David Nuffer
How Judge Nuffer rules, drawn from 37 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Nuffer
David Ogden Nuffer is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Nuffer received a commission on March 23, 2012. Judge Nuffer assumed senior status on April 2, 2022.
Judge Nuffer's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Nuffer, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- Practices & Procedures ↗
- Order to Propose Schedule and Prepare for Case Management Conference ↗
- Motion to Continue Criminal Trial Form ↗
Key rules
Motions
For expedited motion treatment, obtain consent to an expedited schedule or move for one with a proposed order.
“If expedited treatment of a motion is desired, counsel should secure consent of counsel to an expedited schedule or move for an expedited schedule, submitting a proposed order for expedited treatment.”
Discovery
Judge Nuffer uses the short form discovery motion process in every case before him.
“Judge Nuffer adopts the Short Form Discovery Motion procedure in all his cases.”
Conferences
Move to appear by telephone at least two business days before the hearing.
“Requests to appear by telephone must be made by motion filed at least two business days before the scheduled hearing.”
Conferences
Under Judge Nuffer’s scheduling form, plaintiff must propose a draft planning report within the earlier of 14 days after an appearance or 28 days after service.
“Plaintiff must propose a schedule to defendant in the form of a draft Attorney Planning Meeting Report within the earlier of fourteen (14) days after any defendant has appeared or twenty-eight (28) days after any defendant has been served with the complaint.”
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 9, 2026).
How Judge Nuffer decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Southern Utah Drag Stars v. City of St. George, Nuffer granted a preliminary injunction ordering the city to reverse its denial of the plaintiffs’ event-permit application. He also barred enforcement of the cited advertising prohibitions and the moratorium ordinance as applied to the plaintiffs’ application.
“is GRANTED and a Preliminary Injunction is ORDERED, as specified below.”
In Medina, Nuffer certified a class of detainees assigned secured financial release conditions without presentation of ability-to-pay information who remained jailed and were found indigent.
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the following class is certified with Plaintiffs as class representatives and Plaintiffs' counsel as class counsel. Persons detained in the county jails of Beaver, Carbon, Iron, and Utah from the date of the filing of the Complaint to the resolution of this case; who were assigned secured financial conditions of release; which secured financial conditions of release were assigned without presentation of information of the person's ability to pay; and the persons remained in custody of the county jail and were found indigent.”
Procedural preferences
In Gardner, Nuffer denied Deseret Mutual's partial summary-judgment motion as untimely under the case's scheduling order, finding no good cause to extend the dispositive-motion deadline.
“Because Deseret Mutual's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment is untimely under the scheduling order governing this case, the Motion is DENIED. ... deliberate inaction ... is insufficient to establish good cause to warrant an amendment of the Amended Scheduling Order's dispositive motion deadline.”
In BMO Harris Bank's suit, Nuffer granted default judgment against American Road Transport and Jenny Lozano after finding the uncontested amount could be calculated from the record.
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Motion for Default Judgment is GRANTED. Because the defendants do not contest the amount and because the amount can be made certain by computation, the judgment is entered in the following amount without further hearing: Judgment is entered in favor of BMO and against Defendants in the amount of $108,712.10.”
In Hawkins, he denied two requests to reopen a habeas judgment filed seventeen months after dismissal, applying the one-year limit to Rule 60(b)(1) and (3) arguments and finding the remaining Rule 60(b)(6) request unreasonably delayed.
“To the extent that Petitioner asserts any claims cognizable under Rule 60(b)(6), this court finds that Petitioner unreasonably delayed filing his motion.”
Cautions
In Mullins v. United States, Nuffer denied four injunction requests because the filings did not address or establish the required four factors and some sought money damages through injunctions.
“Mullins’s Motions are DENIED because they fail to address or demonstrate success on the four prongs required to obtain injunctive relief and, in some instances, inappropriately seek money damages.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Motion for Preliminary Injunction is GRANTED and a Preliminary Injunction is ORDERED ... The City is ORDERED to reverse its denial of Plaintiffs' Application ... The City is ENJOINED from enforcing the advertising prohibitions ... [and] from enforcing the Moratorium ordinance.”
“Defendants Jared Carlson, Eric DeMille, and Hurricane City's Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. The Motion is DENIED as to the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Causes of Action ... The Motion is GRANTED as to the Second Cause of Action: The Blackmores' Excessive Force Claim ... is dismissed with prejudice because the Officers are entitled to qualified immunity.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that TransAsia's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings is GRANTED. ... TransAsia shall prepare and submit the form of a judgment recognizing and enforcing the Award dated April 11, 2013 ... in the full $117,967.34 amount of the Award.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that EcoNova's Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED.”
“Because Deseret Mutual's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment is untimely under the scheduling order governing this case, the Motion is DENIED. ... deliberate inaction ... is insufficient to establish good cause to warrant an amendment of the Amended Scheduling Order's dispositive motion deadline.”
“After considering the relevant case law, the arguments addressed by the parties at the hearing, and the memoranda submitted, the court GRANTS the motion to dismiss Shields for lack of personal jurisdiction, but DENIES the motion to dismiss Miranda.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this case is REMANDED to the Third Judicial District Court for the State of Utah.”
“IT IS ORDERED that: (1) Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED.. (Docket Entry # 69.)”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the following class is certified with Plaintiffs as class representatives and Plaintiffs' counsel as class counsel. Persons detained in the county jails of Beaver, Carbon, Iron, and Utah from the date of the filing of the Complaint to the resolution of this case; who were assigned secured financial conditions of release; which secured financial conditions of release were assigned without presentation of information of the person's ability to pay; and the persons remained in custody of the county jail and were found indigent.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, as it relates to the suggested briefing schedule, and the deadlines for further briefing are as follows: 1. Defendant will file an opening brief on or before April 25, 2025, and 2. Plaintiff will file a response brief on or before May 23, 2025.”
“Therefore, Defendants fail to establish good cause to set aside their default, and their Motions to Set Aside Default are DENIED.”
“Thus, IT IS ORDERED that this action is DISMISSED with prejudice for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. See 28 U.S.C.S. Section 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) (2024).”
“THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Mr. Cabibi's Motion is DENIED in part as to his request for immediate release. However, Mr. Cabibi's Motion is GRANTED in part as to his request for a reduction in his sentence. Mr. Cabibi's 240-month term of incarceration is reduced by 21 months and 8 days to account for his time in custody from his initial appearance through his sentencing in this case.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 330 days (N = 8).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 187 days (N = 5).
- Judge Nuffer has served in the St. George division since 2012 and took senior status in 2022 while continuing to rule.
- The sampled docket includes post-conviction motions, Federal Tort Claims Act and prisoner civil-rights cases, Social Security appeals, insurance and conversion disputes, personal injury, and employment claims.
- Earlier merits matters also include First Amendment, police-liability, and arbitration-award enforcement disputes.
- This describes case mix rather than the frequency of any outcome.
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 | 24 |
| 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 | 12 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 24 | 12 |
| Sep 2025 | 18 | 13 |
| Mar 2025 | 29 | 12 |
| Sep 2024 | 22 | 16 |
| Mar 2024 | 25 | 13 |
| Sep 2023 | 19 | 13 |
| Mar 2023 | 19 | 15 |
| Sep 2022 | 20 | 12 |
| Mar 2022 | 21 | 11 |
| Sep 2021 | 7 | 11 |
| Mar 2021 | 18 | 12 |
| Sep 2020 | 20 | 25 |
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 District of Utah, not for Judge Nuffer: 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 | 1,120 | 8.5 months |
| Closed with no court action | 343 | 7 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 764 | 9 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 3 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 10 | 59 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,120 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,141 | 9.3 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,035 | 10.6 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,092 | 12.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,128 | 12.7 months |
| Sep 2020 | 951 | 10.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,085 | 9.7 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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