---
title: "Damon Ray Leichty | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/damon-r-leichty"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-09"
---

# Damon Ray Leichty

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana · Judge

## Profile

- Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
- State: Indiana
- Role: Judge
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-07-25

## Summary

Official judge-specific and circuitwide procedural guidance has been located for this profile.

## Biography

### Professional career

- Judge, District Court, N.D. Indiana, 2019-present
- Adjunct professor, Notre Dame Law School, 2017-present
- Since 2017, he has been an adjunct professor at Notre Dame Law School, teaching product liability law and federal practice
- Damon Ray Leichty is a U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Indiana, appointed in 2019 by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate in a 85–10 vote
- Law clerk, Hon. Robert L. Miller, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, 2001-2003
- Leichty held the role of a law clerk to Judge Robert Lowell Miller Jr. (N.D. Ind.) from 2001–2003
- He then became a partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP in South Bend, Indiana

### Education

- Wabash College — B.A. (1994)
- University of Aberdeen

### Additional information

- Private practice, South Bend, IN, 2003-2019
- Private practice, South Bend, IN, 1999-2001
- Date of birth: 1971-01-01
- focusing on complex civil litigation, especially federal product liability cases.
- Argo Community High School
- He belongs to the American Law Institute and the Order of the Barristers.

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### courtroom technology

Scope: judge specific

Judge-specific source

Evidence excerpt: Judge Leichty's courtroom is fully equipped with state of the art technology. The court strongly encourages use of the courtroom technology to allow the trial to run more efficiently and to enhance the presentation of the case to the jury. For example, it is unnecessary to approach a witness to show him a document; the…

[Judge Damon R. Leichty | Northern District of Indiana | United States District Court](https://www.innd.uscourts.gov/content/judge-damon-r-leichty)
Source checked: 2026-07-24

### civil remote testimony

Scope: courtwide

In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards.

Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location.

[Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### criminal recording and broadcasting

Scope: courtwide

Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception.

Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.

[Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/6731091)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/6731091)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/6731091)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/14419/damon-ray-leichty/)
- [Judge Damon R. Leichty | Northern District of Indiana | United States District Court](https://www.innd.uscourts.gov/content/judge-damon-r-leichty)
- [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure)
- [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/14419/damon-ray-leichty/)
- [Wikidata: Damon Ray Leichty](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55584763)

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## Federal civil docket activity

Dataset updated through 2026-06-30.

| Period | Assigned cases | Terminated cases | Median disposition (months) | Median sample |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| 1y | 351 | 42 | 1.8 | 42 |
| 2y | 645 | 141 | 1.8 | 141 |
| 5y | 1850 | 1229 | 4.9 | 1229 |
| 10y | 2742 | 2114 | 6.4 | 2114 |

Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/


## Published courtroom rules

### Shared court rules

- [Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-651872d6e45e0d82319ecccc) — Civil actions in United States District Courts; Rule 81 exceptions apply. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.
- [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.
