James I. Cohn
How Judge Cohn rules, drawn from 13 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Cohn
James I. Cohn serves as a senior judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He received his commission on August 1, 2003, and assumed senior status on August 5, 2016.
Judge Cohn's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Cohn's own (checked October 21, 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 8, 2026).
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Sam’s West, Inc.’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Collateral Estoppel) [DE 149] is GRANTED in part;”
“The Motion to Vacate Sentence Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 [DE 1] is DENIED;”
“As there is no evidence that Petitioner sought or obtained an order from the Eleventh Circuit allowing the Court to adjudicate a successive petition, Judge Maynard further concludes that the Court lacks jurisdiction and must deny the Motion. Id. at 5. The Court agrees with Judge Maynard’s reasoning and analysis and will adopt the Report in full. ... Petitioner’s Amended Motion to Reopen Habeas Proceeding Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6) [DE 34] is DENIED.”
“Motion for Sanctions for Failure of the Defendants’ Insurance Representative to Appear at the Mediation [DE 71] is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.”
“Counter-Defendant Alfred Battle and the City of Fort Lauderdale’s Motion to Dismiss [DE 29] is hereby GRANTED in part, as explained above;”
“Counter-Plaintiffs’ Motion to Certify Class [DE 16] is hereby DENIED without prejudice until the filing of the Third Amended Counterclaim.”
“The City’s Motion to Enforce State Court Stay [DE 43] is hereby GRANTED”
“Counter-Plaintiffs’ Motion to Amend Scheduling Order [DE 71] is hereby GRANTED”
“Counter-Plaintiffs’ Motion to Strike a Portion of Reply [DE 70] is hereby DENIED;”
“Counter-Plaintiffs’ Motion to Allow Interim Discovery [DE 84] is hereby DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Motion to Vacate Final Judgment Awarding Costs and Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Verified Bill of Costs [DE 310] is GRANTED.”
“Defendant’s Motion for Award of Prejudgment Interest [DE 314] is *1347 GRANTED.”
“Defendant’s Motion to Amend its Second Affirmative Defense to Counts I and II of Plaintiffs Complaint [DE 317] is DENIED.”
“Defendants’ Renewed Motion to Dismiss [DE 48] is DENIED.”
“First Fashion’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction [DE 2] is GRANTED.”
“Defendant Watches of Switzerland Group USA, Inc.'s Motion to Determine the Case in Two Phases [DE 21] is DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Count II of Plaintiff's Complaint [DE 7] is DENIED”
“Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint [DE 27] is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part”
“ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Plaintiff’s Motion to Reconsider and Report Regarding the Status of the Case [DE 61], and Plaintiff’s Motion to Reopen Case [DE 62] are DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 1 days (N = 25).
The selected cases include criminal, employment, consumer-credit and other civil matters. This targeted set does not establish his full caseload mix.
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 | 1 |
| 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 Southern District of Florida, not for Judge Cohn: 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).
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