Ricardo S. Martinez
How Judge Martinez rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Martinez
Ricardo S. Martinez is a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Martinez received a commission on June 16, 2004. Judge Martinez assumed senior status on September 5, 2022.
Judge Martinez's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Martinez'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 Martinez decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In one insurance-notice dispute, Martinez held that the insurers had to show prejudice from a report made after a 60-day condition but within the policy period; he reserved whether they could prove prejudice.
“Accordingly, Defendants in this case must show prejudice.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs’ motions are GRANTED.”
“the Court GRANTS Chase's motion to dismiss (Dkt. # 6) with respect to all claims, and DISMISSES these claims with leave to amend to state a proper defendant.”
“The Court also GRANTS Quality's motion to dismiss the request for injunctive relief (Dkt. # 9), and DISMISSES this claim without prejudice and with leave to amend.”
“the Court hereby GRANTS Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 16) and DENIES Defendants' Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 19). Defendants are ORDERED to GRANT Plaintiffs Petition for H-1B status.”
“the Court hereby GRANTS Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 16) and DENIES Defendants' Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 19).”
“Defendant WSI's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 13) is GRANTED. WSI owed no duty to Plaintiffs as a matter of law. Plaintiffs' claims against Defendant WSI are dismissed.”
“For the reasons which are set forth below, plaintiff's motion shall be denied, and the defendants' motions shall both be granted.”
“Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 129) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“This Court GRANTS Defendant’s motion to dismiss as far as it challenges paragraph 47 of the Complaint.”
“the Court GRANTS defendant's motion to dismiss plaintiff's complaint with leave to amend.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 47) is GRANTED and Plaintiff's complaint is dismissed in its entirety.”
“Defendant's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED and Plaintiffs' claims are dismissed.”
“the Court DENIES defendants' Motion to Dismiss and Motion to Strike and GRANTS plaintiffs' Motion for Conditional Class Certification.”
“this Court GRANTS Mr. Young's petition for writ of habeas corpus, VACATES his conviction for first-degree murder, and ORDERS that Mr. Young be released from custody unless the State of Washington commences proceedings to retry him within ninety (90) days of this order.”
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 | 9 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 9 | 8 |
| Sep 2025 | 12 | 10 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 9 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 8 |
| Mar 2024 | 2 | 5 |
| Sep 2023 | 3 | 4 |
| Mar 2023 | 6 | 7 |
| Sep 2022 | 41 | 11 |
| Mar 2022 | 55 | 12 |
| Sep 2021 | 30 | 9 |
| Mar 2021 | 12 | 9 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 7 |
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 Martinez: 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 Martinez with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Martinez, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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