Nora Barry Fischer
How Judge Fischer rules, drawn from 22 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Fischer
Nora Barry Fischer is a senior judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Appointed by President George W. Bush, she received her commission on April 2, 2007, and assumed senior status on June 13, 2019. She earned a bachelor's degree from Saint Mary's College and a law degree from Notre Dame Law School.
Judge Fischer's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Fischer, as published on the court's website (checked October 11, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Contacting chambers
Make requests by motion with a proposed order.
“Communication with the Court shall be in the form of motions, accompanied by”
Motions
Moving and response briefs are limited to 20 pages, with leave required for replies.
“There is a brief page restriction of twenty (20) pages for all moving and”
Motions
Responses ordinarily are due in 21 days for dispositive motions and 14 days for nondispositive motions.
“Parties generally are given twenty-one (21) days to file a response to a dispositive”
Motions
File reconsideration motions within seven days.
“Any Motions for reconsideration shall be filed within seven (7) days.”
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 Fischer decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a discovery dispute, the court required production under seal after finding the asserted privilege unsupported.
“the DOC has failed to demonstrate an applicable privilege under the present circumstances”
In Garvin, the court found allegations of participation in a spouse’s discrimination case, timing, and ongoing antagonism sufficient to support a plausible retaliation claim at the pleading stage.
“Plaintiff has sufficiently alleged, under the currently applicable standard, both temporal proximity and other facts sufficient to raise an alternative inference of causation”
Procedural preferences
The court’s chambers procedures require motions to include proposed orders specifying the requested relief.
“Communication with the Court shall be in the form of motions, accompanied by proposed orders specifying the relief requested.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendants’ motion to dismiss [21] is granted. Plaintiffs Amended Complaint is dismissed, with prejudice.”
“Chisler’s motion to compel production of a copy of certain documents, Docket No. [138], is GRANTED, with the limitation that the document be produced under seal”
“Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is granted, in part and denied, in part.”
“Hussey’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 35) is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Motion in Limine to Exclude Evidence of Damages to the MBE/ DBE Programs of the Federal Government (Docket No. [73]) is GRANTED, in part, and DENIED, in part.”
“Plaintiffs Motion to Exclude Evidence of Civil Penalties or Treble Damages (Docket No. [77]) is GRANTED;”
“Plaintiffs Motion in Limine to Exclude Evidence of DBE Goals (Docket No. [81]) is DENIED.”
“motions to dismiss filed by Defendants Judge Hodge and Domestic Relations [55], attorney Manolis [51], and Van Tassel [53] are GRANTED.”
“Defendants’ Motion to Exclude the Expert Testimony of Dr. Bennet Omalu [127] is GRANTED.”
“Defendants’ Joint Motion for Summary Judgment is denied as to Plaintiffs Fourth Amendment claims for unlawful arrest, search and use of excessive force in Counts I and III.”
“the Petition (Docket No. 5) is DENIED, as meritless,”
“No. 27) is GRANTED;”
“without prejudice (Docket No. 40) is GRANTED, in part, and DENIED, in part,”
The court adopted a recommendation and dismissed a complaint during statutory screening; no party motion was decided.
“Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus [1] is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, as follows:”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The 2024 docket screen included civil rights, employment, habeas, insurance, and other civil matters. Most reviewed dockets yielded no readable, paired motion disposition; no courtwide caseload estimate is drawn from this small sample.
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 | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2020 | 1 | 0 |
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 Western District of Pennsylvania, not for Judge Fischer: 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 | 1,965 | 6.5 months |
| Closed with no court action | 665 | 4.6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 659 | 5.1 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 632 | 8.4 months |
| Closed during trial | 9 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,965 | 6.5 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,871 | 6.3 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,021 | 5.9 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,988 | 6.5 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,891 | 6.3 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,939 | 5.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,766 | 6.9 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 Fischer with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Fischer, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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