Terry F. Moorer
How Judge Moorer rules, drawn from 32 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Moorer
Terry Fitzgerald Moorer is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Moorer received a commission on September 4, 2018.
Judge Moorer's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Moorer, 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.”
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 Moorer decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In reviewing objections to a magistrate judge's recommendation on a motion to dismiss, the judge distinguished cases cited by the objecting party on the ground that they were decided at a later procedural stage (summary judgment or trial), where the scope of review is broader than at the pleading stage.
“The Court's review is narrowly confined to the amended complaint while a summary judgment presents a far broader review.”
Procedural preferences
Requires diligence and good cause to modify a scheduling order, and denied leave to file a late summary-judgment motion where the parties had not pursued discovery on time and the request would disrupt pretrial and trial dates.
“Court deadlines are not aspirational and for scheduling orders to have any meaning, those deadlines must be enforced absent a showing of good cause.”
In Whetstone v. Stewart, Moorer adopted a magistrate judge’s unopposed recommendation after reviewing the file and granted the defendants’ summary-judgment motion.
“No objections were filed. Therefore, 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 is ADOPTED as the opinion of the Court.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Thus, applying the appropriate standard of review, Defendants’ objections are OVERRULED. ... [T]he recommendation of the Magistrate Judge (Doc. 26) is ADOPTED as the opinion of this Court. Accordingly, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint (Doc. 12) is DENIED.”
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED that Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.”
“Consequently, by operation of Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(ii), this action has been dismissed in accordance with the joint notice. Therefore, this case is dismissed with prejudice with each party to bear their own attorneys’ fees and costs.”
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED that Defendant Alabama Power’s motion to dismiss (Doc. 10) is GRANTED. Plaintiff Albert F. Lankster’s amended complaint is DISMISSSED without prejudice.”
“(2) The Motion for Summary Judgment (Docs. 35, 36, as converted by Doc. 57) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. a. The motion is granted in favor of Defendant Thompkins and Defendant Winner in its entirety. ... b. The motion is granted in favor of Defendant Brown as to the denial/delay of medical care claim. c. The motion is granted in favor of Defendants as to the denial of post-traumatic medical care. d. The motion is denied as to Defendants Dunn, Stewart, Bolar, and Brown as to the failure to protect claims.”
“Having considered the motion, the response, the reply, and relevant law, the Court finds Defendant Wright National Flood Insurance Company's motion for summary judgment (Doc. 40) is due to be GRANTED.”
“Having considered the motions, the responses, the replies, the evidentiary submissions in support of the motions, and relevant law, the Court finds Defendant M&T Bank's motion for summary judgment (Doc. 59) is due to be GRANTED”
“Defendants Lakeview Loan Servicing and Central Loan Administration & Reporting's motion for summary judgment (Doc. 60) is due to be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part for the reasons articulated below.”
“the report and recommendation of the Magistrate Judge is ADOPTED as the opinion of this Court. Accordingly, the motions for default judgment against Deborah Stevens filed by Defendants Jason Daniel Stevens and Brandon Blake [are GRANTED]”
“(3) Defendant 3 Circle Church's Motion for Summary Judgment (Docs. 53, 61) is GRANTED”
“(4) supplemental jurisdiction is declined and Defendant Blake Stanley's Motion for Summary Judgment (Docs. 37, 38) is REMANDED to state court for resolution.”
“Defendant's motion to dismiss (Doc. 9) is GRANTED and this case is DISMISSED without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction while the remaining alternative arguments of the motion to dismiss are rendered moot.”
“the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 20) is ADOPTED as modified; and (3) Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 8) is DENIED without prejudice with leave to refile as appropriate.”
“the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 3) is GRANTED and the VA is terminated as a party to this action.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Sampled early caseload spans consumer-credit, patent, employment-discrimination, insurance, habeas, and prisoner civil-rights cases. One sampled case produced an independently-authored (non-adopted) summary-judgment 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 | 4 |
| 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 | 4 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 2 | 2 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 1 |
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 Moorer: 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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