Christopher P. Tuite
How Judge Tuite decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Post-judgment attorney-fee practice: he applies the revised M.D. Fla. Local Rule 7.01 (effective February 2021) bifurcated procedure -- a first motion to establish the right to fees, then a supplemental motion on amount -- before reaching the 42 U.S.C. 406(b) reasonableness analysis; a counseled fee request the agency does not dispute on entitlement is granted once that framework is satisfied.
“Before the Court is Plaintiff's Attorney's Amended Motion for an Award of Attorney['s] Fees under 42 U.S.C. 406(b). ... For the reasons discussed below, counsel's motion is granted.”
Motion practice expectations (from his published procedures): he strictly enforces Local Rule 3.01(g)'s good-faith conference requirement and Local Rule 3.01(c) page/reply limits, striking non-compliant reply and sur-reply filings and generally denying motions that omit the meet-and-confer certificate.
“ENDORSED ORDER striking 15 Plaintiff's response and 16 Defendant's sur-reply, pursuant to Local Rule 3.01(c).”
Cautions
For fee work performed by experienced attorneys who never entered an appearance or obtained admission in the district, he may treat the services as comparable to those of a highly trained law clerk and reduce the requested hourly rate accordingly.
“In line with Callaway, courts in the Middle District of Florida typically assign a paralegal rate to lawyers who do not formally appear in a matter.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Before the Court is Plaintiff's Attorney's Amended Motion for an Award of Attorney['s] Fees under 42 U.S.C. 406(b). ... For the reasons discussed below, counsel's motion is granted.”
“ORDER affirming the Commissioner's decision. The Clerk is directed to enter Judgment in favor of the Defendant and to close the case.”
“ORDER affirming the decision of the Commissioner. The Clerk is directed to enter Judgment in favor of the Defendant and to close the case.”
“The Plaintiff’s amended motion for attorneys’ fees pursuant to the EAJA (Doc. 23) is granted in part and denied in part as more fully described above.”
“ORDER granting the Defendant's 29 Motion to Remand. The Clerk of Court is directed to enter Judgment in the Plaintiff's favor, to terminate any pending motions, and to close the case.”
“The Plaintiff’s unopposed motion for attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to the EAJA (Doc. 33) is granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The sampled matters provide a descriptive caseload mix rather than a complete census. No authoritative case-disposition baseline was available for the period reviewed.
Put Judge Tuite's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Tuite actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Tuite's own signed orders and cites them.