Mark Howard Cohen
How Judge Cohen rules, drawn from 19 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Cohen
Mark Howard Cohen is a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Cohen received a commission on November 20, 2014.
Judge Cohen's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Cohen, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Motions
Ask for a page-limit extension at least five days before the filing deadline.
“Parties seeking an extension of the page limit must do so by motion at least five (5) days in advance of the filing deadline”
Discovery
After conferring, email the courtroom deputy and copy opposing counsel before filing a discovery motion.
“the movant, after conferring with the respondent in a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute by agreement, must contact Ms. Enix by email, copying opposing counsel”
Discovery
Send a discovery-conference statement of no more than two pages when requested.
“the Court will request that each side submit a brief statement by email of no more than two pages setting forth the issues”
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 9, 2026).
How Judge Cohen decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Crystal Steel Fabricators v. AMEC, Cohen declined to dismiss a contract-to-negotiate claim because resolving disputed facts about the agreement required a later evidentiary record.
“resolving the issue at this stage would necessarily involve the resolution of disputed questions of fact, which is more appropriately addressed on summary judgment.”
For injunctive relief against an agency, demonstrated noncompliance with the agency's own mandatory procedures can establish likely success and the public interest.
“the public has an interest in government agencies being required to comply with their own written guidelines instead of engaging in arbitrary decision making”
In Solomon’s vehicle-search dispute, he relied on two officers’ testimony and body-camera footage to find that Solomon had not withdrawn consent when he asked to call a lawyer.
“However, both the credible testimony of Deputy Thompson and Sergeant Williams, along with Deputy Thompson's bodycam footage, reveal that Solomon never revoked his consent to search the vehicle.”
In Daniels’s warrant challenge, he declined a Franks hearing because the proposed omissions would not defeat probable cause even if included in the affidavit.
“Consequently, Daniels failed to make a substantial preliminary showing to require a Franks hearing, and his objection is OVERRULED.”
Procedural preferences
Reconsideration is not a vehicle for arguments that could have been raised in the original briefing.
“Mere citation to a case is not the equivalent of making a legal argument, especially in a situation where Defendants did not articulate this argument”
Cautions
In United States v. Pierre and Harris, he overruled Pierre's objections to a suppression recommendation after finding they copied arguments already made to the magistrate judge, and he denied the suppression motions.
“Rather than make specific objections to the R&R, Pierre copied verbatim the arguments he made to the Magistrate Judge following the evidentiary hearing.”
In Magbegor v. Triplette, Cohen excluded Dr. Langer’s medical-causation opinion because the plaintiff did not show that his method was reliable or that the opinion would help the jury.
“Plaintiff has not demonstrated by a preponderance of evidence that Dr. Langer employed a reliable methodology to reach his opinions and his opinion testimony would be helpful to a jury”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendant's Motions to Dismiss Plaintiffs Class Action Complaint [Docs. 14, 15] are DENIED as moot.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Amended Class Action Complaint [Doc. 21] is GRANTED. Plaintiffs Amended Class Action Complaint is DISMISSED with PREJUDICE [Doc. 18]”
“Defendant Pawsitive Solutions, Inc.'s Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 14], Defendant Petland, Inc.'s Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 15], and Defendants BKG Pets, Inc. and Pets BKG LLC's Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 16] are GRANTED IN PART as to Plaintiffs federal claims. The Court DECLINES to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff's state law claim, which is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Amended Class Action Complaint [Doc. 24] is GRANTED. The Clerk is DIRECTED to close this case.”
“the Court hereby (a) GRANTS final approval of the Settlement Agreement; (b) CERTIFIES the settlement class pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3) and (e)”
“approves the request of class counsel for a fee of $17,333,333.00, expenses of $175,000.00, and a service award of $20,000.00 to each of the class representatives”
“Defendants' Motion for Reconsideration [Doc. 51] and Motion for Certification and Stay Pending Appeal [Doc. 57] are DENIED.”
“the Court DENIES Defendants' Motion for Certification for Interlocutory Appeal.”
“Given the Court's denial of Defendants' Motion for Certification for Interlocutory Appeal, its Motion to Stay Pending Appeal [Doc. 57] is DENIED AS MOOT.”
“Defendants' Motion to Exclude the Opinion Testimony of Plaintiffs Designated Expert Phillip Langer, MD [Doc. 52] is GRANTED.”
“Defendant's AMEC Foster Wheeler Programs, Inc.'s Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 7] is DENIED.”
“Plaintiffs Emergency Motion For a Temporary Restraining Order and/or for a Preliminary Injunction [Doc. 14] is GRANTED IN PART”
“Defendant First Premier Bank's Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 65] is GRANTED. The Clerk is DIRECTED to close this case.”
“the Insperity Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint [Doc. 41] and Reliance's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint [Doc. 43] are GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”
“are DENIED AS MOOT.”
“Plaintiffs' Motion for Leave to File Second Notice of Supplemental Authority in Opposition to Motions to Dismiss [Doc. 63] and Plaintiffs' Consent Motion for Leave to File Third Notice of Supplemental Authority in Opposition to Motions to Dismiss [Doc. 64] are GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff Sebastian Cordoba's Motion for Class Certification [Doc. 63] and Defendant DIRECTV, LLC's Motion for Leave to Amend its Answer [Doc. 82] are GRANTED.”
“Plaintiffs Objection to the Expert Report of Dr. Debra J. Aron [Doc. 74] is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 110] is GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 79.5 days (N = 10).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 50 days (N = 11).
The sampled docket records span employment, consumer, insurance, contract, benefits, public-records, personal-injury, and prisoner matters.
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 | 8 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 8 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 9 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 8 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 8 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 6 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 8 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 11 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 12 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 11 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 13 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 7 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 6 |
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 Northern District of Georgia, not for Judge Cohen: 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 | 6,703 | 4 months |
| Closed with no court action | 640 | 3 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 4,138 | 1.6 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 1,901 | 11.6 months |
| Closed during trial | 24 | 31.4 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 6,703 | 4 months |
| Sep 2024 | 6,190 | 5.3 months |
| Sep 2023 | 8,614 | 13.7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 5,403 | 5.1 months |
| Sep 2021 | 4,908 | 6 months |
| Sep 2020 | 4,463 | 5.7 months |
| Sep 2019 | 4,954 | 6.2 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).
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