Chad Francis Kenney Sr.
How Judge Kenney rules, drawn from 35 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Kenney
Chad Francis Kenney, Sr. is a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Kenney received a commission on October 24, 2018.
Judge Kenney's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Kenney, 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.
- Policies and Procedures for Counsel ↗
- Report of Rule 26(f) Meeting ↗
- Default Order Governing Electronic Discovery ↗
- Electronic Discovery Checklist ↗
Key rules
Contacting chambers
Do not email chambers about substantive matters.
“Parties should not email Chambers on substantive matters.”
Motions
Limit supporting briefs or memoranda to 25 pages unless the court grants leave.
“limited to twenty-five pages. If a party requires more than twenty-five pages to explain its position”
Conferences
File the Rule 26(f) report at least three business days before the pretrial conference.
“At least three business days before the pretrial conference, counsel shall file on the docket the required report of the Rule 26(f) meeting.”
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 8, 2026).
- Standing Order on Procedure for Case Opening ↗
- Standing Order on Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- Standing Order on Access and Management of Sealed Documents ↗
- Standing Order on Filing Procedures in Alien Detainee Cases ↗
- Second Amended Standing Order on Guilty Pleas and Sentencing ↗
- Standing Order on Electronic Document Submission for Unrepresented Litigants ↗
- Standing Procedural Order for Cases Seeking Social Security Review ↗
- Superseding Standing Order on Procedural Matters in Pro Se Civil and Habeas Cases ↗
- Standing Order on Electronic Access to Civil and Criminal Transcripts ↗
How Judge Kenney decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In this case, he denied the defendants’ motion to compel arbitration and dismiss the action.
“upon consideration of Defendants’ Motion to Compel Arbitration and Dismiss The Case (ECF No. 11) ... it is hereby ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion (ECF No. 11) is DENIED.”
Cautions
In this case, he granted the dispositive motion, dismissed all counts with prejudice, and directed the clerk to close the case.
“it is hereby ORDERED that the Motion is GRANTED. The matter is therefore DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE on all counts. The Clerk of Court is directed to close the case.”
In Pennmark, the proposed expert lacked qualifying retail-contract expertise and offered unreliable or legal opinions throughout his reports. The court rejected the fallback request to trim only isolated paragraphs and excluded the reports and testimony in full.
“The Court cannot simply fix the admissibility and reliability problems it has identified by excising paragraphs from his Reports or by ordering him not to provide any testimony on certain topics.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“it is hereby ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED. The matter is therefore DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE on all remaining counts.”
“it is hereby ORDERED that the Motion is GRANTED. The matter is therefore DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE on all counts. The Clerk of Court is directed to close the case.”
“upon consideration of Defendants UPMC Altoona and Dr. Yaquob Tokhi’s Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 35), it is hereby ORDERED that the Motion is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is instructed to terminate Defendants UPMC Altoona and Dr. Yaquob Tokhi.”
“it is hereby ORDERED that the Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 86) is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is hereby directed to CLOSE this case.”
“upon consideration of Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 24) and Defendants’ Response in Opposition (ECF No. 34), it is hereby ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion is DENIED.”
“upon consideration of Defendants’ Motion to Compel Arbitration and Dismiss The Case (ECF No. 11) ... it is hereby ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion (ECF No. 11) is DENIED.”
“2. The petition for a writ of habeas corpus is DENIED AND DISMISSED; 3. The petition for stay and abeyance is DENIED AND DISMISSED; 4. A certificate of appealability SHALL NOT issue”
“For the reasons set forth above, Target's motion is granted, and Abadi's PHRA claim is dismissed with prejudice.”
“the United States has not consented to be sued for misdelivery of mail, so Plaintiff's claim is barred by sovereign immunity. ... since the case has been dismissed, there are no grounds for Plaintiff to engage in discovery.”
“upon consideration of the Defendant's Amended Motion to Dismiss the Indictment (ECF No. 28) ... it is hereby ORDERED that the Defendant's Motion is DENIED. ... this application of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) 'fits within our Nation's history and tradition of disarming those persons who legislatures believed would, if armed, pose a threat to the orderly functioning of society.'”
“the Court will dismiss the identified claims without prejudice.”
“with prejudice because any attempt to cure the pleading deficiency would be futile”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Judge Kenney has served since October 2018 and sits in the Philadelphia and Allentown divisions.
- His civil docket includes securities class actions, employment and civil-rights cases, insurance and benefits disputes, consumer-credit and copyright matters, wage claims, personal injury, immigration mandamus, prisoner litigation, and habeas petitions.
- Many cases end through settlement or failure-to-prosecute dismissals rather than a merits ruling.
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 | 1 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2025 | 2 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 7 |
| Sep 2023 | 2 | 5 |
| Mar 2023 | 8 | 5 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 1 | 2 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 2 |
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 Eastern District of Pennsylvania, not for Judge Kenney: 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 | 5,730 | 5.1 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,952 | 3.2 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,834 | 4.7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 898 | 10 months |
| Closed during trial | 46 | 17.8 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 5,730 | 5.1 months |
| Sep 2024 | 6,200 | 4.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 6,595 | 7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 5,221 | 6.6 months |
| Sep 2021 | 5,245 | 6.5 months |
| Sep 2020 | 4,686 | 5.7 months |
| Sep 2019 | 5,374 | 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).
Draft for Judge Kenney with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Kenney, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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