Christopher L. Ray
How Judge Ray rules, drawn from 12 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Ray
Christopher L. Ray has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Georgia in Savannah since January 2019. Before taking the bench, he served in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps and practiced civil litigation at Oliver Maner LLP. He earned degrees from Princeton University and Fordham University School of Law.
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.
- Standard Procedures for Discovery Disputes and Settlement Conferences in Civil Cases ↗
- Motion for an Informal Discovery Dispute Conference ↗
- Settlement Conference Worksheet ↗
- Standard Procedures on Warrant Applications ↗
Key rules
Filing
For Ray warrant applications, send supporting documents by 4:30 p.m. on the preceding business day absent extraordinary circumstances.
“Federal law enforcement agents and the U.S. Attorney’s Office—absent truly extraordinary circumstances—must submit all documentation in support of the application by no later than 4:30 pm on the preceding business day.”
Discovery
Before filing a covered civil discovery motion, seek permission through an informal discovery conference.
“Before filing a discovery motion, a party must first receive permission from the Court following an informal discovery dispute video conference.”
Discovery
Submit letter briefs at least 24 hours before the informal discovery conference.
“b. At least 24 hours before the conference, the parties shall submit letter briefs,”
Discovery
If the conference does not resolve the dispute, file the discovery motion within ten days.
“to resolve their dispute, they shall have ten days to file a discovery motion”
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 medical-malpractice case where the parties had consented to his full authority, Ray excluded two of the plaintiff's expert witnesses from testifying about the applicable standard of care after the defense challenged their qualifications, rather than letting a jury sort out the dispute.
“ORDER granting Defendant Gregory T. Peters, M.D.'s 87 Motion to Exclude Drs. Steve Braunstein and Aaron Pederson's Opinions on Standard of Care.”
In Brown v. Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, Ray recommended dismissing a time-barred prison medical-care claim and transferring the remaining claims to the district where they arose.
“the Court RECOMMENDS that plaintiff's claim related to inadequate medical care—specifically, the denial of his use of a cane—while at Georgia State Prison be DISMISSED and that the remaining claims be TRANSFERRED to the Middle District of Georgia.”
Found personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state tele-radiologist who obtained a Georgia license, repeatedly interpreted scans for Georgia facilities, and sent the disputed report into the state for use in patient care.
“Peters purposefully availed himself of the privileges of practicing medicine in this state; he is now subject to suit here.”
Procedural preferences
In Robbins v. Commissioner of Social Security, Ray granted the Commissioner's motion to remand the benefits appeal.
“ORDER granting Defendant's 23 Motion to Remand this case to the Commissioner of Social Security.”
In McElroy’s case, Ray recommended dismissal of the amended complaint without prejudice and without further leave to amend.
“REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS dismissing without prejudice and without leave to amend re 8 Amended Complaint filed by Todd McElroy.”
Cautions
In Doyle’s case, Ray dismissed the complaint after finding that the poverty allegation was untrue and the plaintiff had failed to obey a court order and prosecute the case.
“ORDER dismissing Plaintiff's 1 Complaint due to the allegation of poverty was untrue, his failure to obey a court order, and failed to prosecute his case.”
In Kinloch, Ray denied the plaintiff's motion to appoint counsel while directing him to show cause through a written submission.
“ORDER denying 9 Motion to Appoint Counsel; denying as moot 13 Motion for Response; and denying 15 Motion for Copy of Local Rules.”
In a consent Social Security appeal, Ray reduced an unopposed fee request when counsel provided no explanation of the billed hours and no support for a higher paralegal rate.
“all that is provided is a conclusory assertion”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court RECOMMENDS that plaintiff's claim related to inadequate medical care—specifically, the denial of his use of a cane—while at Georgia State Prison be DISMISSED and that the remaining claims be TRANSFERRED to the Middle District of Georgia.”
“This Court may exercise personal jurisdiction over Defendant Peters under the Georgia Long-Arm Statute, O.C.G.A. § 9-10-91, and the exercise of that jurisdiction does not offend his due process. Therefore, his Motion to Dismiss is DENIED. Doc. 26.”
“For the foregoing reasons, to the extent Dr. Peters seeks to exclude Dr. Braunstein and Dr. Pederson’s opinions that Dr. Peters breached the standard of care, the motion is GRANTED. Doc. 87. To the extent it seeks to exclude their opinions about the conspicuity and general observability of the lesion, it is GRANTED. Doc. 87.”
“The Commissioner’s final decision is supported by substantial evidence in the record. For the reasons articulated above, the final decision of the Commissioner is AFFIRMED.”
“Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act is GRANTED. Doc. 23.”
“original Motion is DISMISSED AS MOOT. Doc. 21.”
“is GRANTED, in part, and DENIED, in part. Doc. 25.”
“Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss should be GRANTED. Doc. 29.”
“Defendant’s Motions to Strike are DENIED. Docs. 35 & 40.”
“United States of America’s Motion to Exclude the Testimony of Plaintiff’s Expert Mark N. Callender, Ph.D., is DENIED. Doc. 230.”
“the Testimony of Plaintiff’s Expert Charles Pereira is GRANTED.”
“United States of America’s Motion to Exclude the Testimony of Plaintiff’s Expert Matthew Robinson is GRANTED, in part, and DENIED, in part. Doc. 232.”
“the Court GRANTS the Motion, doc. 17, and REVERSES and REMANDS the final decision of the Commissioner pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) for further action consistent with this Order.”
“the Motion for Attorney Fees and Costs Under the Equal Access to Justice Act is GRANTED. Doc. 20.”
“Plaintiff’s request for sanctions under Rule 26(g), Rule 37(c), and the Court’s inherent powers is DENIED. Doc. 99.”
“Plaintiff’s Consent Motion to Amend Plaintiff’s Response to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED. Doc. 132.”
“Barron’s Motion to Compel is GRANTED, in part, and DENIED, in part. Doc. 71.”
“Freedom Marine’s Motion for Protective Order is DENIED. Doc. 68.”
“Barron’s Motion for a Protective Order is GRANTED. Doc. 69.”
“Barron’s Consent Motion for Leave to File Consolidated Brief is GRANTED. Doc. 70.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 41 days (N = 8).
- Ray is the referral magistrate for most civil and criminal cases assigned to Chief/District Judge R.
- Stan Baker in the Savannah Division: Rule 26(f) scheduling, discovery disputes, and non-dispositive motions are almost always his, and dispositive motions in prisoner, pro se, and habeas cases typically reach the district judge only after Ray issues a report and recommendation.
- His own directly-assigned docket, mostly by consent under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), is dominated by Social Security disability appeals, with occasional full civil cases (including at least one medical-malpractice suit) the parties designate him to preside over from filing to judgment.
- He also handles duty-magistrate criminal matters, initial appearances, arraignments, detention determinations, and pretrial scheduling, on cases later tried before the district judge.
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 U.S. District Court for the Southern 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 | 558 | 7.6 months |
| Closed with no court action | 29 | 5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 523 | 7.7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 2 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 4 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 558 | 7.6 months |
| Sep 2024 | 565 | 6.8 months |
| Sep 2023 | 563 | 7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 551 | 10.6 months |
| Sep 2021 | 532 | 8.9 months |
| Sep 2020 | 526 | 8.9 months |
| Sep 2019 | 533 | 8.8 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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