John C. Coughenour
How Judge Coughenour rules, drawn from 23 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Coughenour
John C. Coughenour is a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Judge Coughenour received a commission on September 28, 1981. Judge Coughenour assumed senior status on July 27, 2006.
Judge Coughenour's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Coughenour, 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
Conferences
Counsel from outside King County may appear by telephone at status conferences after arranging it with the courtroom deputy.
“Counsel from outside of King County may appear by telephone at status conferences, but they must make arrangements with the Courtroom Deputy ahead of time.”
Trial
In civil and criminal cases, file motions in limine as a joint brief at least 10 days before trial.
“Any motions in limine must be presented in a joint brief filed at least 10 days before trial.”
Trial
Deliver trial exhibits to the court by the morning of trial.
“The Court must receive all trial exhibits by the morning of trial.”
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 Coughenour decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Osborne Construction Co. v. Zurich American Insurance Co., Coughenour granted partial summary judgment to the insured, finding that Zurich breached its duty to defend in bad faith and was estopped from denying coverage.
“Zurich has offered no reasonable basis for its breach of the duty to defend, and the Court concludes that it acted in bad faith when it did so.”
In the birthright-citizenship litigation, he began with the ordinary text of the Citizenship Clause and longstanding Supreme Court precedent, rejecting an interpretation that made a child's citizenship depend on parental domicile or immigration status.
“The fact of the matter is that the United States has consented to the citizenship of children born on its territory, through the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Procedural preferences
In Inteum Co. v. National University of Singapore, Coughenour decided a summary-judgment motion after reviewing the briefs and record and finding oral argument unnecessary. He granted the motion in part and denied it in part.
“Having thoroughly considered the parties' briefing and the relevant record, the Court finds oral argument unnecessary and hereby ...”
In one credit-reporting discovery dispute, Coughenour partly compelled responses after rejecting vague objections and requiring more specific answers to interrogatories and document requests.
“BECU makes vague objections to Plaintiffs’ requests for relevant discovery.”
Cautions
In Hanson v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., he declined to address substantive arguments raised in footnotes and discouraged the plaintiff's counsel from using that practice in future filings.
“Relegating substantive arguments to footnotes is dangerous business. ... Plaintiff's counsel is discouraged from engaging in this practice in the future, and the Court will not address the arguments raised in footnotes.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' motion to compel arbitration (Dkt. No. 36) is DENIED.”
“hereby GRANTS in part and DENIES in part the motion for the reasons explained herein.”
“Defendant's motion for partial summary judgment on Plaintiffs IFCA, bad faith, and CPA claims (Dkt. No. 11) is GRANTED.”
“Osborne's motion for partial summary judgment (Dkt. No. 19) is GRANTED. The Court finds that Zurich breached its duty to defend Osborne in the arbitration with Renton Heritage on October 23, 2017, that such breach was in bad faith, and that therefore Zurich is estopped by Washington law from refusing to indemnify Osborne”
“both facial and factual challenges to Plaintiffs standing to bring a claim under the FTCA have merit. Accordingly, Defendants' Partial Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. No. 10) is GRANTED.”
“hereby GRANTS King County's motion for summary judgment (Dkt. No. 20) and DENIES Defendants' cross-motion for summary judgment (Dkt. No. 26)”
“GRANTS King County's motion for summary judgment (Dkt. No. 20) and DENIES Defendants' cross-motion for summary judgment (Dkt. No. 26)”
“the Court finds oral argument unnecessary and hereby DENIES the motion for the reasons explained herein.”
“the Court hereby GRANTS the motion for preliminary injunction (Dkt. No. 13) and GRANTS the motion to seal (Dkt. No. 16) for the reasons explained herein.”
“GRANTS the motion for preliminary injunction (Dkt. No. 13) and GRANTS the motion to seal (Dkt. No. 16)”
“ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS DEFENDANT CHRISTENSEN'S IFCA COUNTERCLAIM ... the Court finds oral argument unnecessary and hereby DENIES the motion for the reasons explained herein.”
“hereby DISMISSES Plaintiffs' complaint without prejudice and without leave to amend for the reasons explained herein.”
“the Government of Guam’s motion to dismiss (Dkt. No. 62) is GRANTED as to Count XI, which is DISMISSED. The motion is DENIED as to the remaining Counts (Counts V, VI, and IX).”
“the Court GRANTS the motions to remand (Dkt. Nos. 4, 20)”
“DENIES the injunctive writ as moot (Dkt. No. 12)”
“The Court DENIES the motion for Rule 11(c) sanctions (Dkt. No. 21) but awards attorney fees pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), in an amount to be determined by later briefing.”
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 | 1 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 1 | 5 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 5 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2023 | 3 | 3 |
| Mar 2023 | 1 | 4 |
| Sep 2022 | 1 | 3 |
| Mar 2022 | 2 | 4 |
| Sep 2021 | 8 | 6 |
| Mar 2021 | 8 | 9 |
| Sep 2020 | 2 | 5 |
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 Coughenour: 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 Coughenour with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Coughenour, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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