Elizabeth A. Jenkins
How Judge Jenkins rules, drawn from 19 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Jenkins
Elizabeth A. Jenkins served as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Tampa Division of the Middle District of Florida from December 1985 until her retirement in 2016. She previously worked for the Department of Justice and as an Assistant United States Attorney. After retiring, she returned for recalled judicial service.
Judge Jenkins's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Jenkins, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Discovery
During a deposition dispute in a case assigned to Judge Jenkins, parties may call chambers to request a telephone conference.
“If disputes arise during depositions in cases assigned to Judge Jenkins, the parties may call chambers at (813) 301-5777 to request a telephone conference.”
Conferences
For a non-evidentiary civil hearing other than a final pretrial conference, parties may move to appear by telephone.
“In appropriate cases, the parties may file a motion to appear by telephone in non-evidentiary civil hearings except final pretrial conferences.”
Trial
In consent civil cases, Judge Jenkins sets a date certain for trial.
“In civil cases tried before Judge Jenkins with the consent of the parties, she will set a date certain for trial.”
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 10, 2026).
How Judge Jenkins decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Macort v. Goodwill Industries, she denied a broader site-inspection request but allowed inspection of the specific access barriers identified in the complaint.
“Plaintiffs Motion to Compel Entry on Land and Incorporated Memorandum of Law (Dkt. 18) is DENIED as to Plaintiffs motion to compel, except that Plaintiffs may enter Defendant’s land to conduct an inspection that is limited to the specific barriers to access enumerated in Plaintiffs’ complaint.”
In Richardson, Jenkins granted part and denied part of the plaintiff's motion to exclude exhibits and compel discovery.
“That plaintiffs Motion to Exclude Exhibits of Defendant Schaub and Compel (Dkt. 113) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part as stated in the body of the order.”
In Winters v. Florida Department of Corrections, she denied summary judgment on the hostile-work-environment claim but granted it on punitive damages.
“Defendant Florida Department of Corrections’ Motion for Final Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs Sexual Harassment Claim (Dkt.20) is DENIED as to plaintiffs claim for hostile work environment sexual harassment, but GRANTED as to plaintiffs claim for punitive damages.”
Procedural preferences
In Fernandez, Jenkins denied the defendant's motion for a protective order as moot.
“that Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order or Alternatively Motion for Direction of Procedure by the Court (Dkt.23) is DENIED as moot.”
In City of Tampa, Jenkins denied Sheridan Transportation's joinder motion without prejudice.
“The Motion of Sheridan Transportation Company for Joinder as Co-Party Cross-claimant (Dkt. Ill) is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
In Edwards, Jenkins granted the defendant's subpoena request to the extent of directing the clerk to issue the subpoena.
“Defendant’s Second Ex Parte Motion For Issuance Of Subpoena Duces Tecum (Dkt. 65) is GRANTED to the extent that the Clerk of Court shall issue a subpoena duces tecum”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“that Plaintiff’s Request for Order Directing Service of Subpeona’s [sic] (Edward Litton) (Dkt.27) is DENIED;”
“that Plaintiff’s Request for Order Directing Service of Subpeona’s [sic] (Randy Pendland) (Dkt.28) is DENIED;”
“that Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order or Alternatively Motion for Direction of Procedure by the Court (Dkt.23) is DENIED as moot.”
“that plaintiffs Motion for Protective Order (Dkt. 31) is DENIED as moot.”
“that the Motion to Disqualify Counsel (Dkt. 31) is DENIED.”
“That plaintiffs Motion to Exclude Exhibits of Defendant Schaub and Compel (Dkt. 113) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part as stated in the body of the order.”
“that Defendant’s Motion To Compel Discovery (Dkt.8) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part;”
“Defendant’s Second Ex Parte Motion For Issuance Of Subpoena Duces Tecum (Dkt. 65) is GRANTED to the extent that the Clerk of Court shall issue a subpoena duces tecum”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment as to Procedural Due Process Claims Against Defendants Niteh and Myrick (doc. 43) is GRANTED.”
“Nitch’s Motion for Summary Judgment in Response to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (doc. 55) is DENIED.”
“The Motion of Sheridan Transportation Company for Joinder as Co-Party Cross-claimant (Dkt. Ill) is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“Westchester Fire Insurance Company’s Motion To Alter or Amend Judgment (Dkt.173) is GRANTED.”
“Tampa Port Authority’s Motion for New Trial (Dkt.174) is DENIED.”
“Defendant Florida Department of Corrections’ Motion for Final Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs Sexual Harassment Claim (Dkt.20) is DENIED as to plaintiffs claim for hostile work environment sexual harassment, but GRANTED as to plaintiffs claim for punitive damages.”
“Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order on Inspections (Dkt. 16), is GRANTED”
“Plaintiffs Motion to Compel Entry on Land and Incorporated Memorandum of Law (Dkt. 18) is DENIED as to Plaintiffs motion to compel, except that Plaintiffs may enter Defendant’s land to conduct an inspection that is limited to the specific barriers to access enumerated in Plaintiffs’ complaint.”
“Defendant’s Motion for Expedited Protective Order is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Sampled assignments run from 1989 to 2022 and show a docket that changes character completely across the tenure.
- The earliest cohort, filed 1989 through 1992, is a general civil docket she held on the parties' consent: marine personal injury, employment discrimination, insurance and contract disputes, copyright and trademark, a bankruptcy withdrawal, student-loan recovery for the government, and the torts-to-land case that produced one of the published opinions here.
- By the 1998-2002 window, Social Security appeals have become the single largest block, sitting alongside employment discrimination, disability-access claims, ERISA and ordinary diversity contract work, and she is also drawing criminal-duty matters.
- The 2005-2010 window is dominated by Social Security appeals almost to the exclusion of everything else, with occasional diversity personal-injury and insurance cases, and the 2014-2015 rows are Social Security appeals nearly across the board.
- The last sampled assignment is a criminal-duty matter from February 2022, six years after her retirement, consistent with recall service.
- One caveat about these samples: the case-level subject codes in the public docket metadata are demonstrably unreliable for this court, several cases captioned against the Commissioner of Social Security carry prisoner-petition, motor-vehicle or civil-rights codes, so this description follows the case captions rather than the coded categories.
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 | 0 | 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 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 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 Middle District of Florida, not for Judge Jenkins: 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 | 6,896 | 5.5 months |
| Closed with no court action | 49 | 3.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 6,492 | 5.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 319 | 14.7 months |
| Closed during trial | 36 | 24.2 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 6,896 | 5.5 months |
| Sep 2024 | 7,115 | 5.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 6,777 | 5.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 6,781 | 6.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 6,749 | 6.2 months |
| Sep 2020 | 6,392 | 6.2 months |
| Sep 2019 | 6,830 | 5.7 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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