Thomas S. Zilly
How Judge Zilly rules, drawn from 23 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Zilly
Thomas Samuel Zilly is a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Judge Zilly received a commission on April 20, 1988. Judge Zilly assumed senior status on January 1, 2004.
Judge Zilly's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Zilly'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 Zilly decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Friends of the Earth v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he ordered disclosure of a biological evaluation after finding it was prepared by the permit applicant's private consultant, adopted as the agency's final position, and shared with the applicant.
“the March 2017 BE is therefore not an agency document for purposes of the FOIA.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“State Farm's motion for summary judgment, docket no. 15, is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Plaintiffs CPA claim is DISMISSED with prejudice.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, docket no. 18, is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part ... the Court GRANTS Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment and Defendant is ORDERED to provide the March 2017 BE to Plaintiff within twenty (20) days”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment, docket no. 13, is GRANTED in part. Claim 4 of the Complaint, docket no. 1, is DISMISSED. Defendant's motion is otherwise DENIED.”
“For the reasons explained below, the Court GRANTS Defendant's motion for summary judgment.”
“The Federal Defendant's Motion to Limit the Record, docket no. 101, is DENIED. The parties may supplement the administrative record with relevant material.”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss A.Z.'s first claim is DENIED.”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss A.Z.'s second claim is GRANTED. A.Z.'s second claim is DISMISSED with prejudice.”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss A.Z.'s third and fourth claims is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' motion for summary judgment, docket no. 42, is GRANTED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Plaintiffs' motion, docket no. 25, for partial summary judgment is GRANTED. Under the Towage Agreement and insurance policies, Defendant was obligated under the MGL policy to defend and pay the portion of Mr. Kellogg's claims attributable to Dutra's negligence.”
“Defendant's motion, docket no. 30, for summary judgment of dismissal is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court denied in part and granted in part defendant's motion for summary judgment, docket no. 37, and denied in part and granted in part plaintiffs' cross-motion for partial summary judgment, docket no. 43. Plaintiffs' CPA and bad faith claims shall remain in the case for trial, consistent with this Order.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court denied in part and granted in part defendant's motion for summary judgment, docket no. 37, and denied in part and granted in part plaintiffs' cross-motion for partial summary judgment, docket no. 43.”
“The Court concludes that Pennsylvania law applies to any claim for punitive damages based on fraud against Wyeth and DENIES Defendants' motion to dismiss the claim for punitive damages.”
“The Court concludes that Mrs. Bryant has produced sufficient evidence of product identification with respect to Defendant Upjohn to create an issue of material fact for trial and DENIES Defendants' motion as to that issue.”
“Plaintiff has not demonstrated that the product label or other affirmative action of Defendants constitutes an express warranty and the Court therefore GRANTS Defendants' motion to dismiss Plaintiff's claim for breach of express warranty under the WPLA as to all defendants.”
“Plaintiff has not met his burden to prove that proton therapy was covered under the relevant policy language. The Clerk is directed to enter Judgment in favor of the Defendants, dismissing Plaintiffs Complaint with prejudice and with costs.”
“Accordingly, the Court concludes that Plaintiff has failed to raise a material issue of fact on whether proton therapy is more costly than IMRT.”
“Whether plaintiffs' constitutional due process right-to-counsel claim has merit cannot yet be determined, but plaintiffs deserve, and the Court concludes that it has jurisdiction (at least with respect to juveniles currently in removal proceedings) to eventually provide an answer.”
“Thus, as to these two juveniles, the Court currently lacks jurisdiction, and defendants' Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part. The claims of G.D.S. and A.E.G.E. are DISMISSED without prejudice.”
“Defendants' motion is therefore GRANTED in part, with regard to Director Rodriguez and J.E.V.G., and DEFERRED in part as to M.A.M., but it is DENIED in all other respects for the reasons stated in this order.”
“The Court is satisfied that venue is proper because at least one plaintiff resides in Washington ... Defendants' Rule 12(b)(3) motion is DENIED.”
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 | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2025 | 2 | 3 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2022 | 1 | 3 |
| Mar 2022 | 1 | 3 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 3 |
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 Zilly: 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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