--- title: "Sidney Allen Fitzwater | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/sidney-allen-fitzwater" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Sidney Allen Fitzwater U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas - State: Texas - Role: Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, N.D. Texas, 1986-present - Chief Judge: held the role of Chief Judge of the Northern District of Texas from 2007 to 2014 - Judge, Texas District Court, Two Hundred and Ninety-Eighth Judicial District, 1982-1986 - State court judge: 298th Judicial District, Dallas County, TX (1982–1986) - As Senior Judge, Fitzwater continues to hear cases in the Northern District of Texas, with chambers at 1100 Commerce Street, Room 1358, Dallas, TX - Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas - In summary, Sidney Allen Fitzwater is a long-serving federal judge with a career spanning private practice, state court service, and nearly four decades on the federal bench, notable for his leadership as Chief Judge and his continued judicial activity in senior status ### Education - B.A. in 1975 and his J.D. in 1976 from Baylor University School of Law, where he held the role of Associate Editor of the Baylor Law Review. ### Additional information - 24, 2026) and Courthouse News Service v. - Fitzwater handled over 10,000 district court cases between 1982 and 2026, with a median case resolution time of about 183 days. - Senior status: Assumed on September 22, 2018. - Appointed: January 29, 1986, by President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, replacing Robert Madden Hill. - Confirmation: Senate vote 52–42 on March 18, 1986; commission issued March 19, 1986. - Private legal practice: Houston, TX (1976–1978) and Dallas, TX (1978–1982) - Born September 22, 1953, in Olney, Maryland. - Date of birth: 1953-01-01 - Of 370 appellate decisions reviewed, 252 were affirmed, 34 reversed or vacated, and 84 affirmed in part or reversed in part. - Recent panel work includes cases such as Ridings v. - His caseload included prisoner/habeas (21%), contract (17%), civil rights (12%), and other civil matters. - He authored 211 published opinions, most notably In re American Airlines, Inc., Privacy Litigation (140 citations). - Birth place: Olney, MD ## 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 ### 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/1380776) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1380776) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1380776) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1073/sidney-allen-fitzwater/) - [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/1073/sidney-allen-fitzwater/) - [Wikidata: Sidney A. Fitzwater](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7508925) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/sidney-allen-fitzwater", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/sidney-allen-fitzwater", "name": "Sidney Allen Fitzwater | KnowJudges", "description": "Sidney Allen Fitzwater, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. 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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.