Brian C. Bajew
How Judge Bajew rules, drawn from 4 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Bajew
Brian C. Bajew has served as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Laredo Division of the Southern District of Texas since June 13, 2025. He earned a B.A. from Texas A&M University in 2010 and a J.D. from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in 2015. Before joining the bench, he worked in the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office and served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Laredo.
Judge Bajew's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Bajew's own (checked October 8, 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 8, 2026).
How Judge Bajew decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a prolonged immigration-detention case, he recommended partial habeas relief where removal was not significantly likely in the reasonably foreseeable future and the government acknowledged no known criminal history. He treated conditional release as the appropriate remedy rather than merely requiring a bond hearing.
“For that reason, the Undersigned finds that conditional release is the only appropriate remedy for Respondents’ violation of Petitioner’s rights.”
Procedural preferences
He recommended denying a separate mediation request as moot when the newly entered scheduling order already compelled mediation by a fixed date. A party seeking alternative dispute resolution should account for existing case-management requirements before filing a separate request.
“The Scheduling Order includes an order to mediate by November 15, 2026.”
Cautions
An indigency application must disclose recurring family gifts even if the applicant later pays the filing fee. In the reviewed recommendation, the contradiction between the sworn application and certified account statement required denial and dismissal under the governing statute.
“Because the statement in his application concerning gifts was false, the Court is obligated to dismiss the case, regardless of the fact he subsequently paid the filing fee.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Undersigned RECOMMENDS Petitioner’s Habeas Petition (Dkt. No. 6) be GRANTED IN PART.”
“It is further RECOMMENDED that Respondents’ Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. No. 10) be DENIED AS MOOT.”
“It is further RECOMMENDED that Respondents’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. No. 24) be DENIED.”
“The Report recommends that the Court should approve the proposed settlement agreement as it pertains to minor Plaintiff M.A.”
“Because of the false information contained within Plaintiff’s application, the Undersigned RECOMMENDS Plaintiff’s IFP application, (Dkt. No. 6), be DENIED and this case be DISMISSED pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(A).”
“Accordingly, the Undersigned RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff’s Motion for Referral to ADR, (Dkt. No. 25), be DENIED AS MOOT.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The reviewed referral work includes immigration-detention habeas petitions, a motion concerning return of seized property, a commercial lending dispute, and settlement review in a motor-vehicle case involving a minor. Separate criminal-duty matters are expected from the Laredo assignment but did not supply a classifiable civil outcome in the reviewed sources.
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 |
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 Southern District of Texas, not for Judge Bajew: 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 | 5,742 | 7.6 months |
| Closed with no court action | 2,442 | 6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,371 | 7.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 871 | 11.4 months |
| Closed during trial | 58 | 31.6 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 5,742 | 7.6 months |
| Sep 2024 | 5,086 | 7.5 months |
| Sep 2023 | 4,762 | 7.9 months |
| Sep 2022 | 4,595 | 8.8 months |
| Sep 2021 | 4,745 | 8.8 months |
| Sep 2020 | 5,009 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2019 | 5,233 | 7.5 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 Bajew with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Bajew, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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