Melissa Jean Damian
How Judge Damian rules, drawn from 31 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Damian
Melissa Damian is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Judge Damian received a commission on March 4, 2024.
Judge Damian's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Damian, 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
Contacting chambers
Copy all counsel and self-represented parties on correspondence to chambers unless the court permits otherwise.
“All parties and counsel are admonished that absent permission from the Court, any correspondence to chambers shall be copied to all counsel of record and/or parties proceeding pro se.”
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 Damian decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Pena v. Wells Fargo Bank, Damian granted a motion to compel arbitration and stayed the court case while arbitration proceeded.
“Defendant's Motion to Compel Arbitration and Stay All Court Proceedings [ECF No. 45] is GRANTED. ... The parties are ORDERED to submit this dispute to arbitration. ... This matter is STAYED pending the completion of arbitration.”
Cautions
A post-removal detention challenge filed before six months have elapsed is premature unless the petitioner can also show no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future. Active efforts to identify another receiving country cut against that showing.
“Petitioner filed the instant Petition on May 19, 2026, approximately forty days after his April 9, 2026 final order of removal. ... Petitioner has failed to satisfy his initial burden under Zadvydas, and his challenge to his continued detention is premature.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Counts II, IV, and VI for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction [ECF No. 295] is DENIED.”
“Defendants' Joint Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 13] is GRANTED. For the reasons stated in Judge Matthewman's Report, Plaintiff's Complaint [ECF No. 1] is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 12] is GRANTED IN PART ... The decision of the Commissioner is REVERSED, and this case is REMANDED to the Administrative Law Judge”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 19] is DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint for Quiet Title [ECF No. 20] is GRANTED. Plaintiff's Amended Complaint for Quiet Title [ECF No. 17] is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 8] is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. ... Plaintiff's Amended Complaint is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE and with leave to amend.”
“ORDER granting 26 Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment. ... For the reasons set forth below, this Court grants the Motion.”
“adopting Report and Recommendations re 99 Report and Recommendations on 58 Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Dawn International LTD. ... granting in part and denying in part 58 Motion for Summary Judgment”
“denying 60 Motion for Summary Judgment [filed by Jacob Fleishman Sales, Inc.]”
“Petitioner's Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus [ECF No. 4] is DISMISSED.”
“Petitioner's Emergency Motion [ECF No. 17] is DENIED.”
“The Verified Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus [ECF No. 1] is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE”
“ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Report [ECF No. 40] is AFFIRMED AND ADOPTED, Defendant Jones's Objections [ECF No. 50] are OVERRULED, and the Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 18] is DENIED.”
“ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint [ECF No. 80] is DENIED.”
“ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Plaintiff's Motion for Entry of Final Default Judgment [ECF No. 78] is GRANTED against those Defendants listed in the attached Schedule ‘A.’”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 121 days (N = 13).
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 |
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 Damian: 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 Damian with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Damian, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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