William E. Callahan, Jr.
How Judge Callahan rules, drawn from 5 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Callahan
William E. Callahan Jr. became a United States magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Wisconsin in 1995 and retired from full-time service in March 2015. He previously worked as an assistant United States attorney and in private practice. The court currently lists him as a recalled magistrate judge.
Judge Callahan's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Callahan'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).
How Judge Callahan decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Woltring, Callahan denied the servicer’s motion to dismiss an emotional-distress claim after concluding that the amended complaint alleged conduct sufficient to proceed beyond the pleading stage.
“NOW THEREFORE IT IS ORDERED that SLS’s motion to dismiss Woltring’s intentional infliction of emotional distress claim (ECF No. 26) be and hereby is DENIED;”
Procedural preferences
In Ciociola v. Harley-Davidson, Callahan granted the defendants' summary-judgment motion in a dispute over the plaintiff's Scarecrow service marks.
“the defendants' motion for summary judgment will be granted”
In EEOC v. Aurora Health, Callahan denied a motion to bar a treating physician’s testimony after distinguishing the disclosure required for a non-retained witness from a retained expert report.
“NOW THEREFORE IT IS ORDERED that the defendant’s Civil L.R. 7(h) motion to bar expert testimony be and hereby is DENIED.”
Cautions
In this case, he granted the plaintiff’s summary-judgment motion in part and denied it in part.
“the plaintiffs motion for summary judgment will be granted in part and denied in part”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the defendants' motion for summary judgment will be granted”
“the defendant's motion for summary judgment will be granted”
“the plaintiffs motion for summary judgment will be granted in part and denied in part”
“NOW THEREFORE IT IS ORDERED that the defendant’s Civil L.R. 7(h) motion to bar expert testimony be and hereby is DENIED.”
“NOW THEREFORE IT IS ORDERED that SLS’s motion to dismiss Woltring’s intentional infliction of emotional distress claim (ECF No. 26) be and hereby 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 | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 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 Eastern District of Wisconsin, not for Judge Callahan: 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 | 1,062 | 6 months |
| Closed with no court action | 137 | 3 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 879 | 6.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 36 | 13.1 months |
| Closed during trial | 10 | 22.6 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,062 | 6 months |
| Sep 2024 | 982 | 6.4 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,028 | 8 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,065 | 9.5 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,134 | 9.4 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,184 | 7.1 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,253 | 6.9 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 Callahan with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Callahan, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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