Dena Hanovice Palermo
How Judge Palermo rules, drawn from 15 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Palermo
Dena Hanovice Palermo has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Texas since March 9, 2016. Before joining the bench, she practiced litigation at Vinson & Elkins and Andrews Kurth and clerked for Chief Judge John Singleton.
Judge Palermo's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Palermo, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Motions
Arrange a court conference before filing a formal discovery motion.
“Any party wishing to make a formal discovery motion should arrange for a conference with the Court before submission of any motion papers.”
Discovery
Request a discovery or scheduling conference by a letter of no more than two pages identifying the prior discussion and its participants.
“If counsel are unable to reach an agreement, then any party may request a conference with the Court in a brief letter (no more than 2 pages) summarizing the relief sought. The request MUST specify the date, time and place of the parties’ prior out-of-court discovery or scheduling discussion(s), the names of all counsel participating therein, and give a brief summary of the results of the discussions.”
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 Palermo decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Haas's federal employment case, Magistrate Judge Palermo recommended denying summary judgment on retaliation. She found the timing supported a prima facie case and the employer had addressed the removal but had not briefed the preceding alleged adverse actions.
“based on the sufficiently close timing, the Court concludes that Plaintiff has stated a prima facie case of retaliation.”
In the Baldwin property-insurance dispute, Palermo recommended summary judgment after the insurer paid the appraisal award and the plaintiff offered no evidence of a separate injury supporting extra-contractual claims. The district judge adopted that recommendation after reviewing the plaintiff's objections and response.
“Homesite paid Baldwin the appraisal award for her property damage, and she accepted it. Texas law therefore estops her from pursuing further claims against Homesite based on her Policy”
Cautions
In Moskovits's suit against the lawyers who represented his opponents in an earlier vehicle-repossession case, Magistrate Judge Palermo recommended dismissal of fraud and defamation claims. She found the challenged courtroom acts and litigation email fell within the lawyers' representation of their clients, and recommended denying leave to amend as futile.
“Because the kind of conduct alleged to be fraudulent -- appearing before, making arguments to, and answering questions from, the court -- are the kinds of actions lawyers regularly undertake on behalf of their clients, Plaintiff's fraud claims are barred in their entirely by attorney immunity.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The Court hereby ADOPTS the R&R. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 25, is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Summary judgment is GRANTED on Plaintiff's claim for review of the MSPB decision and DENIED on all other claims.”
“Having reviewed the parties' submissions and the law, the Court recommends that the Motion to Dismiss be GRANTED and Plaintiff's clams be dismissed with prejudice. ... the Court recommends that Plaintiff's claims be dismissed with prejudice, without leave to file an Amended Complaint.”
“Commissioner's motion for summary judgment, ECF No. 21, is GRANTED. The ALJ's decision denying benefits is AFFIRMED.”
“Therefore, it is ORDERED that Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, ECF No. 17, is DENIED.”
“The Court RECOMMENDS that Defendants' motion to dismiss be GRANTED and Plaintiff's claims be DISMISSED. ... Plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction, ECF No. 22, and motion for summary judgment, ECF No. 23 are DENIED AS MOOT.”
“The plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees under 42 U.S.C § 406(b), (Docket Entry No. 15), is granted.”
Palermo recommended remanding an employment case for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction because the complaint pleaded no federal claim and the removing defendant did not establish the amount in controversy. District Judge Charles Eskridge adopted the recommendation without objection.
“The motion by Defendant to dismiss is GRANTED. Dkt 4.”
“The motion by Plaintiff for leave to amend his complaint is GRANTED, but only with respect to his FDCPA claims arising under 15 USC §§1692e(10)–(11) and 1692g. Dkt 8.”
“Accordingly, the Court RECOMMENDS that Petitioner’s petition for a writ of habeas case, ECF No. 1, be DISMISSED AS MOOT without prejudice.”
Palermo recommended dismissing a pro se foreclosure case with prejudice under Rule 41(b) after the plaintiff ignored an order and failed to respond to the pending dismissal motion. The recommendation resolved abandonment rather than the merits of the motion and is excluded from motion statistics.
“RECOMMENDS Homesite’s motion for summary judgment, ECF No. 94, be GRANTED.”
“The Court further DENIES Baldwin’s motion to extend discovery. ECF No. 92.”
“the Court RECOMMENDS that the Government’s motion for default judgment, ECF No. 34, be GRANTED and the Defendant Currency be FORFEITED to the United States.”
Palermo recommended dismissal without prejudice when the plaintiff's attempted certified-mail service of the defendants did not comply with service rules despite a prior warning. No party motion was identified.
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 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 2 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 2 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 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 Southern District of Texas, not for Judge Palermo: 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 Palermo with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Palermo, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Palermo's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace