Kathleen Mary Williams
How Judge Williams rules, drawn from 32 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Williams
Kathleen Mary Williams is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Williams received a commission on August 4, 2011.
Judge Williams's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Williams, 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
Filing
Notices of unavailability and deposition notices will be stricken if filed on the docket.
“The Court will not accept notices of unavailability, notices of deposition, or other discovery documents or filings not contemplated by the Federal or Local Rules. If filed to the docket, these documents will be stricken.”
Conferences
Absent emergency, move for an extension at least 48 hours before the deadline.
“Absent an emergency, requests for extensions of time must be presented to the Court, by motion, no later than 48 hours prior to the deadline”
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 Williams decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Rodriguez Alvarado, Williams granted habeas relief after the detainee passed six months in custody, Cuba denied repatriation, and the government produced no concrete steps showing removal to another country was likely.
“Respondents have not provided any documentation or concrete steps indicating that they will be able to effectuate Mr. Rodriguez Alvarado’s removal.”
In Norwegian Cruise Line, Williams granted a preliminary injunction against Florida’s vaccine-documentation ban after finding likely constitutional violations and evidence that enforcement threatened substantial cruise revenue.
“Defendant has not rebutted NCLH’s assertion that absent an injunction, it is likely to suffer significant financial losses.”
Procedural preferences
In Nunez Del Pozo, Williams treated an immigration-detention habeas petition as premature because it was filed before the six-month presumptively reasonable detention period expired. She dismissed it without prejudice and allowed a later petition if detention continued.
“The Zadvydas period must have expired at the time he filed the Petition, and not at the time a habeas petition is ruled on by the Court.”
Cautions
In Shah, Williams allowed a race discrimination dispute to proceed in part but dismissed the separate emotional-distress theory under Florida law. The alleged treatment, even if true and repugnant, did not meet that tort’s demanding outrageousness requirement.
“While this alleged conduct, if true, is repugnant and may prove that that Defendant improperly discriminated against Plaintiffs based on their race, such actions do not constitute ‘outrageous conduct’ under Florida law.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (DE 94) is GRANTED and Plaintiff's Complaint (DE 1) is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Counter-Plaintiffs' Motion for Default Judgment (DE 95) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART ... GRANTED with respect to the request for default judgment ... [but] Counter-Plaintiffs Davutoglu's and Karcho's request for damages equal to $3,800,000.00 is DENIED.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (DE 15) is DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (DE 19) is GRANTED.”
“1. Defendants Marlow Hernandez's and Brian D. Koppy's Motion to Dismiss (DE 73) is GRANTED. 2. Plaintiff's Second Amended Class Action Complaint (DE 70) is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“2. Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (DE 40) is DENIED.”
“3. Defendants' Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (DE 46) is GRANTED.”
“3. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (DE 23) is DENIED AS MOOT.”
“2. Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (DE 48) is DENIED.”
“3. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (DE 54) is GRANTED.”
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that GEICO General Insurance Company's Motion for Summary Judgment (DE 29) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART as follows: 1. The Motion is denied with respect to GEICO's conduct on and before December 3, 2018. 2. The Motion is granted with respect to GEICO's conduct after December 3, 2018. 3. The Motion is denied with respect to GEICO's communications, or lack of, with Mr. Garcia Sr. and Mr. Garcia Jr.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction (DE 3) is GRANTED. Defendant is ENJOINED from enforcing Section 381.00316 against Plaintiffs pending resolution of the merits of this case.”
“2. Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction (DE 11) is GRANTED in favor of Plaintiff against Defendants listed in Plaintiff's Schedule ‘A’ (DE 8-1) as Defendants numbered 21 to 52, 55 to 57, and 58 to 63.”
“2. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (DE 200) is GRANTED.”
“2. Defendants' Motion (DE 152) is DENIED.”
“2. Plaintiff Dylan Letorney's Renewed Motion to Remand (DE 19) is GRANTED. 3. This case is REMANDED to the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 206 days (N = 15).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 14 days (N = 37).
The reviewed 2022-2023 matters include criminal cases and civil False Claims Act, employment, employee-benefits, and Social Security disputes. Civil dispositive motions are often referred to magistrate judges and later resolved through Judge Williams's adoption orders. This provides descriptive context rather than a caseload-wide rate.
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 | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2020 | 1 | 1 |
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 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, not for Judge Williams: 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 Williams with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Williams, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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