Robert Nichols Scola Jr.
How Judge Scola rules, drawn from 19 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Scola no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Scola
Robert Nichols Scola, Jr. served as a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Appointed by President Barack Obama, he received his commission on October 20, 2011, assumed senior status on November 1, 2023, and later retired.
How Judge Scola decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Sound Around v. Hialeah Last Mile Fund VII, Scola found good cause to reconsider a dismissal with prejudice and allowed Sound Around to file a second amended complaint.
“Finding good cause to allow Sound Around to file a second amended complaint, the Court grants its motion for reconsideration of HLM's dismissal with prejudice. (ECF No. 42.) Sound Around may file a second amended complaint no later than October 14, 2022.”
Procedural preferences
In Sound Around v. Hialeah Last Mile Fund VII, Scola denied the defendants' motion to strike evidence supporting summary judgment. He explained that their evidentiary objections belonged in a reply and that the challenged declaration did not meet the sham-affidavit standard.
“for the reasons stated above, the Court denies the Defendants' motion to strike or, alternatively, disregard evidence filed in support of the Plaintiff Sound Around, Inc.'s motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 86.)”
Cautions
In Hind v. FxWinning, he granted a temporary discovery stay under the PSLRA while motions to dismiss were pending, describing the statutory stay as mandatory and automatic in that case.
“For the above reasons, the Court grants the CFT Defendants' motion for temporary stay of discovery pursuant to the PSLRA, acknowledging that a mandatory and automatic stay of discovery is currently in place. The stay shall remain in effect until all pending motions to dismiss are resolved.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“after application of the abstraction-filtration-comparison test, the Court holds-at this stage in the litigation-that Morford has adequately alleged that Cattelan's Comedian has a substantial similarity to the protected elements of Banana & Orange. For the reasons set out above, the Court denies the Defendant's motion to dismiss. (ECF No. 49.)”
“The Court affirms and adopts Judge Goodman's report and recommendation. (ECF No. 39.) The Court grants the Defendant's motion to set aside default (ECF No. 31) and sets aside the Clerk's default entered in this case (ECF No. 19).”
“As set forth above, the Court denies Blanco's motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 45.)”
“for the reasons stated above, the Court denies the Defendants' motion to strike or, alternatively, disregard evidence filed in support of the Plaintiff Sound Around, Inc.'s motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 86.)”
“Finding good cause to allow Sound Around to file a second amended complaint, the Court grants its motion for reconsideration of HLM's dismissal with prejudice. (ECF No. 42.) Sound Around may file a second amended complaint no later than October 14, 2022.”
“For the reasons stated above, the Court grants in part and denies in part the CFT Defendants' and the FX Defendants' motions to dismiss the amended complaint (ECF Nos. 64, 66). ... Count 1: Dismissed; ... Count 9: Dismissed; ... Count 11: Remains intact.”
“For the above reasons, the Court grants the CFT Defendants' motion for temporary stay of discovery pursuant to the PSLRA, acknowledging that a mandatory and automatic stay of discovery is currently in place. The stay shall remain in effect until all pending motions to dismiss are resolved.”
“For these reasons, the Court grants the Plaintiffs' motion. (ECF No. 33.) The Plaintiffs may serve the summonses, amended complaint, and all other filings and discovery in this matter upon Defendant Roman Cardenas by the methods identified in the Motion.”
“the Court denies Vilenchik’s motion for relief under Rule 60(b) (ECF No. 232). This denial is without prejudice as to Vilenchik’s claims regarding the Marshal’s refund to the Marina of $637.50.”
“the Court grants the School Board’s motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 93) and finds that the entire case has been mooted by the School Board’s enactment of Policy 1930. Therefore, the case is dismissed without prejudice.”
“denies as moot Stevens’s motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 79)”
“Having reviewed the motion, the record, and the relevant legal authorities, the Court denies without prejudice the Defendant’s motion (ECF No. 45).”
“Cervera’s motion to compel arbitration and to dismiss is granted. (ECF No. 8.) The parties shall mediate and arbitrate this matter consistent with the parties’ Agreement. Plaintiff’s complaint is dismissed without prejudice.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 47 days (N = 9).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 128 days (N = 1).
- The reviewed 2020-2025 matters show that, after taking senior status, Judge Scola's 2025 docket was weighted toward Federal Tort Claims Act cases, post-conviction petitions, and criminal matters, many of which ended quickly through administrative or screening dispositions.
- A smaller civil group includes copyright, securities, Helms-Burton Act, and wage-and-hour cases.
- This provides descriptive context rather than a caseload-wide rate.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Scola was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2025.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 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.
A historical record
Judge Scola no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.