Kristi K. DuBose
How Judge DuBose rules, drawn from 29 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge DuBose
Kristi DuBose is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge DuBose received a commission on December 27, 2005.
Judge DuBose's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge DuBose, 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
Conferences
Confer and engage in meaningful settlement discussions within 30 days before the final pretrial conference.
“Counsel shall confer and engage in meaningful settlement discussions within 30 days prior to the Final Pretrial Conference.”
Trial
Confer with opposing counsel and file one joint pretrial document at least 7 days before the final pretrial conference.
“Counsel shall confer and shall jointly prepare a single Joint Pretrial Document in the form attached, which must be filed with the Clerk of Court at least seven (7) calendar days before the Final Pretrial Conference.”
Trial
Question witnesses from the lectern and ask leave of court before approaching the witness stand.
“When interrogating a witness, counsel shall use the lectern and shall not approach the stand except with leave of Court.”
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 DuBose decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
At summary judgment, accepts video evidence over a party's account only when the recording obviously contradicts that account; where the video leaves unanswered questions, continues to view the evidence in the nonmovant's favor.
“Yet, where the video does not answer all the questions or resolve all the details of the encounter, the Court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party.”
In Williams v. Brennan, DuBose adopted an unopposed magistrate judge recommendation, granted the defendants’ amended motion to dismiss, and dismissed the complaint.
“After due and proper consideration of all portions of this file deemed relevant to the issues raised, and there having been no objections filed, the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge made under 28 U.S.C. Section 636(b)(1)(B) and dated October 29, 2021 is ADOPTED as the opinion of this Court.”
In Hamil v. Acts Retirement-Life Communities, DuBose granted dismissal of Counts II through XV but denied the motion as to Count I, the religious-accommodation claim.
“the motion to dismiss is granted as to Counts II through XV and those Counts are dismissed. The motion is denied as to Count I”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the Defendant's motion to dismiss is GRANTED and the Plaintiff’s Complaint is DISMISSED without prejudice for insufficient process and insufficient service of process.”
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the Defendants' motion to dismiss (Doc. 19) is GRANTED and that Plaintiff Stephen Gillis Smitherman's Complaint is DISMISSED without prejudice.”
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the Defendants' amended motion to dismiss (Doc. 24) is GRANTED and the Plaintiff's complaint is hereby DISMISSED.”
“Defendants Acts Retirement-Life Communities, Inc., Presbyterian Retirement Corporation, Inc., and Westminster Village’s motion to dismiss is granted as to Counts II through XV and those Counts are dismissed. The motion is denied as to Count I, alleging religious discrimination under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. Section 2000e, et seq., for failure to accommodate.”
“Accordingly, the motion to reconsider is DENIED.”
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the Defendants' amended motion to dismiss (Doc. 24) is GRANTED and the Plaintiff's complaint is hereby DISMISSED.”
“Upon consideration, and all time periods for further appeal having passed, the motion to reinstate is GRANTED and defendant's motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence by a person in federal custody (doc. 65) and memorandum in support (doc. 66) are hereby referred to the Magistrate Judge for appropriate disposition.”
“Upon consideration, it is ORDERED that all of Plaintiff Roosevelt Landrum's remaining claims against Defendant Georgia Pacific Consumer Products LP are hereby DISMISSED without prejudice, with each party to bear his or its own attorneys' fees and costs.”
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Docs. 13, 19, 20) is GRANTED and that Plaintiff's claims against Defendants Emma Rudolph and Ray Farmer are DISMISSED without prejudice.”
“For these reasons, it is ORDERED that State Farm's Motion to Alter, Amend or Vacate Judgment (Doc. 55) is DENIED.”
“In accordance with the Order entered this date granting Defendant Standard Insurance Company's motion for summary judgment, it is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DECREED that Plaintiff Kay C. Crews' claims against Defendant are dismissed with prejudice.”
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED that Preyear's motion (Doc. 585) is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The reviewed cases include disability-access, prisoner civil-rights, personal-injury, insurance, consumer-credit, racketeering, maritime, and removed contract matters. The grounded docket outcomes include premises-liability and insurance-coverage summary judgment as well as a remand ruling.
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 | 0 |
| 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 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2023 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 2 | 0 |
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 Southern District of Alabama, not for Judge DuBose: 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 | 352 | 10.4 months |
| Closed with no court action | 98 | 6.7 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 238 | 10.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 8 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 8 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 352 | 10.4 months |
| Sep 2024 | 424 | 9.1 months |
| Sep 2023 | 389 | 10 months |
| Sep 2022 | 457 | 11.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 457 | 10.1 months |
| Sep 2020 | 998 | 4.5 months |
| Sep 2019 | 407 | 9.4 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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