Carlos Murguia
Judge Murguia no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Murguia decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On removal, he places the burden on the removing party and resolves genuine doubts about federal jurisdiction in favor of remand.
“To the extent the court has any doubts about federal jurisdiction, the court must find in favor of remand.”
For survey-based expert evidence, ordinary methodological defects affect weight, but defects that make the survey untrustworthy justify exclusion.
“Technical and methodological deficiencies in a survey usually relate to the weight to be given to the survey, not its admissibility. But, when the ‘deficiencies are so substantial as to render the survey’s conclusions untrustworthy, a court should exclude the survey from evidence.’”
Procedural preferences
He did not extend the complaint-focused plausibility standard to affirmative defenses and warned that premature motions to strike can generate delay with little practical effect.
“the court determines that the pleading standards of Twombly and Iqbal should be limited to complaints — not extended to affirmative defenses.”
When a pleading defect may be curable, he favors dismissal with leave to amend instead of immediate terminal dismissal.
“if it is at all possible that the party against whom the dismissal is directed can correct the defect in the pleading or state a claim for relief, the court should dismiss with leave to amend.”
Cautions
A reputation for unrelated misconduct does not make a libel plaintiff immune from reputational harm caused by a materially more serious accusation.
“A ‘womanizer’ is distinct from someone who sexually assaults or attempts to rape women.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that plaintiffs’ Motion to Remand (Doc. 6) is granted.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that plaintiffs Motion to Strike Affirmative Defenses (Doc. 7) is denied.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Joint Motion for Determination of an Issue of Law Concerning Subject Matter Jurisdiction (Doc. 17) is granted.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion to Exclude Evidence of Plaintiff’s Counsel’s ‘Name Game’ Survey and to Strike Plaintiffs Expert Witness Report (Doc. 42) is granted.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 17) is granted in part and denied in part.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that plaintiff Eric David Keller’s Motion to Remand (Doc. 11) is denied.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that defendant Bank of America, N.A.’s Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) (Doc. 9) is granted in part and denied in part.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 6) is denied.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that plaintiff's Motion to Deposit Policy Benefit Into the Court's Registry And For Interpleader Relief (Doc. 13) be granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 642 days (N = 8).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 177 days (N = 12).
The eight sampled closed civil cases span employment, trademark, defamation, wage, tort, technology, and benefits disputes. Their duration figures describe this bounded sample, not the full career docket.
A historical record
Judge Murguia no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.