Steven Daniel Grimberg
How Judge Grimberg rules, drawn from 21 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Grimberg
Steven Daniel Grimberg is a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Grimberg received a commission on September 13, 2019.
Judge Grimberg's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Grimberg, 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
Do not file successive summary judgment motions without prior permission, subject to the order’s stated exceptions.
“The filing of piecemeal or successive motions for summary judgment by a single party is prohibited, absent prior permission.”
Discovery
Confer in good faith before bringing a discovery dispute to the judge; a written message alone usually does not satisfy conferral.
“You must confer with the opposing party in good faith before bringing discovery disputes to my attention. The duty to confer is not satisfied by simply sending a written document”
Discovery
Do not file contested discovery motions against another party; email chambers a position statement and request a conference.
“The filing of discovery-related motions against a party to the litigation (except for unopposed, consent, or joint motions) is prohibited.”
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 Grimberg decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Terry v. Equifax, Grimberg adopted a recommendation to dismiss an FCRA accuracy claim because the account entry, read as a whole, showed no current payment obligation despite a historical scheduled-payment amount.
“Viewing the relevant entry in its entirety, it is clear that there is no ongoing obligation for payment; the inclusion of a payment amount under ‘scheduled payment amount’ objectively does not cause confusion or create an inaccuracy.”
In Sanders v. Elmington Property Management, he applied Tennessee's renewal statute to a refiled slip-and-fall case and allowed the plaintiffs to amend their complaint, citing the states' policy favoring decisions on the merits.
“Given the strong public policy in both Tennessee and Georgia favoring disposition of a case on its merits, the Court finds it is appropriate to apply Tennessee's renewal statute and allow Plaintiffs leave to amend their Renewal Complaint.”
In Richardson v. David, Grimberg found the defendants’ short filing delays excusable and permitted late motions to dismiss that raised qualified and sovereign immunity, citing the interest in resolving those questions early in that case.
“Because the Court finds that Defendants’ late responses to the complaint were due to excusable neglect, and in the interest of seeking to resolve the question of Defendants’ immunity at the earliest possible stage in this litigation, Defendants’ motions to set aside default—construed as motions for leave to file out-of-time motions to dismiss—are GRANTED as amended.”
In an age discrimination case, the court required evidence that the decision maker considered the plaintiff’s age and that the employer’s stated reasons covered intentional discrimination; disagreement with those reasons did not suffice.
“She has not presented evidence that the reasons were a cover for intentional discrimination—that she was terminated because of her age.”
Procedural preferences
In Richardson’s case, he denied a default-judgment motion because the plaintiff had not first obtained the clerk’s entry of default.
“Richardson has not complied with step one of Rule 55(a) by filing a motion for the Clerk’s entry of default.”
In Paez, Grimberg denied leave to amend when the proposed amended complaint still failed to state a claim, then dismissed the original complaint with prejudice for the same reasons.
“Because the amendment as proposed would be futile, Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to file an amended complaint is DENIED.”
His standing order automatically stays discovery during a pending motion to dismiss. In one case he denied a separate request for the same stay as moot.
“The Court’s Standing Order automatically stays all discovery matters when a motion to dismiss is pending.”
In Hamilton, he applied the court’s 25-page limit to objections to a magistrate report and considered only the first 25 pages after the plaintiff filed an overlength brief without seeking leave.
“Accordingly, undersigned will only consider the first 25 pages of her objections.”
Cautions
In United States v. Norton, he denied compassionate release after finding that the defendant's substantial medical problems were manageable in custody and did not substantially impair her ability to care for herself.
“while her current medical problems are numerous and substantial, they are no longer extraordinary and compelling; they will not substantially diminish her ability to provide self-care within a custodial setting.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The partial motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by Defendants City of Duluth, Vegter, and Bustamente [ECF 17] is DENIED.”
“Lucas's first motion for partial summary judgment [ECF 21] is DENIED as premature. Lucas is GRANTED LEAVE to file a renewed motion for summary judgment within 30 days of this Order.”
“The Rule 12(b)(5) motion to dismiss filed by Defendants Hunter, Rodriguez, and Lee-Foon [ECF 29] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Defendants Hunter and Rodriguez are DISMISSED as defendants in this case.”
“Defendant City of Atlanta Police Department's motion to set aside default [ECF 9] is GRANTED as amended. Defendant Rontarin David's motion to set aside default [ECF 11] is GRANTED as amended.”
“Since Richardson did not file a motion for entry of default by the Clerk, his motion for default judgment is at best premature, and therefore DENIED.”
“APD is a governmental entity, and this case is based on federal question jurisdiction, so APD is not required to file a disclosure statement. Accordingly, Richardson's motion for contempt is DENIED.”
“the Motion to Amend [ECF 26] is GRANTED, and the Motion to Dismiss [ECF 29] is DENIED.”
“Because the Court grants the Motion to Amend, the Motion to Dismiss is denied as moot. Even if Defendants' motion were not moot, it would still be denied.”
“The District's motion for summary judgment [ECF 49] is DENIED as to Byrd's Title VII retaliation claim, and GRANTED as to his remaining claims.”
“Publix's motion to exclude the Yorks' expert [ECF 37] is GRANTED, and its motion for summary judgment [ECF 38] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”
“its motion for summary judgment [ECF 38] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The Yorks' negligence and loss of consortium claims shall proceed to trial.”
“SunTrust's motions for summary judgment [ECF 42; ECF 43] are GRANTED. The Clerk is DIRECTED to enter judgment in favor of SunTrust and close the case.”
“Because the third amended complaint is subject to dismissal for the same reasons as the second amended complaint, Garrison’s motion to dismiss [ECF 25] is GRANTED. Allen’s third amended complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Hart’s motion to set aside dismissal [ECF 18] is DENIED.”
“Hart’s motion for extension of time to file objections [ECF 16] is GRANTED nunc pro tunc, and therefore undersigned deems Hart’s objections [ECF 17] timely filed.”
“Hart’s motion for appointment of counsel [ECF 22] is DENIED.”
“Hart’s application to appeal in forma pauperis [ECF 24] is DENIED.”
“Hart’s motion for relief from prepayment of fees [ECF 25] is DENIED as moot.”
“The R&R [ECF 196] is ADOPTED as the order of the Court, and Norwood’s 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to vacate [ECF 181] is DENIED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“The Government’s motion to dismiss [ECF 186] is GRANTED.”
“Defendant’s motion to suppress evidence [ECF 22] is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s motion to suppress statements [ECF 23] is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s motion to dismiss indictment on speedy trial grounds [ECF 28] is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s motion to dismiss indictment [ECF 29], as amended [ECF 30], is DENIED.”
“Daker’s motions for a temporary restraining order and to expedite proceedings are DENIED AS MOOT in light of this Court’s Orders of July 14, September 15, and September 22, 2025.”
“Daker’s motion to correct dockets is GRANTED.”
“Finally, Daker’s motion for a copy of the Magistrate Judge’s October 27, 2025 Report and Recommendation (the R&R) and to expand the time to file objections thereto [ECF 360] is GRANTED.”
“Defendants’ motions to dismiss [ECFs 35, 36] are GRANTED. Richardson’s complaint is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Richardson may file, within 30 days of this Order, an amended complaint seeking to cure the deficiencies described herein.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 94 days (N = 8).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 167 days (N = 3).
Mix from case-level docket records (filed June 2023) plus the cases behind the published orders; most carry no nature-of-suit string and no administrative case-closure row (recent filings). General civil docket with consumer credit-reporting, wage-and-hour, prisoner, and civil-rights police-misconduct matters prominent.
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 | 1 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2022 | 4 | 4 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 1 |
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 (Atlanta Division), not for Judge Grimberg: 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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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Grimberg, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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