James R. Nowlin
How Judge Nowlin rules, drawn from 14 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Nowlin
James R. Nowlin is a senior judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, he received his commission on October 26, 1981, and served as chief judge from 1999 to 2003. He took senior status on May 31, 2003.
Judge Nowlin's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Nowlin'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).
- Standing Order Regarding Joint or Unopposed Request to Change Deadlines ↗
- Order Regarding Procedures for the Filing, Service and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- General Order Regarding Electronic Filing of Transcripts ↗
- Standing Order Regarding Attorney Admissions and CLE Requirements ↗
- Privacy Policy and Public Access to Electronic Files ↗
- Standing Order Regarding the Electronic Submission of Sealed Civil Documents ↗
How Judge Nowlin decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In a referred dismissal matter with timely objections, Nowlin reviewed the recommendation anew, overruled the objections, and denied the defendant's dismissal motion.
“Because the Defendant timely objected to the report and recommendation, the Court reviews the report and recommendation de novo.”
In Chapin’s removed product-liability suit, Nowlin allowed the plaintiff to clarify existing seller-liability allegations in a second amended complaint before deciding the defendant’s jurisdictional dismissal motion.
“SFI offers no other reason to deny Chapin’s request for an order to timely replead.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant’s Amended Opening Brief and Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 52), is GRANTED and this case is closed.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, (Dkt. 12), is GRANTED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 3), is DENIED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 11) is GRANTED.”
“IT IS FINALLY ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Dkt. 12), Defendant’s Motion to Strike (Dkt. 20), and Defendant’s Motion for Extension of Time to Complete Discovery (Dkt. 25) are DENIED AS MOOT. This case is CLOSED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 5) is GRANTED.”
“IT IS FINALLY ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Dkt. 6), Defendant’s Motion to Strike (Dkt. 15), and Defendant’s Motion for Extension of Time to Complete Discovery (Dkt. 20) are DENIED AS MOOT. This case is CLOSED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 11) is GRANTED.”
“IT IS FINALLY ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Dkt. 12), Defendant’s Motion to Strike (Dkt. 21), and Defendant’s Motion for Extension of Time to Complete Discovery (Dkt. 26) are DENIED AS MOOT. This case is CLOSED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 22) is GRANTED.”
“IT IS FINALLY ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Dkt. 23), Defendant’s Motion to Strike (Dkt. 31), Plaintiff’s Motion for leave to file his second amended complaint (Dkt. 21) and Defendant’s Motion for Extension of Time to Complete Discovery (Dkt. 36) are DENIED AS MOOT. This case is CLOSED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Tanya Galinger’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Original Complaint (Dkt. 7), Defendant Judith DeBerry’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Original Complaint (Dkt. 8), Defendants State Bar of Texas and State Bar Board of Directors’ Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 9), and Defendant Judge George Gallagher’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 12) are GRANTED.”
“IT IS FINALLY ORDERED that Plaintiff Craig A. Washington’s Motion to Show Authority and Motion for Submission of Certified Questions to the Texas Supreme Court (Dkt. Case 1:23-cv-00526-JRN Document 32 Filed 02/20/24 Page 3 of 3 14), Motion to Strike Defendant Gallagher’s Motion to Dismiss and Advisory to the Court (Dkt. 17), and Motion for Default Judgment Against George Gallagher in his Individual Capacity (Dkt. 25) are DENIED. This case is CLOSED.”
The court approved the parties' proposed settlement agreement and said it would enter their proposed final judgment separately.
“Chapin’s request for an order to timely replead (Dkt. 14) is GRANTED.”
“Defendant’s motion to transfer venue (ECF No. 6) is DENIED.”
“Plaintiff’s motion for leave to file a sur- reply (ECF No. 10) is GRANTED”
“Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand (Dkt.6), is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 382.0 days (N = 8).
The ten sampled Austin civil cases include insurance, employment, consumer, wage-and-hour, and trademark disputes. The sample spans eight terminated matters and two cases without a recorded termination date; it does not represent the full caseload.
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 | 1 | 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 Western District of Texas, not for Judge Nowlin: 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 | 3,691 | 7.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,171 | 5.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,115 | 7.5 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 366 | 14 months |
| Closed during trial | 39 | 30.6 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 3,691 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 3,440 | 7.8 months |
| Sep 2023 | 3,823 | 7.2 months |
| Sep 2022 | 3,633 | 8.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 3,178 | 8 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,990 | 6.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,854 | 7.1 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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