R. Stan Baker
How Judge Baker rules, drawn from 14 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Baker
R. Stan Baker is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Baker received a commission on August 30, 2018.
Judge Baker's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Baker, 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.
- Judge Baker Standing Order ↗
- Rule 26 General Instruction Order ↗
- Judge Baker Civil Trial Instructions ↗
- Procedures for Electronic Filing of Presentence Reports and Sentencing Documents ↗
- Rule 26(f) Report Form ↗
- Status Report Form ↗
- Trial Preparation Report Form ↗
- Trial Preparation Scheduling Order ↗
- Proposed Pretrial Order Form ↗
- Statement Regarding Assignment of Case to a U.S. Magistrate Judge ↗
- Witness List Form ↗
- Deposition Designations Form ↗
- Exhibit List Form ↗
- Certification of Exhibits Form ↗
- Defendant’s Statement Regarding Hearing by Electronic Means ↗
- Instructions and Procedures for Hearings by Electronic Means ↗
Key rules
Contacting chambers
A request for any relief, including an extension, must be filed as a motion rather than emailed to chambers.
“A party seeking any form of relief from the Court must file a motion on the record and shall not request relief via email or other communication to Judge Baker’s Chambers.”
Contacting chambers
Include all counsel of record on communications with Baker’s courtroom deputy.
“3) When contacting Judge Baker’s CRDC, counsel must include all counsel of record”
Filing
Email proposed orders in Word format to the division’s proposed-orders address, copying Baker’s courtroom deputy.
“When submitting a proposed order, counsel must email it in Microsoft Word format to the appropriate proposed orders divisional email with a copy to Judge Baker’s CRDC.”
Filing
In Baker criminal cases, counsel must file presentence report responses through CM/ECF.
“Counsel for the United States and the defendant MUST each file a response to the initial presentence investigation report in CM/ECF”
Motions
In civil cases, request relief by a motion that states both the relief sought and its basis.
“A party seeking relief or action from the Court shall file a motion clearly stating the relief or action sought and the supporting basis.”
Trial
In Baker civil trials, each party must file a witness list by the deadline set in its trial preparation scheduling order.
“By the deadline set forth in the Trial Preparation Scheduling Order and in addition to the parties’ requirements contained in the proposed pretrial order, each party shall file a list of witnesses they intend to call or may call at trial.”
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 Baker decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On cross motions for summary judgment in a harassment case, the judge separated the surviving hostile-work-environment claim from the disparate-treatment and retaliation theories rather than treating the case as a single package, letting only the claim with real evidentiary support go to a jury.
“The Court finds that Plaintiff has presented sufficient evidence for her Title VII sexual harassment hostile work environment claim against TMS to survive summary judgment.”
In one Federal Tort Claims Act case involving a servicemember injured in a vehicle collision, the judge kept the servicemember’s claim alive because the government had not shown that the injury was incident to military service.
“Defendant has failed to establish that the collision arose out of or occurred in the course of activity incident to Mr. Lee's military service.”
Procedural preferences
Facing a pro se plaintiff's third failed attempt to amend a complaint, the judge treated repeated, unremedied pleading failures as grounds to deny further leave to amend rather than allow indefinite re-pleading.
“McElroy has thrice proved unable to muster a cognizable federal claim.”
In one reconsideration ruling following a standing dismissal, the judge declined to reopen the case when the plaintiff offered no new evidence or legal basis for changing the result.
“Absent a legal basis or evidence to support revisiting previously-decided issues”
Cautions
In an aviation negligence case, the judge required competent evidence that a proposed alternate airport could have prevented the crash. Speculative possibilities about where the aircraft might have reached did not establish a triable factual dispute on causation.
“Plaintiffs and ADG/Huff have thus failed to produce evidence sufficient to support a finding that it is more likely than not that the accident was caused by Controller Thomas’s actions.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court DENIES summary judgment on these claims. (Docs. 22.) However, the Court GRANTS TMS's Motion for Summary Judgment on Plaintiff's remaining claims, (doc. 22), and GRANTS Local 188's Motion for Summary Judgment in its entirety, (doc. 25), as Plaintiff has not provided sufficient evidence to create a jury issue on these claims.”
“the Court OVERRULES Plaintiff's Objections and ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation as the opinion of the Court. Consequently, the Court DISMISSES WITHOUT PREJUDICE Plaintiff's Complaint, and DIRECTS the Clerk of Court to CLOSE this case.”
“Since Johnson lacks standing to challenge the defendants action, his Complaint must be DISMISSED for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. His Motion for Summary Judgment, therefore, is DENIED as moot (51).”
“The 16 Motion to Dismiss is granted and Plaintiff's Complaint is dismissed without prejudice.”
“Petitioner's 1 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus is dismissed and Petitioner is denied in forma pauperis status on appeal.”
“ORDER granting 34 Motion to Dismiss and dismissing the Indictment without prejudice as to Willie Puskas (1).”
“the Court GRANTS the City’s Motion for Summary Judgment,”
“and DENIES D&D’s Motion for Summary Judgment, (doc. 100).”
“Thus, the Court GRANTS the Government’s Motion for Summary Judgment. (Doc. 417.)”
“the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Defendant United States' Motion to Dismiss. (Doc. 10.)”
“the Court DENIES Plaintiff's Request for Oral Argument. (Doc. 18.)”
“the Court GRANTS Defendant Bahri's Motion for Summary Judgment. (Doc. 47.)”
“the Court GRANTS Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, (doc. 10), and GRANTS Defendants' Supplemental Motion for Summary Judgment, (doc. 65).”
“the Court DENIES as moot all other motions pending in this case.”
“the Court DENIES as moot both Hall’s Motion for Summary Judgment, (doc. 7), and Ally’s Cross Motion for Summary Judgment, (doc. 13).”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Baker's civil docket in the sampled window mixes a heavy volume of pro se prisoner civil-rights and habeas petitions with employment discrimination, FDCPA, contract/insurance, and Social Security cases.
- Several sampled cases resolved through stipulated settlement (voluntary dismissal with prejudice) before any dispositive motion was decided, so they are reflected here as caseload color but not counted in the motion stats.
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 | 6 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 6 | 5 |
| Sep 2025 | 1 | 4 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2024 | 2 | 2 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 5 |
| 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 Southern District of Georgia, not for Judge Baker: 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).
Draft for Judge Baker with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Baker, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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