Paul Steven Diamond
How Judge Diamond rules, drawn from 32 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Diamond
Paul Steven Diamond is a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. President George W. Bush appointed him, and he received his commission on June 22, 2004. He previously worked as a Philadelphia prosecutor and in private practice.
Judge Diamond's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Diamond, 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
Discovery
Certify a reasonable attempt to resolve a discovery dispute before bringing it to the judge.
“Before bringing a discovery dispute to my attention, Counsel must certify that they have made a reasonable effort to resolve the dispute.”
Discovery
File a signed clawback agreement with the Rule 26(f) memorandum at least seven days before the preliminary pretrial conference.
“The Parties shall file the signed clawback agreement on the docket along with their Rule 26(f) Memorandum no later than seven days before the Preliminary Pretrial Conference.”
Conferences
Lead counsel must attend the preliminary pretrial conference in person with a client or representative who has full settlement authority.
“Lead Counsel shall attend the conference, be familiar with all aspects of the case, and have full authority to negotiate an amicable settlement. Counsel shall be accompanied by his or her client, or, in the case of corporate parties, a representative with full settlement authority.”
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 Diamond decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In an insurance dispute, the court resolved coverage through controlling policy interpretation and an exclusion, then declined to address further exclusions.
“In light of my decision, I will not address Seneca’s contention that other Policy Exclusions bar coverage.”
In an immigration detention case, the court ordered a bond hearing under the governing statute and did not reach the constitutional argument.
“In light of my decision, I will not address Alekseev’s due process claim, and will deny his Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order.”
Procedural preferences
The court denied preliminary class settlement approval without prejudice and requested more evidence about the negotiations and investigation.
“Accordingly, I will deny Plaintiff’s Motion without prejudice.”
Cautions
The court rejected a late habeas petition where the petitioner did not establish a basis for equitable tolling.
“Accordingly, his Petition is untimely and must be denied.”
The court rejected amendment as futile where workers’ compensation exclusivity foreclosed the employer wrongful death claims.
“amend would be futile, I will dismiss Plaintiff’s Complaint with prejudice.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Accordingly, I will deny Defendant’s Motion on this alternative ground.”
“I will nonetheless deny Battista’s Moton for Reconsideration without prejudice.”
“I am compelled to deny his Motion.”
“I will grant Alekseev’s Petition to the extent that he seeks an Order requiring a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge”
“will deny his Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order.”
“Accordingly, I will deny Plaintiff’s Motion without prejudice.”
“I am compelled to grant the Government’s Motion for Summary Judgment.”
“I will grant the Government’s Motion to Dismiss on immunity grounds.”
“I am thus compelled to grant Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.”
“I will thus grant Seneca’s Motion for Summary Judgment on these alternate grounds.”
“Petitioner’s claims (Doc. Nos. 1, 5, 6) are DISMISSED;”
“The Petition Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 for Writ of Habeas Corpus is DENIED;”
“The Supplemental Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Doc. No. 71) is DENIED;”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 14 days (N = 13).
The ten sampled matters include civil insurance and mortgage disputes, a Social Security review, habeas and civil rights cases, and two newer pending filings. The sample is too small and uneven for a caseload mix estimate.
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 | 6 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 6 | 5 |
| Sep 2025 | 5 | 6 |
| Mar 2025 | 6 | 8 |
| Sep 2024 | 4 | 5 |
| Mar 2024 | 30 | 8 |
| Sep 2023 | 3 | 11 |
| Mar 2023 | 5 | 12 |
| Sep 2022 | 7 | 6 |
| Mar 2022 | 3 | 5 |
| Sep 2021 | 8 | 5 |
| Mar 2021 | 8 | 3 |
| Sep 2020 | 5 | 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 Diamond: 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).
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