David C. Godbey
How Judge Godbey rules, drawn from 28 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Godbey
David C. Godbey is a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Godbey received a commission on August 2, 2002. Judge Godbey assumed senior status on September 18, 2025.
Judge Godbey's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Godbey, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- Judge Specific Requirements ↗
- Standard Protective Order in Word format ↗
- Standard Protective Order in PDF format ↗
Key rules
Discovery
Request an expedited discovery hearing by separate letter at least ten days before the requested docket.
“Requests must be made by separate letter to the Court’s Judicial Assistant, Donna Hocker Beyer and must be received at least ten (10) days prior to the requested docket”
Discovery
Use the judge's standard protective order or explain why a different form is necessary and provide a redline.
“Parties desiring entry of a protective order under Rule 26(c), except in patent cases, must either (a) request entry of an order in Judge Godbey's standard form (found below, which is derived from this Court's Miscellaneous Order 62) or (b) if entry of a protective order in a different form is requested, the motion must (1) explain why Judge Godbey's standard form is inadequate in the particular circumstances of the case, and (2) include a redlined version of the requested form showing where it differs from Judge Godbey's standard form.”
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).
- Special Order 19-2: Service, Access, and Management of Sealed Documents ↗
- Miscellaneous Order 61-1: Restrictions on Electronic Filing of Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- Miscellaneous Order 61: Electronic Case Filing ↗
- Special Order 19-1: Second Amended Order Regarding Public Access to Certain Documents ↗
How Judge Godbey decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Stephens v. DFW LinQ, he denied a motion to compel arbitration because the record did not let the court determine whether a valid and enforceable arbitration agreement existed.
“Because the Court cannot determine whether a valid and enforceable arbitration agreement exists between Stephens and DFW LinQ, the Court denies DFW LinQ's motion to dismiss and compel arbitration.”
In Yoshikawa v. Exxon Mobil, Godbey held that the defendants’ conflicting expert testimony did not rebut the classwide presumption of reliance.
“Defendants have not carried their burden to rebut the Basic presumption. Therefore, Plaintiffs are entitled to a presumption of reliance.”
Procedural preferences
In Goodson's unpaid-commissions suit, Godbey granted a motion to compel sales and commission records with associated metadata in native format after finding that Nasco's production did not adequately answer the requests.
“Because Defendant Nasco Healthcare has not complied with Plaintiff Goodson's discovery requests for relevant information that are proportional to the needs of the case, the Court grants [the] motion to compel. ... Nasco Healthcare is ordered to produce documents responsive to Goodson's Second Request for Production Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 16, including associated metadata in a native format within fourteen (14) days of this Order.”
In Vaughn, the court allowed a fourth amendment after finding good cause and sufficient factual detail to make the proposed claims plausible; the earlier amendment and strike motions became moot.
“amendment is not futile because Vaughn’s proposed amendments include sufficient factual detail to make out plausible claims.”
Cautions
In Aston’s case, he dismissed the claims with prejudice because the plaintiff again failed to state a claim after an earlier opportunity to cure pleading defects.
“Because Aston has again failed to state a claim even after the opportunity to cure defects after its previous complaint was dismissed, the Court grants Wilmington's motion and dismisses Aston's claims with prejudice.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court denies Defendants' motion to quash the deposition notice served on ASC and grants Alvarado's motion to compel ASC's appearance. ... Because Alvarado has not shown good cause to conduct new depositions of JCI, Addington, or George, the Court denies her motion for leave to take these depositions and grants Defendants' corresponding motions to quash.”
“the Court grants Defendants' motion for protective order as to deposition topics 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 14 and grants in part Defendants' motion for protective order as to topics 10, 11, 12, and 13. The Court denies Defendants' motion for protective order as to all other topics in the notice.”
“Upon evidentiary hearing, the Court concludes that the parties entered a valid agreement; thus, the Court grants the motion to compel and denies the motion to dismiss as moot.”
“the Court grants the motion to compel and denies the motion to dismiss as moot.”
“Because Defendant Nasco Healthcare has not complied with Plaintiff Goodson's discovery requests for relevant information that are proportional to the needs of the case, the Court grants [the] motion to compel. ... Nasco Healthcare is ordered to produce documents responsive to Goodson's Second Request for Production Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 16, including associated metadata in a native format within fourteen (14) days of this Order.”
“This Order addresses Defendant State Farm Lloyds' ('State Farm') motion for summary judgment [15]. For the reasons below, the Court grants summary judgment to State Farm on all claims.”
“Because the Court cannot determine whether a valid and enforceable arbitration agreement exists between Stephens and DFW LinQ, the Court denies DFW LinQ's motion to dismiss and compel arbitration.”
“For the following reasons, the Court grants the motion, but awards reduced fees as specified below. ... The Court awards Origin $1,059,334.10 in attorney's fees and $61,956.60 in related nontaxable expenses.”
“The Court concludes that fact issues exist as to the majority of Plaintiffs' nonabandoned claims. Defendants have, however, demonstrated entitlement to judgment as a matter of law on a subset of issues. Accordingly, the Court grants in part and denies in part the motions for summary judgment. ... the Court grants summary judgment in favor of TD Bank with respect to OSIC's constructive TUFTA claims and in favor of HSBC on any constructive TUFTA claim tied to conduct outside of the relevant limitations period. The Court denies summary judgment on all grounds asserted by the parties.”
“Because Aston has again failed to state a claim even after the opportunity to cure defects after its previous complaint was dismissed, the Court grants Wilmington's motion and dismisses Aston's claims with prejudice.”
“Because Sasoro has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, the Court grants 7-Eleven's motion. The Court dismisses Sasoro's claims without prejudice and grants leave to amend... Sasoro may file a Second Amended Complaint within thirty (30) days of the date of this order.”
“Because the Archers have not provided sufficient evidence of damages, the Court grants Kennedy's motion for summary judgment.”
“The Court denies Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and grants Associated Industries' motion for summary judgment.”
“The Court concludes that Associated Industries does not have a duty to defend Plaintiffs in the underlying JB&A lawsuit. The Court denies Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and grants Associated Industries' motion for summary judgment.”
“Because Scroggins has not raised a genuine issue of material fact, the Court grants summary judgment to DART on these claims.”
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 | 8 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 8 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 9 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 9 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 12 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 9 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 10 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 8 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 10 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 10 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 11 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 11 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 5 |
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 Northern District of Texas, not for Judge Godbey: 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 | 4,103 | 5.9 months |
| Closed with no court action | 829 | 4 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 3,228 | 6.3 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 11 | 16.1 months |
| Closed during trial | 35 | 19.3 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 4,103 | 5.9 months |
| Sep 2024 | 3,648 | 5.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 3,808 | 6.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 8,698 | 56 months |
| Sep 2021 | 6,094 | 19.4 months |
| Sep 2020 | 6,294 | 13.3 months |
| Sep 2019 | 3,367 | 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).
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