Patricia D. Barksdale
How Judge Barksdale rules, drawn from 17 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Barksdale
Patricia D. Barksdale has served as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Jacksonville Division of the Middle District of Florida since November 2013. A graduate of the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, she previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the district.
Judge Barksdale's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Barksdale, 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
For a deposition dispute, first consult the Discovery Handbook; then the parties may call chambers to request a telephone conference.
“If a dispute arises during a deposition in a case assigned to Judge Barksdale, the parties may call chambers to request a telephone conference after consulting the Discovery Handbook for guidance.”
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 Barksdale decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
When an administrative law judge uses an alleged onset date to discount symptom testimony, an unaddressed request to amend that onset date can require remand and reevaluation of the testimony.
“The decision is reversed and the case is remanded”
In Meade, the court found the administrative law judge adequately evaluated both supportability and consistency when addressing a medical source's opinions, and affirmed the agency decision.
“Here, the ALJ properly considered the consistency of Dr. Merrell’s opinions compared to the record as a whole. Remand on this basis is unwarranted.”
For EAJA applications, clerical filing work is excluded from compensable attorney time even when an attorney performs it.
“Tasks like filing or e-filing are considered clerical and are not compensable as an attorney’s fee under the EAJA.”
In Sowulewski, Barksdale reduced the requested Social Security fee to account for a four-week delay attributable to counsel.
“A reduction in the requested fee award is warranted to account for the four-week delay. That delay was caused by the time Bohr needed based on her circumstances.”
A fee application should identify the qualifications of each professional, separate tasks in its time entries, and exclude clerical work. The court denied one request without prejudice when those showings were missing.
“The plaintiff also fails to satisfy his burden of showing the reasonableness of the number of hours expended because he engages in block billing and requests fees for time spent performing clerical work.”
Cautions
In Link, the court refused to seal or strike a partial-summary-judgment motion and deposition transcripts wholesale. The applicants did not identify a sufficiently compelling reason for secrecy or explain why narrower redaction would fail.
“Sealing an entire substantive motion or deposition transcript is highly unusual.”
In Webb, the court denied four motions without prejudice after finding that both sides violated a standing order governing the form of filings.
“The defendant’s motions to dismiss and for leave to reply, Docs. 9, 20, and the plaintiff’s motions to strike and for an exemption from PACER fees, Docs. 10, 22, are denied without prejudice because the motions violate the district judge’s standing order entered on January 13, 2021.”
In Ray, Barksdale denied a prisoner’s request for appointed civil counsel without prejudice after finding he had presented his claims adequately and the case did not show exceptional circumstances at that stage.
“The plaintiff fails to show exceptional circumstances warranting the recruitment of a lawyer to represent him at this time.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“On referral, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia D. Barksdale issued a Report and Recommendation recommending the Commissioner's final decision be affirmed.”
“ORDER reversing the Commissioner of Social Security's decision, remanding the case to the Commissioner, and directing the clerk to enter judgment for Tyrone Foster and against the Commissioner and close the file.”
“ORDER affirming the Commissioner of Social Security's final decision and directing the clerk to enter judgment for the Commissioner and against Melanie Higgins and close the file.”
“The Commissioner’s decision is affirmed. The clerk is directed to enter judgment for the Commissioner of Social Security and against Kyle Robert Meade and close the file.”
“grants the Commissioner’s unopposed motion, Doc. 20; reverses the decision under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g); remands the case with directions to ‘offer [Totherow] the opportunity for a hearing and issue a new decision’”
“The court grants in part and denies in part the motion, Doc. 18; awards McClean $3,436.74 as an attorney’s fee and $405.00 in taxable costs”
“grants in part the amended request, Doc. 29; authorizes Bohr to charge the plaintiff $11,413.62 from past-due benefits for the successful representation of the plaintiff”
“denies the original request, Doc. 28, as moot.”
“The Commissioner’s final decision is affirmed.”
“The Commissioner’s final decision is affirmed.”
“The Commissioner’s final decision is affirmed.”
“The Commissioner’s final decision is affirmed.”
“The court denies the motion, Doc. 26, without prejudice.”
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 Barksdale: 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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