Claude M. Hilton
How Judge Hilton rules, drawn from 14 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Hilton
Claude M. Hilton received a commission to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on July 11, 1985, after appointment by President Ronald Reagan. He served as chief judge from 1997 to 2004 and assumed senior status on December 31, 2005.
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 Hilton decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In the patent term adjustment case, the court focused on the statutory text and the agency’s explanation of how supplemental applicant filings affect examination time.
“By its plain terms, Congress directed USPTO to ascertain”
In Roeder, Hilton entered judgment for the government in a Medicare Part D coverage dispute based on the statutory limit to medically accepted indications.
“the plain language of Section 102(e)(1) unambiguously limits Part D coverage to drugs prescribed for a ‘medically accepted indication,’”
Procedural preferences
In the habeas case, the court dismissed the petition as untimely and rejected the petitioner's account of when he could have discovered the evidence.
“The petition is dismissed as untimely.”
Cautions
In one civil rights case, the court found amendment could not cure the pleaded defect and dismissed the case after granting separate dismissal motions. The result is case specific.
“No rewriting of the complaint will change that.”
In Sercer, Hilton granted judgment on federal employment claims because the plaintiff had not shown an adverse employment action supporting discrimination or retaliation.
“Because Plaintiff has not shown any adverse employment action taken against her, she cannot establish a prima facie case of sex discrimination or retaliation.”
In SD3, Hilton granted judgment in an antitrust licensing dispute after finding no later refusal that could restart the limitations period.
“there is no evidence of an overt act — a refusal to license — that could restart the statute of limitations here”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss is DENIED.”
“Williams' Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim and for Insufficient Service Process and Defendant AM Pediatrics and Oscar F. Sugastti, M.D.'s Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim should be Granted”
“AM Pediatrics and Oscar F. Sugastti, M.D.'s Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim should be Granted”
“respondent’s Motion to Dismiss must be granted, and the petition dismissed with prejudice.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment should be denied.”
“Motion for Summary Judgment should be granted”
“Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss and Motion for Summary Judgment should be granted”
“ORDERED that FMC’s Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED”
“Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss must be granted.”
“Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED, and judgment is entered for Defendant.”
“Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment should be granted.”
“Summary judgment must be entered in favor of the Defendant.”
“Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment must be granted”
“summary judgment should be granted in favor of the Defendants.”
“Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss should be granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 26 days.
Four sampled cases had terminated when reviewed, while one employment case remained pending. The sample was selected for visible, signed motion outcomes and does not describe the full docket.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Hilton was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2025.
| Motions pending more than six months | 19 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 1 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 3 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 19 | 3 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2023 | 2 | 1 |
| Mar 2023 | 3 | 3 |
| Sep 2022 | 2 | 2 |
| Mar 2022 | 2 | 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 United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, not for Judge Hilton: 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 | 3,011 | 5.6 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,204 | 5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 1,299 | 4.9 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 493 | 8.9 months |
| Closed during trial | 15 | 19.3 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 3,011 | 5.6 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,613 | 5.3 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,194 | 6.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,134 | 6.8 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,152 | 6.5 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,860 | 6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,267 | 5.9 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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