Wendy Beetlestone
How Judge Beetlestone rules, drawn from 40 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Beetlestone
Wendy Beetlestone is a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Beetlestone received a commission on November 21, 2014.
Judge Beetlestone's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Beetlestone, 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
Contacting chambers
Direct telephone inquiries to the deputy rather than law clerks.
“Judge Beetlestone strongly discourages communication with her law clerks. All telephone inquiries should be directed to Judge Beetlestone’s deputy.”
Filing
Send one courtesy copy of any motion, brief, or memorandum longer than ten pages when filing it.
“Counsel should send one (1) courtesy copy of any motion, brief, or memorandum that exceeds (10) pages in length to chambers at the time of filing.”
Filing
Use a formal filing for matters that belong in a motion or other pleading, rather than a letter to the court.
“Do not write letters to the Court that are properly the subject of these filings.”
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 Beetlestone decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In an employment case, she granted summary judgment on the retaliation claims but denied it on the age-discrimination disparate-treatment claims.
“Summary judgment is GRANTED with respect to Plaintiff's retaliation claims ... DENIED with respect to Plaintiff's age discrimination disparate treatment claims.”
In De Piero’s Title VII case, she denied dismissal of the hostile work environment allegations in Counts One, Two, and Five while dismissing the disparate treatment allegations in those counts without prejudice.
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss is DENIED with respect to De Piero's allegations of a hostile work environment in Counts One, Two, and Five.”
Procedural preferences
In a Section 1983 case against a private entity, she considered four state-actor tests and found the complaint insufficient under each.
“Courts use four tests to determine if a party is a 'state actor' for Section 1983 liability. ... Plaintiff has not alleged sufficient facts to satisfy any of these tests.”
Cautions
In De Piero’s case, she dismissed the equal benefit clause and Section 1983 counts with prejudice and the disparate treatment allegations in Counts One, Two, and Five without prejudice.
“it is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. ... is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
In Franco, EPA cooperation with a state-court subpoena did not waive sovereign immunity. Without an express statutory waiver, the court quashed the subpoena and denied a motion to compel the remaining documents.
“the EPA’s sovereign immunity can be waived only when a federal statute expressly authorizes suit against it.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendant's Motion is GRANTED with respect to: 1. Plaintiff's Discrimination Claims. 2. Plaintiff's Retaliation Claims based on her asthma diagnosis. Defendant's Motion is DENIED with respect to Plaintiff's Retaliation Claims based on her taking a day off from work for her GERD-related Procedure.”
“Summary judgment is GRANTED with respect to Plaintiff's retaliation claims pursuant to the ADEA, PHRA, and PFPO. Summary judgment is DENIED with respect to Plaintiff's age discrimination disparate treatment claims pursuant to the ADEA, PHRA, and PFPO.”
“Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED and all claims against Defendant Anthony J. Samango, Jr. are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. In all other respects, Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED.”
“Counts One, Two, and Five ... are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE with respect to their allegations of disparate treatment. Defendants' Motion to Dismiss is DENIED with respect to De Piero's allegations of a hostile work environment in Counts One, Two, and Five. ... Count Two ... 'equal benefit clause', it is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. ... Count Four ... 42 U.S.C. 1983, is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Having failed to meet the threshold 'state actor' requirement, all of Plaintiff's claims against Defendants must fail. Defendants' motion to dismiss is granted, and the claims are dismissed with prejudice.”
“Defendant's Motion is GRANTED and that the Complaint is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Count One is GRANTED. Count One is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Count Two is DENIED. Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Count Three is GRANTED. Count Three is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“upon consideration of Defendant's Motion to Strike ... Defendant's Motion is DENIED.”
“Upon consideration of Plaintiff's Motions for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF Nos. 141, 142, 143) ... IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Motions are DENIED.”
“Defendant Sway's Motion for Summary Judgment ... is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. ... GRANTED as to Plaintiff's claim for unjust enrichment, which is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. ... DENIED in all other respects.”
“Defendant PureRED's Motion for Summary Judgment ... is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. ... GRANTED as to Plaintiff's claim for unjust enrichment, which is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. ... DENIED in all other respects.”
“Defendants' Motion is HEREBY GRANTED. Biondino's Complaint (ECF No. 1) is HEREBY DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“Plaintiff's claims for breach of contract (Count XI), and her claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (Count XII), Wage Payment and Collection Law (Count XIII), and Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (Count XIV) are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE ... The Motion to Dismiss is otherwise DENIED.”
“Defendants' motions to dismiss are GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART: a. The motions to dismiss Count I are GRANTED ... b. The motions to dismiss Count II are DENIED as to Defendants Resultly and Beyrak and GRANTED as to Defendant VigLink. (Defendant Resultly)”
“Defendants' motions to dismiss are GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART: a. The motions to dismiss Count I are GRANTED ... b. The motions to dismiss Count II are DENIED as to Defendants Resultly and Beyrak ... (Defendant Beyrak)”
“b. The motions to dismiss Count II are DENIED as to Defendants Resultly and Beyrak and GRANTED as to Defendant VigLink. Count II is DISMISSED against Defendant VigLink ... h. The motion to dismiss Count XI is DENIED. (Defendant VigLink)”
“(1) the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is DENIED as to Count I; (2) ... GRANTED as to Count II; Count II ... is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE; (3) ... GRANTED as to Counts III and IV; Counts III and IV ... are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE; and (4) the Plaintiff shall have leave to file an amended complaint.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 246 days (N = 9).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 101 days (N = 2).
The reviewed 2021 civil docket is weighted toward employment and civil-rights cases, with additional consumer-credit, securities, and False Claims Act matters.
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 | 5 |
| 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 | 14 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 5 | 14 |
| Sep 2025 | 2 | 15 |
| Mar 2025 | 3 | 13 |
| Sep 2024 | 17 | 15 |
| Mar 2024 | 3 | 12 |
| Sep 2023 | 11 | 24 |
| Mar 2023 | 3 | 5 |
| Sep 2022 | 4 | 10 |
| Mar 2022 | 8 | 7 |
| Sep 2021 | 3 | 4 |
| Mar 2021 | 2 | 6 |
| Sep 2020 | 2 | 6 |
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 Beetlestone: 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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