommendation (ECF No. 298) is adopted in full. Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 253) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“Plaintiff's partial Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 255) is DENIED.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Judicial Notice (ECF No. 256) is DENIED.”
“Magistrate Judge Clarke's Findings and Recommendation (ECF No. 20) is adopted. First Motion Against Plaintiff's Complaint (EFC No. 7) is GRANTED. Plaintiff's claim of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress against Defendant Stephen R. Hedlund is dismissed.”
“Magistrate Judge Clarke's Findings and Recommendation (ECF No. 81) is ADOPTED in full. Plaintiff's Motion for Fees (ECF No. 40) is GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The 2023 Medford case sample includes environmental and water disputes, employment civil-rights matters, Social Security appeals, consumer-credit, contract, and prisoner civil-rights cases. Reported durations measure the life of each case, not the time taken to decide a motion.
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 | 3 |
| 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 | 14 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 3 | 14 |
| Sep 2025 | 16 | 16 |
| Mar 2025 | 5 | 14 |
| Sep 2024 | 7 | 13 |
| Mar 2024 | 5 | 14 |
| Sep 2023 | 2 | 17 |
| Mar 2023 | 7 | 12 |
| Sep 2022 | 3 | 9 |
| Mar 2022 | 3 | 7 |
| Sep 2021 | 2 | 6 |
| Mar 2021 | 1 | 5 |
| Sep 2020 | 3 | 5 |
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 Oregon, not for Judge Clarke: 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 | 1,647 | 9.8 months |
| Closed with no court action | 300 | 5.2 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 1,316 | 10.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 9 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 22 | 33.6 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,647 | 9.8 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,633 | 10.2 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,472 | 11.6 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,620 | 13.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,501 | 11.8 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,536 | 11.8 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,596 | 11.6 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).
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