Gray M. Borden
How Judge Borden rules, drawn from 21 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Borden
Gray M. Borden became a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Alabama in 2019 after serving on the magistrate bench in the Middle District of Alabama. Before his judicial service, he prosecuted federal cases and practiced commercial litigation. He graduated from Washington and Lee University and the University of Alabama School of Law.
Judge Borden's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Borden, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Contacting chambers
Copy opposing counsel or unrepresented parties on chambers email.
“The court does not permit ex parte email communications; all emails to the chambers must show a copy to all opposing counsel or pro se parties.”
Filing
Provide courtesy copies of dispositive motions, briefs, and supporting evidence.
“Counsel should provide courtesy copies of dispositive motions, briefs, and evidentiary materials in support of those motions.”
Discovery
If a discovery dispute remains unresolved, attach a joint stipulation to the motion.
“they must prepare a joint stipulation to be filed as an attachment to a motion to compel or another motion”
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026).
How Judge Borden decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Recommended denying a criminal defendant's motion to suppress evidence; the district judge adopted the recommendation.
“It is ordered that the Report and Recommendation denying the motion to suppress evidence be accepted as entered. This Court ADOPTS the report and recommendation ... the motion to suppress the evidence filed by the Defendant on July 1, 2024 (Doc. 14) is DENIED.”
In a removed stock buyback dispute, he assessed the amount in controversy against the relief actually requested and relied on a supported appraisal over speculative share valuations. He remanded because the defendant had not established the jurisdictional threshold.
“only non-speculative evidence before the court of the fair market value of Bui’s”
Cautions
Recommended dismissing an unexhausted habeas petition without prejudice; the district judge adopted the recommendation.
“the Court concludes that the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation (Doc. 92) should be ACCEPTED and hereby ADOPTS it as the findings of the Court. The case is therefore DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court concludes that the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation (Doc. 92) should be ACCEPTED and hereby ADOPTS it as the findings of the Court. The case is therefore DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“It is ordered that the Report and Recommendation denying the motion to suppress evidence be accepted as entered. This Court ADOPTS the report and recommendation ... the motion to suppress the evidence filed by the Defendant on July 1, 2024 (Doc. 14) is DENIED.”
“the Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 78) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“the motion for summary judgment is due to be granted.”
“the decision of the Commissioner is due to be affirmed.”
“the decision of the Commissioner is due to be reversed and remanded.”
“all claims in the complaint are DISMISSED without prejudice.”
“GRANTED and the claim is DISMISSED with prejudice.”
“the motions to dismiss (Docs. 2 & 13) are GRANTED.”
“the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 50) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part”
“partial Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 33) is GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Caseload drawn from his 2022 consent docket: general civil (insurance, FDCPA debt-collection, employment discrimination, premises liability) plus Social Security disability review. He is the deciding judge of record on these by the parties' consent under 28 U.S.C. 636(c).
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 1 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 2 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, not for Judge Borden: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 1,513 | 8.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 113 | 2.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 1,380 | 9.1 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 6 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 14 | 32.8 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,513 | 8.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,290 | 8.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,387 | 9.3 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,507 | 11.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,803 | 10.8 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,507 | 10.9 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,732 | 10.8 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Borden, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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