Barbara Jacobs Rothstein
How Judge Rothstein rules, drawn from 28 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Rothstein
Barbara Jacobs Rothstein is a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Appointed by President Jimmy Carter, Judge Rothstein received a commission on February 20, 1980. Judge Rothstein assumed senior status on September 1, 2011.
Judge Rothstein's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Rothstein, 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.
Key rules
Filing
Do not deliver physical courtesy copies.
“The Court DOES NOT ACCEPT physical courtesy copies of any filings or”
Filing
Email a Word version of each proposed order for motions and stipulations to [email protected].
“The parties are required to email a Word version of a proposed order with all”
Motions
The judge does not use local rule noting dates.
“This Court DOES NOT USE the noting dates set forth in the Local Rules.”
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).
- Amended Procedures for the Filing, Service, and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- Materials Related to Cooperation ↗
- Exhibit Retention Procedures ↗
- Availability and Redaction Policies for Electronically Filed Transcripts ↗
- Social Security Cases ↗
- Immigration Habeas Petitions Under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 ↗
- Amended Provisions for Electronic Case Filing ↗
How Judge Rothstein decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Cedarland Homes LLC v. Ferguson, she dismissed the landlords’ takings claim with prejudice because the Ninth Circuit and Washington Supreme Court had ruled that the moratoria were not physical takings.
“Because both the Ninth Circuit and the Washington State Court have ruled that landlord-tenant regulations are not physical takings, the Court is compelled to dismiss Plaintiffs’ claims on the merits.”
Procedural preferences
In Pimpalkhute, Rothstein observed that the applications had been pending about six months when the action was filed and less than a year when the motion was briefed.
“The applications had been pending for only approximately six months when this action was filed and less than one year when the motion was briefed.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment of Dismissal [29] is GRANTED.”
“the Court will grant in part and deny in part the Government's Motion for Summary Judgment [Dkt. # 47].”
“the Court will deny Plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment in part; grant Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment in part”
“grant Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment in part; and deny Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment in part.”
“the Court will ... grant the County's motion for summary judgment against ICSOP, finding that ICSOP was contractually obligated to defend the County under its policies and is in breach of that duty.”
“the Court will deny ICSOP's motion for summary judgment against the County”
“Having reviewed the parties' briefs together with all relevant materials, the Court grants summary judgment.”
“the Court hereby GRANTS The Seattle Times' Motion to Intervene and Unseal Court File. The Clerk of the Court is directed to unseal the file.”
Following a bench trial on remand from the Ninth Circuit in a decades-long tax-refund dispute stemming from the 1980s savings-and-loan crisis, the court found the taxpayer had not proved its cost basis in the disputed rights and entered judgment for the government.
“ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT NOVARTIS AG'S MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION”
“ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AND DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS”
“the court grants the motion for a preliminary injunction and denies the motion to dismiss.”
“The court ADOPTS the Magistrate Judge's R & R on class certification and DENIES the defendants' motion for a stay.”
After a three-day bench trial on a builder's copyright-infringement and breach-of-contract claims arising from a residential architectural plan, the court found no substantial similarity between the two building plans and no enforceable exclusive construction agreement, entering judgment for the homeowner defendants on all claims.
“The County's motions to strike are GRANTED in part.”
“The County's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED, and title is quieted in the County's favor.”
“Because the court has quieted title in the County, the Rasmussens have no rights to the strip of land and none of the counterclaims state a claim for which relief can be granted.”
“Icon's motion for a final judgment under Rule 54(b) [doc. no. 156] is DENIED”
“Vectra's motion for summary judgment on Icon's invalidity defenses [doc. no. 127] is GRANTED”
“Vectra's motion for summary judgment on Icon's equitable defenses [doc. no. 129] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”
“Icon's motion for summary judgment as to lost profits [doc. no. 135] is DENIED.”
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington (Seattle), not for Judge Rothstein: 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 | 2,877 | 6 months |
| Closed with no court action | 684 | 3.4 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,159 | 6.7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 10 | 27.7 months |
| Closed during trial | 24 | 25.2 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,877 | 6 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,639 | 6.5 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,594 | 6.4 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,303 | 7.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,703 | 8.7 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,340 | 7.2 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,536 | 7.6 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 Rothstein with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Rothstein, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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