William McCrary Ray II
How Judge Ray rules, drawn from 19 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Ray
William McCrary Ray, II is a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Ray received a commission on October 25, 2018.
Judge Ray's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Ray, 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
Filing
Attach a proposed order to every consent, unopposed, or joint motion.
“For all consent, unopposed, or joint motions, the filing party shall include therewith a proposed order granting the motion.”
Motions
File at most one motion to dismiss without leave, except after an amended complaint.
“Without seeking leave of court, no party may file more than one motion to dismiss, except in the case where a plaintiff has filed an amended complaint.”
Discovery
After conferring, contact the courtroom deputy before filing a discovery motion.
“Prior to filing a discovery motion, the movant-after conferring with the respondent in a good faith effort to resolve the dispute by agreement-should contact Ms. Lundy”
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 Ray decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a securities fraud class action, he certified the proposed class after finding that the defendants’ objections to individualized damages did not defeat Rule 23 predominance.
“Defendants’ damages criticisms do not defeat the predominance requirement of Rule 23(b)(3).”
Procedural preferences
In a grand jury subpoena dispute, he unsealed the docket after finding its existing filings disclosed no secret aspect of the grand jury investigation.
“Nothing currently filed in this case reveals any secret aspect of the grand jury investigation”
Cautions
In the same subpoena dispute, he quashed a request for election workers’ personal information after weighing the limited investigative need against the burden of disclosure.
“Given the low need for the subpoenaed information and the highly burdensome nature of the disclosure of the same, the Subpoena is unreasonable and must be quashed pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 17(a)(2).”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendant's motion to dismiss [Doc. 51] is DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Indictment Under the Second Amendment [Doc. 58] is DENIED.”
“Roman's motion to vacate (Doc. 56) is GRANTED as to his ineffective assistance of counsel claims and DISMISSED as untimely and procedurally defaulted as to his claim that his guilty plea was not knowing and voluntary.”
“Sec.2255 Motion to Vacate [Doc. 33] is hereby DISMISSED as time barred pursuant to Rule 4(b) of the Rules Governing Sec. 2255 cases and a certificate of appealability is DENIED.”
“Plaintiffs' motion for class certification and appointment of Class Representatives and Class Counsel is GRANTED.”
“Defendant's Motion to Suppress Statements [Doc. 26] ... [is] DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion to Suppress Evidence [Doc. 27] ... [is] DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion to Suppress Search and Seizure [Doc. 28] [is] DENIED.”
“the 28 U.S.C. § 2255 Motion [32] is DENIED and no certificate of appealability should be issued.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Indictment [Doc. 15] is DENIED.”
“Lacking sufficient evidence to prove discriminatory purpose or intent, Defendant's equal protection claim fails, and his Motion to Dismiss is denied.”
“Motion to Suppress [Doc. 25] ... [is] DENIED.”
“Motion to Suppress Pole Camera Surveillance [Doc. 29] [is] DENIED.”
“Motion for Kastigar Hearing [Doc. 28] ... [is] DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 [Doc. 107] is DENIED.”
“Movant Julio Martinez-Guzman's § 2255 Motion [Doc. 127] is DENIED.”
“the Defendant's Motion to Suppress Tangible Evidence and Statements [Doc. 15] is DENIED.”
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 | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 6 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 11 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 13 |
| Sep 2022 | 1 | 8 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 2 |
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 Ray: 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 Ray, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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