Who is who in a federal case
District Judge
A district judge is a federal trial judge appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and serving for life during good behavior.
The district judge owns the case: ruling on dispositive motions, presiding at trial, imposing sentence, and reviewing a magistrate judge's recommendations. Case assignment is usually random within the division, which is why the assigned judge is worth researching early.
Senior judges are district judges who have met age and service requirements and taken reduced caseloads. They still preside over cases, so a senior judge on a docket is a full judge, not a substitute.
Researching the assigned judge is standard practice for a reason. Individual practices vary widely on page limits, discovery disputes, and how quickly motions get decided, and those differences shape strategy from the first filing. Chief judges carry administrative duties on top of a caseload, and visiting judges from other districts sometimes sit by designation, which is why an unfamiliar name can appear on a docket for a single trial.
How it appears on a docket
The docket header reads Assigned to: Judge Renata Alvarez, Referred to: Magistrate Judge Daniel Okafor.
Governing rule
U.S. Const. art. III; 28 U.S.C. Sec. 133
Related terms
- Magistrate Judge — A magistrate judge is a federal judge appointed by the district court to handle pretrial matters, criminal first appearances, and, with consent, entire civil cases.
- Order — An order is a written direction from the judge deciding something in the case, from a one-line scheduling change to a ruling that ends the lawsuit.
More on who is who in a federal case
See this term in a real case
Search federal court records and read the filings where district judge actually shows up. New to federal dockets? Start with how to find a federal case.