Natalie Hirt Adams
How Judge Adams rules, drawn from 20 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Adams
Natalie Hirt Adams has served as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Tampa Division of the Middle District of Florida since December 2023. Before joining the bench, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney and practiced privately. She earned her law degree from Duke Law School.
Judge Adams's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Adams, as published on the court's website (checked October 20, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Trial
State each objection to an opposed exhibit on the exhibit list.
“Otherwise, specifically state each objection to each opposed exhibit.”
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 Adams decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Ward-Plaster, Adams remanded after finding the administrative law judge had not explained why headache-related limitations were omitted from the work-capacity assessment.
“I remand to give the ALJ the opportunity to explain whether he considered, and on what basis he omitted from Plaintiff’s residual functional capacity (RFC), certain limitations associated with Plaintiff’s headaches.”
In Bundy, Adams denied summary judgment in a store injury case because the evidence left a jury question about the hazard and whether the store should have anticipated that a shopper would miss it.
“the issues of whether Wal-Mart had a duty to warn of, prevent, or remove the spilled garden flags must be resolved by a jury.”
Procedural preferences
In Downing, Adams dismissed a second amended complaint without prejudice and gave the plaintiff a final deadline to correct identified pleading defects. A later fourth amended complaint was dismissed with prejudice.
“Plaintiff shall have until May 11, 2026 to file a Third Amended Complaint that remedies the problems identified in this order.”
In Cemex, Adams required more specific interrogatory answers but declined expenses because neither side wholly prevailed on the discovery motion.
“Because neither party was wholly successful in bringing or defending the present motion, I do not find that any party’s position was so unreasonable as to justify fee shifting.”
In Doe, Adams allowed a pseudonym where publicly naming the plaintiff could cause the disclosure harm the suit sought to prevent, while the defendant would receive his identity.
“Plaintiff’s strong and specific interest in keeping his identity private in this case outweighs the public’s general interest in access to court proceedings”
Cautions
In Hart, Adams dismissed the Florida whistleblower retaliation count for an insufficient causal allegation, allowed amendment, and opened limited discovery on the employer-size issue for the disability claim.
“I open a limited discovery period”
In Parkinson, Adams denied dismissal because the defendant did not explain why his company was a required party; the complaint alleged he personally accessed the plaintiff’s account and diverted its revenue.
“his conclusory assertions do not meet this burden.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Plaintiff’s motion to proceed under a pseudonym is GRANTED;”
“The Ghnaim Defendants’ Motion to Set Aside the Clerk’s Default (Doc. 41) is granted to the extent that the Clerk is directed to vacate the defaults at Docket Numbers 23 and 24;”
“Plaintiff’s Amended Motion for Default Judgment against the Ghnaim Defendants (Doc. 35) is denied without prejudice.”
“(Doc. 47) is denied without prejudice;”
“(Doc. 48) is denied without prejudice;”
“(Doc. 52) is denied without prejudice;”
“I deny Plaintiff’s motion to recuse myself from the case.”
“Defendants’ Motion to Tax Costs and Determine Entitlement for Attorney’s Fees and Non-Taxable Costs (Doc. 148) is granted, in part;”
“Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to Effect Alternative Service and for an Extension of Time (Doc. 25) is granted;”
“Defendant’s motion to compel BTG to produce documents responsive to the subpoena (Doc. 40) is granted in part and denied in part:”
“Defendant’s motion to compel FHLG to produce additional documents responsive to the subpoena (Doc. 39) is DENIED.”
“Plaintiff’s motion (Doc. 52) is granted.”
“Plaintiff’s motion (Doc. 33) is GRANTED to the extent that”
“I grant the motions to the extent that I dismiss the Second Amended Complaint.”
“I deny without prejudice the United States’ motion.”
“Plaintiff’s motion for Clerk’s default (Doc. 29) is GRANTED;”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The two identified cases show one employment dispute and one benefits appeal; they are too few to describe the judge’s overall caseload.
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 |
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 Adams: 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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