Matthew H. Watters
How Judge Watters rules, drawn from 5 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Watters
Matthew H. Watters has served as a U.S. magistrate judge in the Del Rio Division of the Western District of Texas since May 2023. He previously served as an immigration judge and an assistant United States attorney. He earned a law degree from the Dickinson School of Law and a master’s degree from the National War College.
Judge Watters's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Watters's own (checked October 23, 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 Watters decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Gutierrez, Watters recommended allowing a pleaded employment discrimination and retaliation case to proceed past a dismissal motion.
“that the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 14] be DENIED.”
Procedural preferences
In Williamson, he recommended denying a partial summary judgment motion filed after the scheduling deadline without a stated reason for delay; the district judge later rejected that recommendation.
“the Plaintiff presents no reason as to why the undersigned should accept this late filing.”
Cautions
In Lopez, he recommended dismissing a federal employment complaint after finding the administrative appeals untimely and the remaining claims legally unavailable.
“Mr. Lopez fails to state a claim upon which the Court can provide”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“that the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 14] be DENIED.”
“be DENIED AS MOOT.”
“Summary Judgment [ECF No. 44] be DENIED.”
“14] is GRANTED because Mr. Lopez fails to state a claim upon which the Court can provide”
“are DENIED AS MOOT,”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The twelve selected matters include five civil referrals and seven criminal duty dockets. One civil case and all seven sampled criminal matters were closed in the retrieved records; this selected group is not a caseload census.
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 |
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 Watters: 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 Watters with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Watters, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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