Alistair E. Newbern
How Judge Newbern rules, drawn from 11 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Newbern
Alistair E. Newbern served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee from September 2016 until January 2026. Before joining the court, she practiced appellate litigation and taught at the law schools of Vanderbilt University, the University of North Carolina, and Georgetown University. She founded Vanderbilt’s Appellate Litigation Clinic.
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 Newbern decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Hudson’s prisoner civil-rights case, after the plaintiff failed to respond to a show-cause order or a summary judgment motion, she recommended dismissal without prejudice under Rule 41(b) and treating the motion as moot.
“For these reasons, the Magistrate Judge RECOMMENDS that Hudson’s claims against CoreCivic, Dillon, Lopez, and Rosario be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) and that these defendants’ motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 60) be FOUND MOOT.”
In Hudson, she found that the defendants’ answer and summary judgment motion were ordinary early litigation steps, not prejudice caused by the plaintiff’s delay.
“Those steps are typical of the early stages of litigation and were not necessitated by Hudson’s delay. ... There is thus no indication that the CoreCivic Defendants wasted substantial time, money, or effort due to a lack of cooperation from Hudson.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Magistrate Judge will recommend that the Court dismiss Hudson’s remaining claims without prejudice under Rule 41(b) and find moot the CoreCivic Defendants’ motion for summary judgment.”
Sua sponte recommendation of dismissal without prejudice under Rule 41(b) for a pro se Social Security plaintiff who filed a blank complaint and never amended it. Quote: 'the Magistrate Judge RECOMMENDS that this lawsuit be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE under Federal Rule 41(b).' This recommendation did not resolve a party motion.
“a Report and Recommendation from Magistrate Judge Alistair Newbern (Doc. No. 202) recommending the Court deny the Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendants Zachary Knowles, Lyndi Knowles, and ZK Ranches”
“the Magistrate Judge recommends that the United States Department of Education’s (‘DOE’) motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction (Doc. No. 25) be granted, and that this action be dismissed without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1).”
“the Magistrate Judge RECOMMENDS that this action be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) and that SHP, Nicole, and Matthews's motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 59) be FOUND MOOT.”
“the Magistrate Judge RECOMMENDS that the Court GRANT the defendants' motions to dismiss (Doc. Nos. 28, 32) and DISMISS this action for Goings's failure to effect service of process on the defendants.”
“the Magistrate Judge RECOMMENDS that the Court GRANT Walgreens and Unilever's motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 7)”
“DENY Kremer's request for judgment on the pleadings (Doc. No. 9)”
“Whole Foods' motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 120) and Blount's motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 125) be DENIED”
“Whole Foods' motion to strike (Doc. No. 154) be DENIED AS MOOT.”
“Helper and Stephens's second Rule 12(b) motion (Doc. No. 57) be DENIED”
“Layton and CASA's motion for reconsideration (Doc. No. 59) be GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART”
“Reguli's motion for leave to file an amended complaint (Doc. No. 82) be DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“the Magistrate Judge RECOMMENDS that Stripe's motion to dismiss be GRANTED and Kremer's claims against Stripe be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE because Kremer has not effected service of process.”
“The Magistrate Judge recommends that Kremer's motion for injunctive relief and motion for entry of default against Webador be DENIED.”
“the Magistrate Judge RECOMMENDS that the Court GRANT Rubin Lublin's motion for judgment on the pleadings (Doc. No. 83), GRANT Bank of England's motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 91), and FIND MOOT Sutton's requests for discovery (Doc. No. 93).”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 182 days (N = 1).
Newbern decides consent Social Security appeals, handles criminal-duty matters, and issues recommendations in civil cases referred by district judges. The sampled referred docket is weighted toward self-represented prisoner civil-rights cases and initial screening 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 | 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 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 2 | 1 |
| Sep 2020 | 2 | 1 |
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 Middle District of Tennessee, not for Judge Newbern: 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 | 1,138 | 8.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 576 | 7.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 543 | 9.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 9 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 10 | 28.1 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,138 | 8.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,262 | 7.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,090 | 8.9 months |
| Sep 2022 | 987 | 11 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,007 | 10.6 months |
| Sep 2020 | 890 | 10.3 months |
| Sep 2019 | 982 | 10.7 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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