Theresa L. Fricke
How Judge Fricke rules, drawn from 10 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Fricke
Theresa L. Fricke has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Washington since May 2017 and became Chief Magistrate Judge in March 2024. She graduated from Seattle University School of Law. Before joining the bench, she represented the Washington State Department of Transportation as an assistant attorney general.
Judge Fricke's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Fricke, 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
Trial
Counsel should stand at the lectern when examining witnesses, except when handling or tendering exhibits.
“Stand at the lectern while examining any witness—except that counsel may approach the Courtroom Deputy's desk or the witness for purposes of handling or tendering exhibits.”
Trial
Only one attorney per party may examine or cross-examine each witness.
“Only one attorney for each party shall examine, or cross-examine, each witness.”
Trial
State only the legal grounds when objecting, unless the court requests elaboration.
“counsel should state only the legal grounds for the objection”
Trial
Counsel should avoid sidebar conferences except in extraordinary, unforeseen circumstances.
“Sidebar conferences will presumptively not be tolerated, except in extraordinary”
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 Fricke decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Ortiz v. Commissioner of Social Security, Fricke affirmed the denial of disability benefits. Applying the substantial-evidence standard, she explained that a court may not substitute its judgment for the administrative law judge's when the evidence could reasonably support either result.
“If the evidence would reasonably support affirming the ALJ's decision, or reversing it, the Court may not substitute its own judgment for the ALJ's.”
Procedural preferences
In Derrick v. State of Washington, Fricke recommended dismissing the prisoner's claims against the State with prejudice because the State was not a person under Section 1983 and amendment would be futile.
“The State is not a ‘person’ and therefore is not a proper defendant.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Based on the foregoing discussion, the Court concludes the ALJ properly determined plaintiff to be not disabled. Therefore, the ALJ's decision is affirmed.”
“ORDER signed by Judge Theresa L Fricke. The Commissioner's final decision is AFFIRMED, and this case is DISMISSED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the undersigned recommends that the Court GRANT Defendant State of Washington’s motion to dismiss.”
“For the reasons below, the Court GRANTS the habeas petition IN PART”
“For the reasons above, the Court GRANTS the petition and ORDERS: ... To the extent the petition requests additional injunctive relief limiting any and all potential future re-detention. E.g., Dkt. 1 at 34-35. The Court declines to grant this relief”
“Commissioner’s motion (Dkt. 11) is GRANTED.”
“The petition for writ of habeas corpus (Dkt. 1) is DENIED with respect to petitioner’s request for immediate release. ... The petition is GRANTED as follows:”
“the Court DENIES petitioner’s habeas petition.”
“The amended habeas petition (Dkt. 15) is DENIED without prejudice.”
“Petitioner’s motions for a TRO (Dkt. 9) and preliminary injunction (Dkt. 16) are DENIED as moot.”
“the petition for writ of habeas corpus (Dkt. 1) is GRANTED, and the Court ORDERS as follows: ... the Court declines to grant this relief”
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 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 2 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 6 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 1 | 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 (Tacoma), not for Judge Fricke: 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 Fricke with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Fricke, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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