Rodolfo Armando Ruiz II
How Judge Ruiz rules, drawn from 26 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Ruiz
Rodolfo Armando Ruiz, II is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Ruiz received a commission on May 3, 2019.
Judge Ruiz's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Ruiz, 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
Unless ordered otherwise, motions, responses, and replies must be double-spaced in twelve-point Times New Roman.
“Unless otherwise specified by the Court, every motion, response, and reply shall be double-spaced in Times New Roman 12-point typeface.”
Motions
Counsel must appear in person for substantive-motion hearings; seek remote appearance by motion at least one day beforehand.
“Counsel for each party shall appear in person for hearings on all substantive motions. Counsel may request to appear by telephone or video teleconference platform by Motion at least one (1) day before the scheduled hearing.”
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 Ruiz decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Williams v. Miami-Dade County, Ruiz denied the county's sovereign-immunity summary-judgment motion because the deputy's disputed intent presented a factual question for the jury.
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendant's Motion, [ECF No. 43], is DENIED. Defendant shall file an answer to Plaintiff's Amended Complaint, [ECF No. 39], within fourteen (14) days of the date of this Order.”
Procedural preferences
In Smit v. Papazian, he dismissed an asylum-adjudication delay suit without prejudice after the agency approved the application, mooting the requested relief. He also cited the plaintiff's failure to respond to the dismissal motion.
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, [ECF No. 7], is GRANTED. ... Plaintiff's Complaint, [ECF No. 1] is DISMISSED without prejudice.”
In Taylor v. Service Corporation International, he stayed general discovery while a jurisdictional and facial motion to dismiss remained pending in a putative class action.
“Defendants' Renewed Motion to Stay Discovery [ECF No. 59] is GRANTED. General discovery is STAYED until this Court issues an order on Defendants' Joint Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 56-3].”
In one insurance coverage dispute with parallel state proceedings, Ruiz abstained after finding that the state court could handle the connected claims and parties together.
“judicial economy nonetheless favors keeping the Underlying Action and the State Action before the same judge in the same court”
Cautions
In Ener v. Martin, Ruiz invoked the fugitive-disentitlement doctrine after the plaintiff flouted other courts' orders and dismissed the complaint with prejudice.
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 6] is GRANTED. The Complaint is DISMISSED with prejudice. All pending Motions are DENIED AS MOOT.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 6] is GRANTED. The Complaint is DISMISSED with prejudice. All pending Motions are DENIED AS MOOT.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, [ECF No. 7], is GRANTED. ... Plaintiff's Complaint, [ECF No. 1] is DISMISSED without prejudice.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 17] is DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 18] is GRANTED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendant's Motion, [ECF No. 43], is DENIED. Defendant shall file an answer to Plaintiff's Amended Complaint, [ECF No. 39], within fourteen (14) days of the date of this Order.”
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss, [ECF No. 148], is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Count VIII of Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint ... alleging common law fraud as to Defendants Stingray and Mood Media is DISMISSED without prejudice and with leave to refile.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Default Final Judgment against Defendants, [ECF No. 28], is hereby GRANTED ... The Court finds that Prime does not owe any coverage obligations under commercial auto insurance policy number PC22101360 for any claims arising out of the Subject Accident.”
“Defendants' Renewed Motion to Stay Discovery [ECF No. 59] is GRANTED. General discovery is STAYED until this Court issues an order on Defendants' Joint Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 56-3].”
“Plaintiff's Motion [ECF No. 89] is GRANTED. The Clerk is instructed to transfer this case to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida and mark this case as CLOSED in this District.”
“ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Defendant's Motion, [ECF No. 11], is GRANTED and Plaintiff's attempted service on Defendant, [ECF No. 7], is QUASHED.”
“Appellee's Motion to Dismiss First Appeal, [ECF No. 5], and Motion to Dismiss Second Appeal, [ECF No. 25], are GRANTED.”
“it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Defendants' MTD is GRANTED due to Plaintiff's failure to exhaust his administrative remedies.”
“ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Motion, [ECF No. 27], is GRANTED as set forth herein.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 35 days (N = 4).
The reviewed 2020-2023 matters are weighted toward criminal and disability-access cases. Many of the consumer and insurance civil matters ended quickly through settlement or voluntary dismissal. 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 | 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 | 0 |
| 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 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, not for Judge Ruiz: 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 Ruiz with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Ruiz, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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