Russell G. Vineyard
How Judge Vineyard rules, drawn from 13 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Vineyard
Russell G. Vineyard is a United States magistrate judge for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta. He joined the court in October 2006 and served as chief magistrate judge from 2022 until 2026.
Judge Vineyard's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Vineyard's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
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 Vineyard decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a speedy-trial dismissal dispute, he accounted for excluded periods attributable to defense continuance requests and required concrete prejudice under the Sixth Amendment framework.
“the government’s calculation of six non-excludable days appears to be correct and Adesayo has not shown otherwise”
In United States v. Envistacom, Vineyard recommended denying a motion to dismiss the conspiracy count as time-barred because two defendants had signed agreements tolling the limitations period.
“the Court finds that count one is not barred by the statute of limitations because Flores and Hayes entered into agreements that tolled the statute”
Procedural preferences
In United States v. Adesayo, the district judge adopted Vineyard's report and recommendation after reviewing objections and finding no clear error in the remaining portions.
“Finding no clear error in the remaining portions of the R&R, the Court APPROVES AND ADOPTS the R&R [Doc. 202] as the Opinion and Order of the Court.”
In Rector, Vineyard recommended summary judgment on federal employment claims but remand of remaining state claims after declining supplemental jurisdiction; the district judge adopted the recommendation.
“the District Court DECLINE to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Rector’s state law claims and remand those claims”
Cautions
In a removed civil action, Vineyard recommended dismissal because the complaint did not state specific counts. The district judge adopted the recommendation as modified and dismissed without prejudice.
“The Magistrate Judge recommended that the Complaint be dismissed as an impermissible shotgun pleading due to its vague and conclusory nature”
In Donald, Vineyard recommended granting the employer’s summary-judgment motion in full. The district judge adopted his ADA, Title VII, and Section 1981 analysis but rejected the recommended FMLA disposition, so the final motion was granted only in part.
“the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation, Dkt. No. [40], is ADOPTED IN PART AND REJECTED IN PART:”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard issued a Report and Recommendation recommending that Defendants' motion for summary judgment be granted in part and denied in part. ... the court ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge as the ORDER of this court. The court GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment [80].”
“Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard's Report and Recommendation ('R&R') [62], which recommends that Defendants' motions to suppress [30, 36, & 37] be denied. ... the Court finds that Judge Vineyard's factual and legal conclusions are entirely correct ... the Court ADOPTS AS ITS ORDER Judge Vineyard's R&R [62], DENIES Defendants' motions to suppress [30, 36, & 37]”
“the Final Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard, recommending that Petitioner's 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition and a certificate of appealability ('COA') be denied. ... it is ADOPTED as the opinion and order of the Court. ... this habeas petition [Doc. 1] is DENIED, this action is DISMISSED, and a COA shall not issue.”
“Judge Vineyard also recommended that the Plaintiff's Motion to Remand be denied ... IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion to Remand to State Court is DENIED.”
“the Complaint be dismissed because (i) the Complaint failed to comply with the notice pleading required under Rule 8 ... and (ii) the Complaint failed to state any federal or state law claim ... this action should be dismissed without prejudice to allow Plaintiff the opportunity to re-file a properly drafted complaint. ... IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss the Complaint is GRANTED.”
“it is RECOMMENDED that the motions to dismiss count one, [Docs. 80 & 81], be DENIED. ... the Court finds that count one is not barred by the statute of limitations because Flores and Hayes entered into agreements that tolled the statute as to the offense of conspiracy to defraud the United States”
“Carson's motion for a bill of particulars, [Doc. 47], is DENIED”
“Envistacom and Hayes' motions for a bill of particulars, [Docs. 30 & 46], are GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”
“the Court has carefully reviewed United States Chief Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard's Report & Recommendation [ECF 65] ... Following a de novo review, the Court ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation in its entirety. Defendant's motion to dismiss indictment [ECF 29], as amended [ECF 30], is DENIED.”
“it is RECOMMENDED that Gordon's motion to suppress, [Doc. 15], be DENIED”
Section 1915A screening of a pro se prisoner civil-rights complaint; recommended dismissed for failure to state a claim. No party motion ruled on.
Section 1915A screening of a pro se prisoner civil-rights complaint; recommended dismissed for failure to state a claim. No party motion ruled on.
“For the foregoing reasons, it is RECOMMENDED that Adesayo’s pending motions for speedy trial and to dismiss, [Docs. 173 & 187], be DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, it is RECOMMENDED that Adesayo’s motions to suppress, [Docs. 68, 69, & 81], be DENIED.”
“summary judgment, [Doc. 63], be GRANTED as to Rector’s federal claims and that the District Court DECLINE to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Rector’s state law claims”
“Rector’s motion for summary judgment, [Doc. 65], be DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 584 days (N = 9).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 59 days (N = 1).
- Judge Vineyard's directly assigned work includes criminal magistrate-duty matters, such as complaints, warrants, and initial appearances that often conclude within days, and Social Security appeals decided with the parties' consent.
- His broader work also includes recommendations on criminal suppression and dismissal motions and on civil dismissal and summary-judgment motions in cases assigned to district judges.
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 United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, not for Judge Vineyard: 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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