Lawrence Leroy Piersol
How Judge Piersol rules, drawn from 24 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Piersol
Lawrence L. Piersol is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Piersol received a commission on November 22, 1993. Judge Piersol assumed senior status on July 31, 2009.
Judge Piersol's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Piersol's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
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).
- STANDING ORDER 25-03 - In the Matter of Procedures for the Access and Management of Non-Public Documents in Criminal Cases ↗
- Standing Order 22-06 Expert Witness Disclosure Deadlines in Criminal Cases ↗
- Standing Order 23-02 Revising the Procedure for Compassionate Release Motions Under the First Step Act ↗
- Standing Order 24-01 - Disclosure of Jail Incident Reports or Similar Documents ↗
How Judge Piersol decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Zoss v. Protsch, he granted partial summary judgment against noneconomic damages in a legal-malpractice suit, declining to predict that the South Dakota Supreme Court would recognize a new basis for those damages.
“The court has not adopted such a rule to date, and this Court will not presume the South Dakota Supreme Court will do so.”
Procedural preferences
In Roth v. Walters, Piersol dismissed the complaint after finding that regular mail did not effect service and that the plaintiff had declined an available waiver-of-service route.
“Plaintiff refused to take the path Rahn made available to him. Instead, Plaintiff relied on his wife's having used regular mail to send the complaint to Walters. ... this is insufficient under both the federal and pertinent state rules.”
Cautions
In Feickert v. Ravnsborg, Piersol deemed the movant’s facts admitted because the plaintiff did not respond, but explained that this alone did not warrant summary judgment. He granted the motion after examining whether the admitted facts entitled Ravnsborg to judgment as a matter of law.
“That the Court adopts Ravnsborg's facts because Feickert did not dispute them does not necessarily allow the Court to summarily grant Ravnsborg's motion.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“That Ravnsborg's motion for summary judgment, Doc. 28, is granted.”
“Plaintiffs motion for default judgment against Defendant Walters (Doc. 19) is denied”
“Defendant Walters' motion to dismiss (Doc. 23) is granted.”
“Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment (Doc 30) is granted;”
“Plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment (Doc. 37) is denied.”
“The Motion to Stay Will be denied as moot because the decision has been issued in Quick Bear Quiver.”
“5. That Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, Doc. 36, is denied.”
“4. That Defendants' Motion to Amend Answer, Doc. 24, is granted.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, Doc. 12, is granted.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. 16) is denied.”
“that Petitioner's petition to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255 is hereby denied”
“Petitioner's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254 (Doc. 1) is DENIED with prejudice”
“Defendant's Motion to Suppress Evidence, Doc. 101, is DENIED, and the Motion to Prohibit the Government from Introducing Documentary or Tangible Evidence with Regard to Certification or Qualifications of Drug Dog or Handler, Doc. 88, is DENIED.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Resolute Forest Products' motion to dismiss (Docket 7) is granted.”
“That Petitioner's Motion to Vacate, Set Aside or Correct Sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255 (Doc. 1) is DENIED with prejudice.”
“That Governments' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 21) is GRANTED.”
“Memorandum Opinion and Order denying 36 Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Caseload sample skews to recent (2024-2025) filings and reflects current intake, not career-long mix. Many remain pending.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Piersol was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of March 31, 2025.
| 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 | 3 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2024 | 3 | 3 |
| Mar 2024 | 1 | 3 |
| Sep 2023 | 1 | 4 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 6 |
| Sep 2022 | 1 | 6 |
| Mar 2022 | 2 | 3 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2021 | 4 | 4 |
| 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 United States District Court for the District of South Dakota, not for Judge Piersol: 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 | 236 | 10.2 months |
| Closed with no court action | 76 | 11 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 151 | 8.7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 1 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 8 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 236 | 10.2 months |
| Sep 2024 | 248 | 11.5 months |
| Sep 2023 | 222 | 9.8 months |
| Sep 2022 | 220 | 12.1 months |
| Sep 2021 | 197 | 13.8 months |
| Sep 2020 | 216 | 11.1 months |
| Sep 2019 | 233 | 10.8 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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