Paula L. McCandlis
How Judge McCandlis rules, drawn from 12 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge McCandlis
Paula L. McCandlis has served as a part-time United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Washington in Bellingham since May 2016. Before joining the court, she practiced civil litigation and personal injury law in Bellingham and served as a commissioner pro tempore in local courts. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and attended Gonzaga University School of Law. The court reappointed her effective May 2024.
Judge McCandlis's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge McCandlis'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).
- 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 McCandlis decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Cole’s contested release decision, the court separately stated the proof standards for flight risk and danger before weighing the statutory factors.
“A detention order based on the defendant’s risk of flight ordinarily must be supported by only a preponderance of the evidence.”
In Byrd’s detention order, the court identified past failures to appear and supervision violations as reasons to keep the defendant detained after hearing release arguments.
“numerous failures to appear, failing to report to probation, failing to comply With court orders, non-compliance with supervision”
In Coleman’s detention order, the court considered pending weapon charges and the alleged resistance to arrest after the defense argued for release.
“Defendant physically fought with law enforcement upon being arrested.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendant shall be detained pending trial and committed to the custody of the”
“defendant’s motion is DENIED.”
“Defendant shall be detained pending trial and committed to the custody of the”
“Defendant shall be detained pending further order of the court or trial and”
“Defendant shall be detained pending trial and committed to the custody of the”
“Defendant shall be detained pending trial and committed to the custody of the”
“Defendant shall be detained pending trial and committed to the custody of the”
“Defendant shall be detained pending trial and committed to the custody of the”
The court cited appearance and safety risks in ordering detention. The available docket does not identify a numbered motion for this order.
“Defendant shall be detained pending trial and committed to the custody of the”
“Defendant shall be detained pending trial and committed to the custody of the”
“hereby enters the following PROTECTIVE ORDER:”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The sampled assigned matters were criminal, warrant, and miscellaneous dockets. Their sparse public entries do not support a general caseload or duration estimate.
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 | 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 U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, not for Judge McCandlis: 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 McCandlis with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge McCandlis, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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- Grounded in Judge McCandlis's own signed orders
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