James D. Whittemore
How Judge Whittemore rules, drawn from 19 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Whittemore
James D. Whittemore is a judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Whittemore received a commission on May 25, 2000. Judge Whittemore assumed senior status on August 29, 2017.
Judge Whittemore's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Whittemore, 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.
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 Whittemore decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Kendall v. Genworth Life, he held that the facility did not meet the policy's nursing-home definition because it lacked the specified nursing-care license.
“The facility in which Betty Kendall resided was not 'licensed by the appropriate licensing agency to engage primarily- in providing nursing care and related services to inpatients' and therefore does not constitute a 'nursing home' under the terms of the Policy.”
Cautions
In Arianas v. LVNV Funding, he dismissed the FCRA claim without prejudice and gave the plaintiff 14 days to amend it.
“Plaintiffs FCCPA claim (Count I) is limited to a maximum $1,000 statutory award, and the FCRA claim (Count II) is DISMISSED without prejudice. Plaintiff is granted fourteen (14) days to amend Count II.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Upon consideration, Defendant's Motion is GRANTED and Plaintiff's Motion is DENIED as moot .”
“Upon consideration, the Motion is GRANTED. The facility in which Betty Kendall resided was not 'licensed by the appropriate licensing agency to engage primarily- in providing nursing care and related services to inpatients' and therefore does not constitute a 'nursing home' under the terms of the Policy.”
“Upon consideration, Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 98) is GRANTED . Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification (Dkt. 91) is DENIED as moot.”
“Upon consideration, the motions are DENIED, except that Plaintiff will be granted leave to add claims for punitive damages.”
“Upon consideration, Defendant's motion is GRANTED on Plaintiffs FMLA retaliation, ADA, and FCRA claims, and DENIED on his FMLA interference claim.”
“Upon consideration, the Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 24) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“Upon consideration, the motion to stay (Dkt.13) is DENIED.”
“Upon consideration, the Mption for Clarification (Dkt. 121) is DENIED. Notwithstanding, an explanation of the order reducing Defendant's sentence (Dkt.119) is provided.2 Defendant's Motion to Extend Time to- File Notice of Appeal (Dkt. 122) is DENIED as moot.”
“Upon consideration, the Bankruptcy Court's Order is AFFIRMED. I conclude that compliance with the credit counseling requirement of 11 U.S.C. § 109(h) is not jurisdictional and therefore the Bankruptcy Court did not err in dismissing, rather than striking, j;he petition.”
“Upon consideration, Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 18) is GRANTED and Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 19) is DENIED. After careful consideration of the record, the Court concludes that Prudential's decision to deny Plaintiffs claim for long-term disability benefits was not wrong or unreasonable.”
“Upon consideration, Defendant's motion is GRANTED, and Plaintiffs motion is DENIED.”
“Upon consideration, the motion (Dkt. 51) is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 117.5 days (N = 20).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 4 days (N = 17).
The sampled cases span prisoner petitions, employment and consumer suits, admiralty, patent, forfeiture and social security appeals, which is the ordinary mix for a Tampa civil docket.
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 United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, not for Judge Whittemore: 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).
Draft for Judge Whittemore with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Whittemore, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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