We mentioned a while ago that Judge Barker, visiting from Texas, had filed orders in at least 17 of his cases asking if the parties consented to holding hearings and/or trial in the Eastern District of Texas.
At the time, most of the plaintiffs agreed to hearings and trials in Texas, while most defendants did not. There was no case where both parties assented to trial in Texas, but there were a few where the parties agreed to pretrial hearings there.
Just last week, Judge Barker entered a new order in several cases with pending motions that gave the parties a few more venue options:
Now before the court is a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, on which argument is requested. The court wishes to explore the parties' openness to holding pretrial hearings in either Washington, D.C., or in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex, including Plano or Dallas, Texas. The court invites the parties to file a notice, within seven days or at the parties' earliest convenience, stating their consent to pre-trial hearings in either location
Ameranth, Inc. v. DoorDash, Inc., C.A. No. 25-180-JCB, D.I. 66 (D. Del. Oct. 9, 2025) (Oral Order).
We'll have to see if anyone is swayed by the offer of a hearing in D.C. Obviously it's a boon for the firms based there, but from a travel perspective the Delaware courthouse is actually closer to the Philly airport than the D.C. courthouse is to Dulles or BWI. And of course Delaware is otherwise an objectively superior location with better food, museums, etc.
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