Leigh Martin May

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta Division) Appointed by Barack Obama (Democratic) 5 signed orders read

How Judge May decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Procedural preferences

On unopposed Magistrate Judge Reports & Recommendations she states the governing standard explicitly: with no objections filed, she reviews only for clear error under 28 U.S.C. 636(b)(1) / Rule 72 rather than de novo.

“No objections have been filed in response to the Report and Recommendation. Therefore, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 636(b)(1) and Rule 72 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court has reviewed the Report and Recommendation for clear error. It finds none.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Ervin v. Atlanta Public Schools
1:24-cv-03060-LMM · 2026-02-24
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted in part

“Defendant's motion to dismiss the amended complaint, Dkt. No. [16], is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART; the federal claims are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE; and the state claim is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”

Wright v. McDay
1:23-cv-04358-LMM-CMS · 2026-03-17
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“Defendant Rhonda Billings's motion to dismiss, Dkt. No. [14], is GRANTED, and the claims asserted against Billings are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE under Rule 4(m) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”

Bryant v. United States (28 U.S.C. 2255)
4:20-cr-00019-LMM-JHR / 4:25-cv-00007-LMM · 2026-02-20
Motions to dismiss (respondent) Granted

“Respondent's motion to dismiss, Dkt. No. [91], is GRANTED”

Section 2255 motion (petitioner) Denied

“Petitioner's motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence under 28 U.S.C. 2255, Dkt. No. [89], is DENIED; ... and no certificate of appealability shall issue.”

Summary judgment (petitioner) Moot / procedural

“Petitioner's motions for summary judgment, Dkt. Nos. [103, 105], are DENIED AS MOOT;”

Summary judgment (petitioner) Moot / procedural
Motion for status update (petitioner) Moot / procedural

“Petitioner's motion for status update regarding his § 2255 motion, Dkt. No. [112], is DENIED AS MOOT.”

United States v. Kevin Laval Williams
1:21-cr-00362-LMM-LTW · 2022-12-22
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“the Court finds plain error in the Magistrate Judge's reasoning but concludes that she nevertheless reached the right result. ... Thus, the Bruen decision is not 'clearly on point.' Accordingly, the Court concludes that Rozier remains controlling precedent in this circuit. ... the Court ADOPTS the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation ... AS MODIFIED. Defendant Kevin Laval Williams's motion to dismiss the indictment, Dkt. No. [17], is DENIED.”

Braeden F. v. Commissioner, Social Security Administration
1:25-cv-00002-LMM · 2026-04-27
Social security appeal (plaintiff) Granted

“the decision of the Commissioner is REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings, pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). The Clerk is DIRECTED to enter judgment in Plaintiff's favor and CLOSE the case.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 273 days (N = 6).

Median motion-to-ruling time: 118 days (N = 3).

Mix from case-level docket records; most carry no administrative case-closure row (recent filings). Two False Claims Act qui tam cases and recurring ADA accessibility suits feature in the docket.

Put Judge May's record to work

Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge May actually rules, not a generic AI guess.

Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge May's own signed orders and cites them.