Lindsay Saxe Griffin
How Judge Griffin rules, drawn from 7 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Griffin
Lindsay Saxe Griffin has served as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Tampa Division of the Middle District of Florida since October 2024. She earned her law degree from the University of Florida, clerked for District Judge Steven D. Merryday, and later served as an Assistant United States Attorney.
Judge Griffin's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Griffin, 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
Filing
No courtesy copy of a motion is needed.
“Providing a courtesy copy of a motion to chambers is unnecessary.”
Discovery
Before a discovery motion, a party may email chambers, copying opposing counsel, to request an informal conference.
“Before filing a discovery motion, a party may contact chambers by e-mail (with a copy to opposing counsel) to request an informal discovery 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 10, 2026).
How Judge Griffin decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Smith v. Commissioner of Social Security, Griffin affirmed the denial of benefits because the ALJ had addressed Smith’s symptom testimony with citations to the medical record and substantial evidence supported the findings. She rejected the argument that the ALJ had broadly dismissed the testimony about Smith’s vision.
“Instead, the ALJ articulates his findings through citations to the medical record, credit to Smith’s complaints and testimony, and his overall analysis of the available evidence. Because the ALJ correctly applied the law and supported his findings with substantial evidence, I must affirm.”
In Acevedo v. Commissioner of Social Security, Griffin remanded because the administrative law judge did not evaluate whether the claimant's migraines medically equaled Listing 11.02 under SSR 19-4p and did not fully assess her fibromyalgia under SSR 12-2p.
“The ALJ’s failure to consider medical equivalence at step three is not harmless, and thus, the case is remanded for further proceedings on Acevedo’s migraines.”
In Lucombe v. Hawk Homes, Griffin denied a motion to dismiss a telephone solicitation claim because the pleaded facts suggested that the call offered services connected to a proposed property purchase, despite the complaint's lack of a verbatim account of the call.
“Although the complaint contains no verbatim description of the unwanted telephone solicitations, the complaint alleges facts suggesting that the solicitation involved not only a request to purchase the plaintiff’s property but an attempt to sell related services offered by the defendants.”
In Michael v. Academy at the Lakes, Griffin enforced a private school's arbitration clause in annual enrollment supplements because the signed continuing enrollment agreements expressly incorporated those supplements. She compelled arbitration but stayed the lawsuit instead of dismissing it.
“Because the Continuous Enrollment Agreement expressly incorporates the annual Enrollment Agreement Supplements, the Michaels are bound by those supplemental terms.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Accordingly, for the reasons explained above, the decision of the Commissioner is AFFIRMED. The Clerk is directed to enter final judgment in favor of the Commissioner, terminate any pending motion, and close the case.”
“Accordingly, the Commissioner's decision is REVERSED and REMANDED under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) to the Commissioner for further proceedings. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment for Acevedo and against the Commissioner and to close the case.”
“ORDER granting the parties' 30 joint motion for approval of FLSA settlement agreement. The settlement agreement is approved, the plaintiff's claims against the defendants are dismissed with prejudice, and the defendants' counterclaims against the plaintiff are dismissed with prejudice.”
“Accordingly, the defendants' motion to dismiss, Doc. 7, is DENIED. The defendants must file an answer to the complaint no later than July 31, 2025.”
“the unopposed motion for attorney’s fees and costs under the EAJA, Doc. 22, is GRANTED.”
“the unopposed motion for attorney fees under the EAJA, Doc. 18, is GRANTED.”
“Accordingly, Academy at the Lakes’ motion to compel, Doc. 38, is GRANTED-IN-PART and DENIED-IN-PART. Specifically, the request to compel arbitration is granted, but the request to dismiss the complaint is denied without prejudice. Doc. 38.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The reviewed matters provide descriptive caseload context rather than a complete census. No authoritative case-disposition baseline is yet available for her short tenure.
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 |
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 Griffin: 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 Griffin with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Griffin, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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