Edward F. Shea
How Judge Shea rules, drawn from 28 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Shea
Edward F. Shea is a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Shea received a commission on April 8, 1998. Judge Shea assumed senior status on June 7, 2012.
Judge Shea's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Shea's own (checked October 9, 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 9, 2026).
How Judge Shea decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In an immigration-delay mandamus/APA suit, the judge applied the TRAC factors and held a roughly 24-month agency delay in adjudicating a waiver application was not yet unreasonable, but signaled that a delay stretching past about three years could tip the balance: giving the agency a defined runway rather than an open-ended pass.
“the Court finds Plaintiffs have not plausibly alleged unreasonable delay in the issuance of a final decision ... Yet, if considerably more time passes without the application being adjudicated, the TRAC analysis may compel a different outcome”
Denying qualified immunity to an officer who tasered a handcuffed, non-resisting arrestee, the judge held that Ninth Circuit precedent already clearly established such force as unreasonable, so the case did not need a factually identical prior ruling to defeat immunity and instead went to a jury.
“the Court holds that the law at the time of Officer Cavin's conduct clearly established that a taser must not be used against a non-resisting individual. At this stage, Defendant Cavin's motion for qualified immunity is denied.”
On a defendant's motion for summary judgment in an employment-discrimination case, the judge let a gender-discrimination claim proceed to trial where the employer's own inaction on the plaintiff's earlier harassment complaints could let a jury doubt the employer's stated reason for firing her.
“a reasonable juror could conclude that this inference is refuted given Mr. Kosik's continued inaction on Plaintiff's 'boys club' complaints”
Procedural preferences
In Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital v. Washington State Department of Health, Shea denied a proposed intervenor’s reconsideration motion because it showed no new evidence, intervening legal change, or clear error. The order quoted precedent describing reconsideration as an extraordinary remedy.
“Reconsideration is an 'extraordinary remedy, to be used sparingly in the interests of finality and conservation of judicial resources.'”
In DKS Ventures' joint-venture dispute, Shea enforced the Spokane County forum-selection clause, denied Kalch's dismissal motion in part, and remanded the case to state court.
“Mrs. Kalch's motion to dismiss is denied in part ... the Court grants DKS's motion to remand this lawsuit to Spokane County Superior Court”
Cautions
In Garrott v. Bowen, Shea denied the prisoner’s construed motion to compel access to stored legal materials because he had not shown he could not access them through prison procedures; he allowed renewal with evidence of an unsuccessful request.
“Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate he is unable to access his legal material by following standard DOC or AHCC procedure.”
In Beito v. City of Airway Heights, Shea granted summary judgment on limitations grounds after finding that the record supported at most 76 days of disability tolling, short of the 241 days needed.
“the maximum possible period during which the statute would have been tolled for Plaintiff's disability is 76 days, well short of the required 241 days.”
In one child disability appeal, the court found that the administrative law judge had not adequately explained the weight given to conflicting psychological opinions. It reversed and ordered a new hearing before another administrative law judge.
“The Court agrees the ALJ failed to offer specific and legitimate reasons”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 8, is GRANTED. The Commissioner's Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 10, is DENIED. Judgment entered for Plaintiff.”
“For the reasons set forth above and in the court's previous Order, IT IS ORDERED the petition is DISMISSED with prejudice as time-barred under 28 U.S.C. Section 2244(d).”
“At this stage, Defendant Cavin's motion for qualified immunity is denied. The jury will need to determine what conduct Officer Cavin engaged in... Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: Defendants's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Ct. Rec. 15) is DENIED.”
“Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment Re Federal Claims and State Law Claims (Ct. Rec. 76) is GRANTED IN PART (section 1983 claims and WAC 106-72-025 implied cause of action) and DENIED IN PART (remainder).”
“Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Ct. Rec. 26) is GRANTED. Judgment of dismissal shall be entered with prejudice; and this file shall be closed.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Ct. Rec. 13) is GRANTED (sexual harassment and retaliation claims) and DENIED (gender discrimination) IN PART.”
“Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center's Motion for Reconsideration of the Court's Denial of Its Motion to Intervene As A Defendant, ECF No. 97, is DENIED.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Reconsideration (Ct. Rec. 20) is DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment Dismissal, ECF No. 18, is GRANTED. Plaintiff's Complaint, ECF No. 1-2, is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“The parties' motion to dismiss, ECF No. 56, is GRANTED. All claims are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, with all parties to bear their own costs and attorneys' fees.”
“Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 40, is GRANTED... Judgment shall be ENTERED in Defendants' favor with prejudice and this file shall be CLOSED.”
“Mrs. Storm's Cross Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Probable Cause, ECF No. 55, is DENIED.”
“Plaintiff's construed motion to compel, ECF No. 40, is DENIED with leave to renew, as set forth above.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 210 days (N = 9).
- As a senior judge since 2012, Judge Shea's current caseload (2021-2026 filings) is dominated by Social Security disability and SSI appeals from the Yakima, Richland/Pasco, and Spokane divisions, decided on cross-motions for summary judgment or stipulated remand, alongside a recurring stream of pro se immigration-delay mandamus suits and occasional federal criminal and habeas matters.
- His earlier active-tenure docket (reflected in the published-opinion set above) was a broader general district docket: civil rights and excessive-force suits, employment discrimination, prisoner litigation, contract and insurance disputes, and criminal cases.
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 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 1 | 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 Eastern District of Washington, not for Judge Shea: 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 | 620 | 6.2 months |
| Closed with no court action | 56 | 4.6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 554 | 6.3 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 3 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 7 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 620 | 6.2 months |
| Sep 2024 | 700 | 7.2 months |
| Sep 2023 | 694 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2022 | 890 | 8.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 852 | 9 months |
| Sep 2020 | 963 | 7.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 954 | 9.4 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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