Rebecca Rutherford
How Judge Rutherford rules, drawn from 18 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Rutherford
Rebecca Rutherford became a United States magistrate judge in the Northern District of Texas in January 2018, sitting in Dallas. She earned her law degree from Southern Methodist University and previously clerked for federal judges in the same district.
Judge Rutherford's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Rutherford, 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.
Key rules
Filing
Paper courtesy copies of electronically filed documents are not required.
“Judge Rutherford does not require paper copies of electronically-filed documents.”
Motions
Confer with affected parties before filing nondispositive motions, subject to stated exceptions.
“Before filing a nondispositive motion, the moving party’s counsel, or an unrepresented moving party, must confer with the attorney for each party, or any unrepresented party, affected by the requested relief to determine whether the motion is opposed.”
Motions
Submit proposed orders through ECF.
“Movants should submit proposed orders via the Court’s Electronic Case Filing system.”
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 Rutherford decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Williams v. Amazon.com Services, Rutherford recommended granting Amazon’s motion to compel arbitration and staying the case. After the plaintiff objected on mental capacity grounds, Rutherford considered that issue and recommended overruling the objection.
“Accordingly, Judge Rutherford recommended the District Judge grant the motion to compel arbitration and stay further proceedings in the case.”
Procedural preferences
In State Farm Life Insurance Co. v. Wisocki, Rutherford recommended granting State Farm’s motion to dismiss Robbins’s counterclaims. District Judge Kinkeade reviewed the objections de novo, adopted her recommendation, and granted the motion.
“It is therefore ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED that State Farm’s Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 52) is GRANTED and Defendant Scarlett Robbins’s counterclaims against State Farm are DISMISSED.”
Cautions
In Hunt v. Mr. Cooper Group, Rutherford recommended denying the plaintiff’s motions for default judgment and remand. The district judge adopted her recommendation and denied both motions.
“Plaintiff Christopher M. Hunt Sr.’s Motion for Default Judgment (ECF No. 7) and Motion to Remand (ECF No. 8) are DENIED.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“It is therefore ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED that State Farm's Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 52) is GRANTED and Defendant Scarlett Robbins's counterclaims against State Farm are DISMISSED.”
“the court grants Federal Express Corporation's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 50); dismisses with prejudice, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 37(b) and 41(b), this action and Plaintiff's remaining claims ... as a result of his willful failure to participate in discovery and comply with court orders”
“denies Plaintiff's Motions for Default Judgment and Civil Contempt (Docs. 53, 57, 61)”
“For the reasons stated, the District Court should GRANT Defendant Fitness International LLC’s Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 20) and its Motion for No-Evidence Summary Judgment (ECF No. 24) and dismiss Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint (ECF No. 17) with prejudice.”
“it is therefore ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED that Plaintiff Christopher M. Hunt Sr.'s Motion for Default Judgment (ECF No. 7) and Motion to Remand (ECF No. 8) are DENIED.”
“Plaintiff Christopher M. Hunt Sr.'s Motion for Default Judgment (ECF No. 7) and Motion to Remand (ECF No. 8) are DENIED.”
“Plaintiff's ‘Motion for Entry of Default Judgment Against Defendants’ (ECF No. 18) is DENIED without prejudice, and Defendant Tekle has 30 days from this Order's date to file his answer ...”
“the court grants Defendant Talley Logistics Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 9); ... dismisses without prejudice Plaintiff's claims; and grants Plaintiff leave to amend her pleadings”
“Judge Rutherford recommended the District Judge ... grant the motion to compel arbitration and stay further proceedings in the case. ... the District Judge should OVERRULE Williams's objections.”
“The District Judge should GRANT Petitioner’s motion (ECF No. 13) and ... ORDER her immediate release from immigration detention pending a final judgment on her underlying habeas claims.”
“GRANT Defendant Freedom Mortgage Corporation’s Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Federal Rule of Procedure 12(b)(6) (ECF No.4) and dismiss Reedy’s claims with prejudice.”
“The District Judge should GRANT Defendant State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company’s Rule 12(b) Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 21) and DISMISS without prejudice Plaintiff Danielle Brightman’s complaint.”
“the District Judge should deny Petitioner’s habeas application and dismiss this action.”
“The petition should therefore be summarily DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for want of jurisdiction, leaving Petitioner to pursue whatever relief remains available in the Eastern District of Texas under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Caseload is illustrative from the referral dockets read, not a complete enumeration. On a referral docket the case belongs to the district judge; the magistrate manages pretrial matters and issues recommendations the district judge then adopts or modifies.
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 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 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 Northern District of Texas, not for Judge Rutherford: 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).
Draft for Judge Rutherford with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Rutherford, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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