Aileen Goldman Durrett
How Judge Durrett decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
On collateral review she applies the AEDPA one-year limitations period strictly: a pro se movant's lack of legal training and unfamiliarity with the process is not an extraordinary circumstance for equitable tolling, and a movant who waits years gets no relief.
“proceeding pro se, illiteracy, deafness, lack of legal training, and unfamiliarity with the legal process do not constitute extraordinary circumstances. ... Equity is not intended for those who sleep on their rights.”
She enforces the formal default-judgment sequence: a plaintiff must first secure the clerk's entry of default before moving for default judgment, so a premature default-judgment motion is recommended denied without prejudice rather than reached on the merits.
“As a prerequisite to filing a Motion for Default Judgment, Plaintiff must follow the procedure outlined above. That is, request the clerk's entry of default, obtain the clerk's entry of default, and then file a motion for default judgment.”
She requires compliance with filing-fee and case-management orders and will recommend dismissal under Rule 41(b) for failure to prosecute when a litigant repeatedly ignores the court's orders, even after multiple extensions.
“In this case, Plaintiff has failed to comply with the court's orders. Therefore, the case should be dismissed for failure to prosecute.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“It is recommended the above-styled motion for relief under 28 U.S.C. 2255 be denied and this case be dismissed with prejudice. It is further recommended a certificate of appealability be denied.”
“It is therefore recommended that the case be dismissed without prejudice. Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b).”
“the court recommends that Defendants' Original Answer (Dkt. #7) be STRICKEN from the record and that Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment (Dkt. #22) be DENIED without prejudice.”
Competency determination referred to the magistrate judge under 18 U.S.C. 4241/4247. After a hearing she issued a Report and Recommendation finding the defendant competent to stand trial -- he understands the nature and consequences of the proceedings and can assist in his defense -- which the district judge adopted with no objections ('The Court ORDERS that the Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge Aileen Goldman Durrett is ADOPTED ... the Court finds the Defendant is competent.'). This determination rules on no party motion, so it is excluded from the motion statistics; it counts as an order read and is a verified adopted Report and Recommendation, her authorship confirmed by the district judge's adoption order.
“the court recommends that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction (Dkt. #9) should be GRANTED and that Plaintiffs' Notice of Appeal (Dkt. #1) and Plaintiffs' Complaint (Dkt. #3) should be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“Plaintiffs' Motion to Appoint Counsel (Dkt. #5) and Plaintiffs' Motion to E-File (Dkt. #11) should be DENIED AS MOOT.”
“the court recommends that Defendants' Motion to Dismiss, with Brief (Dkt. #23) be GRANTED IN PART. The court further recommends that this case be ABATED pending the resolution of Cause No. CJ-2020-5706 filed in the District Court of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma.”
“the court recommends that Defendant's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Dkt. #25) be GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. Defendant should be granted summary judgement on all of Plaintiffs' claims related to damages to the pool, trees, shrubs, and landscaping; Defendant should be denied summary judgment as to the remainder of Plaintiffs' breach of contract claims; Defendant should be granted summary judgment on Plaintiffs' claims of violations of the duty of good faith and fair dealing and the Texas Insurance Code §§ 541.060 and 541.151; and Defendant should be granted summary judgment on Texas Insurance Code § 542.055 and denied summary judgment on Texas Insurance Code §§ 542.056 and 542.058.”
“the court recommends that Equifax's Motion for Summary Judgment and Memorandum in Support (Dkt. #55) be GRANTED and Reyes' claims be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“The court further recommends the Government's motion to dismiss allegations 4 and 5 in the Petition be granted.”
“the Government moved to dismiss allegation (2). Defendant entered a plea of true to allegation (1) of the Petition. ... The court further recommends that allegation (2) be dismissed.”
“It is therefore ORDERED that Petitioner's construed motion for default judgment (Dkt. #45) is DENIED.”
“The court further recommends that the court grant the Government's motion to dismiss allegations 1 and 2.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 350 days (N = 9).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 302 days (N = 3).
The sampled caseload includes civil-rights, habeas, Social Security, criminal pretrial, and competency matters, together with consent cases she decides directly.
Put Judge Durrett's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Durrett actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Durrett's own signed orders and cites them.