Laura Enriquez
How Judge Enriquez rules, drawn from 12 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Enriquez
Laura Enriquez is a U.S. magistrate judge for the Western District of Texas in El Paso. She began hearing cases in April 2025, after nearly three decades of legal practice in El Paso. She studied at the University of Texas at Austin and Baylor University School of Law.
Judge Enriquez's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Enriquez'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 Enriquez decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Galvan, she recommended denying partial summary judgment where the plaintiffs had supplied damages calculations in expert reports.
“there appears to be no basis on which this Court could recommend summary judgment with the justification being Plaintiffs have not provided a computation of damages under Rule 26(a)(1)(A)(iii) nor any evidence of damages.”
Procedural preferences
In an insurance coverage default-judgment matter, the recommendation called for the injured third party’s joinder or a showing that joinder was infeasible before judgment. The district judge denied the motion while modifying the reasoning.
“the Court hereby RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff’s Motion for Default Judgment be DENIED without prejudice.”
Cautions
In Opella, she recommended dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction where the individual defendant’s alleged Texas contacts were inadequate.
“because most of the factors weight against personal jurisdiction over Defendant, it would likely not be fair to require Defendant to defend in Texas.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court RECOMMENDS that Defendant United States of America’s Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 11) should be GRANTED.”
“Defendants’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 72) be DENIED.”
“the Commissioner’s decision is AFFIRMED.”
“the Commissioner’s decision is AFFIRMED.”
“the Commissioner’s decision is AFFIRMED.”
“the Commissioner’s decision is AFFIRMED.”
“Plaintiff’s Motion for Default Judgment (ECF No. 15) be GRANTED.”
“Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 7) be GRANTED.”
“Defendant Raymond Gordon’s Motion to Dismiss be GRANTED IN FULL”
“The UTEP Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss be GRANTED IN FULL”
The signed report recommends screening dismissal of a prisoner civil rights complaint and addresses permission to proceed without prepayment. No party motion on the merits is classified from this report.
“the Court hereby recommends that Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand (ECF No. 4) be DENIED”
“the Court hereby RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff’s Motion for Default Judgment be DENIED without prejudice.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The 14 reviewed matters include five consent Social Security appeals and nine criminal cases. This targeted sample does not estimate the judge’s 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 |
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 Western District of Texas, not for Judge Enriquez: 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).
Draft for Judge Enriquez with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Enriquez, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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