Richard A. Jones
How Judge Jones rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Jones
Richard A. Jones is a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Jones received a commission on October 29, 2007. Judge Jones assumed senior status on September 5, 2022.
Judge Jones's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Jones, 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.
- General Motions Practice in Civil Cases ↗
- Discovery Disputes in Civil Cases ↗
- General Motions Practice in Criminal Cases ↗
Key rules
Filing
Provide paper courtesy copies of administrative records and civil or criminal documents exceeding 50 pages.
“Courtesy copies are only required for filings of administrative records, and for all civil and criminal documents over 50 pages.”
Motions
Confer with opposing counsel before a civil motion, except a temporary restraining order application, and describe that discussion in a declaration.
“All motions must include a declaration by counsel briefly describing the parties’ discussion and attempt to eliminate the need for the motion and the date of such discussion.”
Motions
In criminal cases, file motions in limine by the pretrial motions deadline.
“All motions in limine must be filed by the deadline set for pretrial motions.”
Discovery
All parties must participate when jointly contacting the court about a time sensitive discovery dispute.
“All parties to the discovery dispute MUST participate in contacting the Court.”
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 Jones decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In one FDCPA case, Jones partly granted a consumer’s summary-judgment motion, establishing liability on two disclosure claims while reserving damages for trial.
“Defendants' liability on these claims is established, and the amount of damages shall be determined at trial.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons stated above, the court DENIES Autodesk's motion for dismissal or summary judgment (Dkt. # 20).”
“For the reasons stated above, the court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part the parties' motions for summary judgment. Dkt. ## 15, 22.”
“the court GRANTS USCIS's motion for summary judgment (Dkt. # 18) and DENIES Mr. Rijal's motion (Dkt. # 17). The court directs the clerk to enter judgment for USCIS.”
“the court GRANTS USCIS's motion for summary judgment (Dkt. # 18) and DENIES Mr. Rijal's motion (Dkt. # 17).”
“Petitioner's federal habeas petition (Dkt. No. 4) is DENIED and the above-captioned case is DISMISSED with prejudice.”
“For these reasons, the court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Defendants' motion (Dkt. # 32). The motion is DENIED except as to the following: (1) The Defendants' motion as to the Section 1983 claim against King County is GRANTED. This claim is DISMISSED. (2) All claims against Defendant City of Sammamish are DISMISSED in their entirety.”
“Petitioner's petition (Dkt. No. 1) is DENIED, and this action is DISMISSED with prejudice”
“the court GRANTS Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment (Dkt. # 18) and orders USCIS to issue a decision on Huang's application for adjustment of status within 45 days of this order.”
“The court DENIES the Government's cross-motion for summary judgment (Dkt. # 22), except to the extent that it seeks dismissal of Defendants Mueller, Cannon, and Mukasey.”
“the court GRANTS Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment (Dkt. # 7) and orders USCIS to issue a decision on Wang's application for adjustment of status within 45 days of this order.”
“The court DENIES the Government's cross-motion for summary judgment (Dkt. # 8), except to the extent that it seeks dismissal of Defendants Mueller and Mukasey.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the court GRANTS Defendants' motion (Dkt. # 17). The court directs the clerk to enter judgment for Defendants.”
“the court GRANTS Defendant's summary judgment motion (Dkt. # 16) and DISMISSES this action. The court directs the clerk to enter judgment for Defendant.”
“the court DENIES Mr. Tea's motion for summary judgment (Dkt. # 15)”
“and DENIES USCIS's motion to dismiss (Dkt. # 27).”
“Defendant's motion for summary judgment (Dkt. # 27) is GRANTED and Plaintiff's complaint is DISMISSED with prejudice.”
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 | 6 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 6 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 6 |
| Mar 2025 | 1 | 4 |
| Sep 2024 | 1 | 5 |
| Mar 2024 | 3 | 4 |
| Sep 2023 | 2 | 6 |
| Mar 2023 | 1 | 11 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 8 |
| Mar 2022 | 10 | 3 |
| Sep 2021 | 19 | 13 |
| Mar 2021 | 8 | 6 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 4 |
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 Jones: 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 Jones, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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