U.S. District Court, District of Montana: court analysis
1,373 linked cases · High confidence · Computed Oct 7, 2026
- Speed vs peers
- Slow
- trial general
- Median days to close
- 320
- 937 closed cases
- Cases in the index
- 1,373
- 383 with no closing date
- Judges with cases
- 18
How fast cases close here
Compared with courts at the same level. Fast is the quickest third of those courts, slow the slowest third.
Slow
Median 320 days from filing to closing (n=937) vs 274 days median across 94 federal trial general courts; fast is the quickest third (≤248 days), slow the slowest third (>301 days).
Official figure: U.S. Courts Federal Court Management Statistics report a median of 4.4 months from filing to disposition for civil cases and 9.7 months for felony defendants (12 months ending June 30, 2026). Source PDF
- Median
- 320 days
- Half of cases closed sooner
- Faster quarter
- 117 days or less
- Slower quarter
- more than 574 days
Based on 937 closed cases · High confidence
Caseload
Linked cases by filing year and type. A count is not an outcome.
1985–2005: 431 cases in total.
| Type | Cases |
|---|---|
| Civilcv | 707 |
| Not classified | 491 |
| Criminalcr | 109 |
| Magistrate judge mattermj | 43 |
| Miscellaneousmc | 17 |
| Petty offensepo | 6 |
How civil cases ended
Only results stated in a source document count.
Insufficient data. Civil judgment direction needs at least 30 sourced records; this record has 0.
- Plaintiff win rate
- Insufficient data
- 0 judgments for one side
- Dismissal rate
- Insufficient data
- 0 dismissed of 0 with a stated result
Jury or judge decided
Insufficient data. Trial type needs at least 30 sourced records; this record has 0.
- Share of trials before a jury
- Insufficient data
- 0 trials
- Jury demanded on the docket
- 55%
- 82 of 150 dockets with the flag. A demand is not a trial.
Criminal cases
Insufficient data. Criminal outcomes needs at least 30 sourced records; this record has 0.
Judges with the most cases here
| Judge | Cases |
|---|---|
| Susan P. WattersU.S. District Court, District of Montana | 159 |
| Brian MorrisU.S. District Court, District of Montana | 154 |
| Kathleen L. DeSotoJudicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation | 134 |
Showing the top 3 of 18 judges. JudgeFinder Pro shows the full list.
Law firms most active here
An appearance is not an endorsement.
No attorney appearances with a firm are linked to this court yet.
How these figures are calculated
Read the methodology
Computed nightly from the cases linked to this court in the JudgeFinder record and sourced case outcomes.
Every figure carries its sample size. Confidence tiers: insufficient (fewer than 30), low (30–99), medium (100–499), high (500 or more). Below the minimum a rate is not shown and the page says "Insufficient data".
Speed compares this court's median days from filing to closing with other courts at the same level (for example, federal district courts with each other). Courts are split into thirds: fast is the quickest third, slow the slowest third. A label needs 30+ closed cases here and 3+ comparable courts. Federal district courts also cite the official median from the U.S. Courts Federal Court Management Statistics.
Caseload counts linked docket entries by filing year and type; open means no closing date is recorded.
Outcome rates follow the same definitions as judge analysis pages.