Brian A. Tsuchida
How Judge Tsuchida rules, drawn from 12 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Tsuchida
Brian A. Tsuchida has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Washington since May 2008. He earned a B.A. from Grinnell College in 1980 and a J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law in 1983.
Judge Tsuchida's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Tsuchida, 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
Discovery
A request for an immediate telephone discovery hearing must include all counsel in the call to chambers.
“all counsel to the discovery dispute must participate in making the call to chambers.”
Sealing
Give other parties at least seven days’ notice before filing material they claim is confidential.
“the party seeking to file the document shall give at least 7 days notice to the other parties”
Sealing
A sealing motion must describe the documents specifically, justify sealing, and include a proposed order.
“All motions to seal, including stipulated motions, must describe with specificity the documents sought to be protected, provide facts justifying sealing, and include a proposed order.”
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 Tsuchida decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Cano v. Commissioner of Social Security, Tsuchida reversed a benefits denial and remanded for further proceedings. He held that the administrative law judge could not discount an examining psychologist's opinion solely because the psychologist had examined the claimant once.
“the ALJ's reliance on Dr. Widlan's role as a one-time examining physician, without more, is not a specific and legitimate reason for rejecting his opinion.”
In Carter v. Commissioner of Social Security, Tsuchida affirmed a benefits denial. He held that the administrative law judge could reasonably find the claimant's caregiving for seriously ill relatives and participation in improv classes inconsistent with her claimed physical and mental limitations.
“The ALJ could reasonably conclude plaintiff’s ability to provide care for multiple family members experiencing end-of-life needs, cancer, surgery, and other health challenges, as well as her ability to participate in an activity such as improv requiring physical activity, mental acuity, and performing for an audience, was inconsistent with her allegations of disabling physical and mental limitations.”
In Amber T., Tsuchida remanded because the administrative law judge did not identify the examinations said to conflict with medical opinions or explain the conflict, preventing meaningful review.
“The ALJ’s failure to articulate his consideration of supportability and consistency”
Procedural preferences
In Cano v. Commissioner of Social Security, he reversed the agency's denial after finding that the administrative law judge failed to address limitations in an examining psychologist's opinion and interpreted raw medical data without medical expertise. He remanded for further proceedings and denied the request for an immediate award of benefits.
“as a lay person, an ALJ is 'simply not qualified to interpret raw medical data in functional terms.' ... Plaintiff's request for remand for an award of benefits is, therefore, denied.”
In O’Connell, he directed an immediate award of benefits for a closed period after two administrative hearings, finding the record fully developed and no useful purpose in further proceedings. Butler also resulted in an award of benefits after the court found no serious doubt about disability.
“The Court finds that all the conditions for an award of benefits are met.”
In a child disability appeal, Tsuchida affirmed after the administrative law judge reconciled competing school and psychological evidence; the claimant’s alternative reading did not establish harmful error.
“Plaintiff offers a plausible, alternative interpretation of the evidence”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Commissioner's final decision is REVERSED, and this case is REMANDED for further administrative proceedings under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).”
“ORDER AFFIRMING THE COMMISSIONER AND DISMISSING THE CASE WITH PREJUDICE signed by Hon. Brian A Tsuchida.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Commissioner’s decision is AFFIRMED and this case is DISMISSED with prejudice.”
“REMANDS the case for further administrative proceedings”
“REMANDED for further administrative proceedings”
“REMANDED for the calculation and award of benefits”
“REMANDED for an immediate award of benefits”
“the Commissioner’s decision is AFFIRMED”
“this case is REMANDED for further administrative proceedings”
“decision is REVERSED, and this case is REMANDED for further administrative proceedings”
“Commissioner’s final decision is AFFIRMED”
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 | 1 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| 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 U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington (Seattle), not for Judge Tsuchida: 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).
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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Tsuchida, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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