Eduardo I. Sanchez
How Judge Sanchez rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Sanchez
Eduardo I. Sanchez has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Florida since 2023. A University of Miami School of Law graduate, he worked as an Assistant United States Attorney before joining the bench.
Judge Sanchez's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Sanchez, 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
Confer by direct conversation before seeking court intervention; email alone does not suffice.
“If a discovery dispute arises, the parties must actually speak to one another, either in person, via telephone, or via Zoom (or equivalent conferencing/communication platform) to resolve their discovery disputes before seeking court intervention. E-mail correspondence alone does not constitute a sufficient conferral.”
Discovery
Limit discovery motions to five pages.
“All discovery motions shall be no longer than five (5) pages.”
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 8, 2026).
How Judge Sanchez decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In XYZ Corporation's default-judgment case, Sanchez recommended granting the plaintiff's motion in full. The district judge adopted his recommendation and awarded statutory damages against the listed defendants.
“On September 19, 2024, Judge Sanchez issued a report, recommending that the Plaintiff’s motion be granted in full.”
Procedural preferences
In Aswad v. USCIS, Sanchez recommended denying default judgment because the plaintiff had not completed service under Rule 4(i), the agency had responded on time, and the clerk had not entered default.
“the undersigned RESPECTFULLY RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment or Motion for Trial, ECF No. 8, be DENIED.”
In Energy Enhancement System v. Shurka, Sanchez recommended a 30% reduction to the requested fees because the applicants did not show that work by attorneys at two firms made distinct, nonduplicative contributions.
“Plaintiffs have failed to carry their burden of demonstrating that the vast amount of time spent by Plaintiffs' attorneys working on the same filings at two different firms reflect distinct and non-duplicative contributions. As such, an across-the-board reduction in the lodestar amount to account for the duplication of attorney work is warranted.”
In Fitzgerald v. McNae, Sanchez recommended denying a Rule 11 sanctions motion because the movant served it on the filing day, without allowing the mandatory 21-day safe-harbor period; he also noted the failure to confer.
“This plainly fails to satisfy Rule 11’s mandatory 21-day safe harbor requirement, and denial of the Defendant’s motion is therefore required.”
In 12five Capital v. Landover Systems, Sanchez recommended denying default judgment without prejudice because the complaint alleged the defendant LLC’s residence but did not identify its members’ citizenship.
“Plaintiff incorrectly focuses on Landover’s residence, even though diversity jurisdiction depends on diversity of citizenship.”
In EB-5 Inc. Regional Center v. USCIS, Sanchez recommended denying a preliminary injunction because annual-fee payment and the available administrative process undercut the asserted irreparable harm.
“Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction, ECF No. 5, be DENIED.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Judge Sanchez recommends that the Motion be denied without prejudice as moot. ... Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss Counts 3-8 of Astonbluwaves LLC's Counterclaim (DE 16) is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE AS MOOT.”
“the undersigned RESPECTFULLY RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment or Motion for Trial, ECF No. 8, be DENIED.”
“On September 19, 2024, Judge Sanchez issued a report, recommending that the Plaintiff's motion be granted in full. ... The Court grants the Plaintiff's Motion for Entry of Final Default Judgment (ECF No. 56). ... The Plaintiff is awarded statutory damages of $200,000 against each Defendant listed in Modified Schedule A.”
“On September 17, 2024, Judge Sanchez issued a report, recommending that the Plaintiff's motion be granted in full. ... The Plaintiff is awarded statutory damages of $100,000 against each Defendant listed in Schedule A.”
Sanchez's own R&R recommended sua sponte dismissal without prejudice of a pro se prisoner's complaint under the 28 U.S.C. 1915(g) three-strikes rule. Because the plaintiff had at least three prior cases dismissed for failure to state a claim, he could not proceed in forma pauperis and was required under Dupree v. Palmer to prepay the full filing fee. The in forma pauperis motion itself was denied in a contemporaneous order.
“Plaintiffs' Verified Motion to Determine Reasonable Fees, ECF No. 25, be GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART, and that Plaintiffs be awarded attorneys' fees in the amount of $46,526.55.”
“For the foregoing reasons, it is RESPECTFULLY RECOMMENDED that Plaintiffs' Motion for Entry of Default Final Judgment, ECF No. 35, be GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Entry of Final Default Judgment Against Defendants, ECF No. 67, be GRANTED with respect to Defendants as set forth above; ... Plaintiff be awarded statutory damages of $100,000.00 against each Defendant pursuant to the Lanham Act, rather than the requested $200,000.00 against each Defendant.”
“the undersigned RESPECTFULLY RECOMMENDS that the Defendant’s Motion to Sanction Opposing Counsel and Mrs. Yelany de Verona-Fitzgerald, ECF No. 150, be DENIED.”
“the undersigned RESPECTFULLY RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff’s Motion to Reopen Case, ECF No. 14, be DENIED”
“the undersigned RESPECTFULLY RECOMMENDS that Petitioner’s Motion for Final Default Judgment, ECF No. 21, be GRANTED”
“Plaintiff’s Motion for Final Default Judgment, ECF No. 10, and Plaintiff’s Motion for Final Default Judgment, ECF No. 12, be DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
All reviewed cases are pending direct or magistrate-duty assignments, so this sample does not yet support terminated-case durations or disposition figures.
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 |
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 Southern District of Florida, not for Judge Sanchez: 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 | 8,196 | 3.4 months |
| Closed with no court action | 848 | 3 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 7,287 | 3.5 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 16 | 10.1 months |
| Closed during trial | 45 | 17.1 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 8,196 | 3.4 months |
| Sep 2024 | 7,755 | 3.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 20,408 | 0 months |
| Sep 2022 | 8,287 | 3.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 8,536 | 3.2 months |
| Sep 2020 | 8,657 | 3.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 9,471 | 3.7 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 Sanchez with the record in hand
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