Allen Cothrel Winsor
How Judge Winsor rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Winsor
Allen Cothrel Winsor is a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Winsor received a commission on June 21, 2019.
Judge Winsor's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Winsor's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
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 9, 2026).
How Judge Winsor decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
At summary judgment, he treated conclusory expert labels such as 'grossly negligent' as insufficient to create a factual dispute. Deliberate-indifference claims required record evidence showing more than malpractice or misdiagnosis.
“On summary judgment, a court cannot accept an expert's legal conclusions; it must instead examine the expert affidavit itself to see if a genuine dispute of material fact is presented.”
In Lamonier, the court granted partial immigration habeas relief after finding the government had not shown that the entry-fiction doctrine displaced the circuit rule for a person apprehended in the interior. The order required a bond hearing or release within seven days.
“The government has not clearly shown the entry fiction doctrine applies under these circumstances.”
Procedural preferences
In Schooley v. Option One Mortgage Corp., Winsor considered the plaintiff's objections to a magistrate judge's recommendation de novo, adopted the recommendation, and dismissed the claims against Option One with prejudice while leaving the remaining claims for further proceedings.
“I have also considered de novo this issues raised in Plaintiff’s objections. ECF No. 32. I have determined the report and recommendation should be adopted.”
In Anderson, Winsor treated an exhaustion defense raised in a summary judgment filing as a dismissal motion, dismissed without prejudice, and did not reach the prisoner’s merits claims.
“The dismissal will be without prejudice, and I do not reach the merits.”
Cautions
In Schooley v. Option One Mortgage, Winsor declined another amendment after the plaintiff had already amended several times. He dismissed the Consumer Financial Protection Act claims with prejudice for failure to state a claim and dismissed the remaining quiet-title claims without prejudice after declining supplemental jurisdiction.
“he has had multiple opportunities to amend, and I have determined there should be no further leave to amend.”
In Kesling v. State of Florida, Winsor dismissed a petition challenging a Florida detainer as untimely, without reaching the merits, and denied a certificate of appealability.
“I agree with the magistrate judge and the State that the petition is untimely. It will be dismissed on that basis. I therefore need not address the merits.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“I therefore conclude that Dr. Calderon is entitled to summary judgment. I also conclude that the other defendants are entitled to summary judgment for the reasons the magistrate judge explains. ... All claims are now dismissed on the merits. Plaintiff Mark Mann shall recover nothing from this action.”
“The motion for default judgment (ECF No. 17) and the motion for fees and costs (ECF No. 22) are GRANTED.”
“The motion for default judgment (ECF No. 17) and the motion for fees and costs (ECF No. 22) are GRANTED. ... It will also include $8,083.50 in fees and $1,111.98 in costs ... determine the requested fees to be reasonable.”
“The Defendant’s motion for involuntary dismissal (ECF No. 79) is GRANTED.”
“I agree with the magistrate judge's analysis and adopt the report and recommendation in full. The motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 54) is DENIED.”
“The motion to dismiss (ECF No. 28) is GRANTED. Plaintiff's claims against Option One Mortgage Corporation are dismissed with prejudice for failure to state a claim. Plaintiff may not amend for the reasons set out in the report and recommendation.”
“The motion for partial summary judgment (ECF No. 33) is GRANTED. All claims against the movants are dismissed on the merits, except for the Eighth Amendment excessive-force claims against Defendants Kight and Lord, which the motion did not address.”
“The motion to dismiss (ECF No. 26) is DENIED as moot.”
“The motions to dismiss (ECF No. 78, 82) are GRANTED. ... All claims against Defendant Sand Canyon Corporation are dismissed with prejudice for failure to state a claim. The Count One claims against Defendants Linda Flowers and Sharon Cason are dismissed with prejudice for failure to state a claim. The Count Three claims ... are dismissed without prejudice because the court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over them.”
“The motion for leave to file untimely objections (ECF No. 86) is GRANTED, and the objections (ECF No. 87) are deemed timely.”
“This action is dismissed with prejudice under 28 U.S.C. 1915A(b)(1) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.”
“The motion for leave to supplement (ECF No. 17) is DENIED.”
“I agree with the magistrate judge and the State that the petition is untimely. It will be dismissed on that basis. ... The clerk will enter a judgment that says, 'The 2241 petition is dismissed as untimely.' A certificate of appealability is DENIED.”
“The motion to dismiss (ECF No. 12) is GRANTED. The clerk will enter a judgment that says, 'The 2254 petition is dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.'”
“GRANTED. The clerk will take appropriate steps to transfer this case to the United”
“The petition for removal (ECF No. 2) is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 207.5 days (N = 20).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 7 days (N = 3).
- A January 2021 cohort (20 terminated civil cases) plus a June 2026 pending enumeration show a broad N.D.
- Fla. district docket: heavy prisoner civil-rights (42:1983) and state habeas (2254), plus employment discrimination (Title VII / 42:1981 / 42:1983), property/flood insurance (Wright Flood, Allstate, Blackboard), diversity breach-of-contract, product liability (Zoll Medical), patent (ABC IP v. Mercier & Sons), mortgage/foreclosure, and general civil rights.
- Cases are referred to the division's magistrate judges for reports and recommendations.
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 | 1 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 1 | 2 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2022 | 3 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 3 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 7 | 1 |
| 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 Northern District of Florida, not for Judge Winsor: 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 | 148,428 | 47.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 30 | 3 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 148,385 | 47.7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 4 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 9 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 148,428 | 47.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 140,479 | 43.4 months |
| Sep 2023 | 36,307 | 27.8 months |
| Sep 2022 | 57,845 | 21.8 months |
| Sep 2021 | 14,972 | 5.3 months |
| Sep 2020 | 6,038 | 6.7 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,148 | 7.5 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 Winsor with the record in hand
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