William Matthewman
How Judge Matthewman rules, drawn from 16 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Matthewman no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Matthewman
William Matthewman served as a U.S. magistrate judge in the Southern District of Florida from 2012 until his retirement on July 31, 2026. He became the district’s chief magistrate judge in 2025. He earned a law degree from the University of Florida and previously served as a Miami-Dade police officer and practiced law at Holland & Knight.
How Judge Matthewman decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Bonomo v. United States, Matthewman recommended summary judgment for the government after finding that the taxpayers lacked sufficient proof of timely mailing for their Form 3520-A.
“Here, the only proof of delivery for Plaintiffs’ Form 3520-A is that the IRS received it on October 18, 2019.”
Procedural preferences
In Hamilton v. Shepard, he recommended vacating a default judgment as void and dismissing the claims without prejudice because the defendants had not been properly served under Rule 4.
“Defendants' Motion to Vacate Entry of Default Judgment [DE 51] should be GRANTED; ... the judgment is void due to the failure of Plaintiff to properly and legally effect service of process”
Cautions
In Losee v. Gebreyes, he recommended striking the defendants' pleadings and entering default after their willful, bad-faith violations of court orders; the district judge adopted that recommendation.
“Judge Matthewman recommends striking Defendants' Answer and Affirmative Defenses for their willful, bad faith violations of this Court's Orders. ... Defendants' Pleadings ... shall be STRICKEN FROM THE RECORD. ... The clerk SHALL ENTER default against the Defendants.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The Report recommends that (1) Plaintiff's Complaint be dismissed without prejudice, (2) Plaintiff's pleadings be stricken ... Magistrate Judge Matthewman's Report and Recommendation (DE 78) is ADOPTED.”
“Defendant's Motion for Bill of Costs [DE's 43/44] is GRANTED; ... Plaintiff is hereby ordered to pay Defendants their total costs in the amount of $402.00.”
“The Magistrate Judge recommends denying Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment ... Plaintiff's Amended Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 45] is DENIED.”
“and granting Defendant's motion for summary judgment ... Defendant's Cross Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 46] is GRANTED.”
“The Court agrees with the Magistrate's conclusion that the Motion for Attorney's Fees and Non-Taxable Costs [DE 92] sought by Defendants should be denied. ... Defendants' Motion for Attorney's Fees and Non-Taxable Costs [DE 92] is hereby DENIED.”
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss [DE 50] should be GRANTED for insufficient service of process and failure to state a cause of action; ... Plaintiff's Complaint [DE 1] should be DISMISSED without prejudice and Plaintiff granted leave to file an amended complaint”
“Defendants' Motion to Vacate Entry of Default Judgment [DE 51] should be GRANTED; ... the judgment is void due to the failure of Plaintiff to properly and legally effect service of process”
“To the extent Plaintiff's 'Motion to Object Order to Vacate and order to grant Summary Judgement' [DE 57] seeks relief, it should be DENIED without prejudice.”
“Plaintiff's Motion to Change Venue [DE 52] should be DENIED as moot.”
“Judge Matthewman recommends striking Defendants' Answer and Affirmative Defenses for their willful, bad faith violations of this Court's Orders. ... Defendants' Pleadings ... shall be STRICKEN FROM THE RECORD. ... The clerk SHALL ENTER default against the Defendants.”
“the Undersigned RECOMMENDS that the Motion be GRANTED and that the Complaint be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE IN PART AND STAYED IN PART.”
“In this particular case, the Motion should be denied. This, of course, should be without prejudice to Plaintiff renewing its arguments at the motion for summary judgment stage of the case.”
“the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge recommends that the United States District Judge DENY Petitioner's Petition [DE 1] and DENY a Certificate of Appealability.”
“the Court RECOMMENDS that the District Judge GRANT the Motion to Dismiss [DE 44] and DISMISS WITHOUT PREJUDICE Counts II and III and DENY AS MOOT the Motion for Reconsideration [DE 9].”
“Based on the foregoing, it is RECOMMENDED that Petitioner's Petition for a Writ of Error Coram Nobis [Cv-DE 1] be DENIED.”
“the Undersigned RECOMMENDS that the Motion be GRANTED and that the Complaint be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
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.
A historical record
Judge Matthewman 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.