Jeffrey T. Gilbert
How Judge Gilbert rules, drawn from 13 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Gilbert
Jeffrey T. Gilbert joined the federal bench as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois in May 2010. He earned his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law and clerked for District Judge Marvin E. Aspen. Before his appointment, he spent twenty-eight years in private practice, specializing in securities litigation.
Judge Gilbert's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Gilbert, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- Case Procedures ↗
- Standing Order for Settlement Conference ↗
- Standing Order for Initial Status Report ↗
Key rules
Motions
Bind and index the courtesy compendium with a separate tab for each document.
“The courtesy copy of the compendium must be securely bound, must separately tab each document, and must contain an index identifying what document is contained under each tab.”
Motions
For a discovery dispute, present a joint motion with each issue, each party’s position, and a proposed compromise.
“The joint motion must set out each issue in a separate section and include in that section each party’s position (with appropriate legal authority) and proposed compromise.”
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 8, 2026).
How Judge Gilbert decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Tyronda B. v. Saul, Gilbert remanded the benefits denial because the work-capacity assessment did not adequately account for the claimant's credited limits in concentration, persistence, and pace.
“This matter is remanded to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings consistent with this Memorandum Opinion and Order.”
In Robert R., the court required the administrative law judge to address limitations found by agency reviewers or explain why those limits were omitted from the work-capacity finding.
“When limitations opined to by the State agency experts are not”
In Patrick W., the court examined whether the reviewing consultant had considered the treating doctors’ opinions and whether the consultant’s specialty supported the disputed physical work assessment.
“Dr. Smith’s failure to consider or discuss the opinions of Claimant’s treating physicians”
In Kajuan M. v. Bisignano, Gilbert remanded because the administrative law judge had not explained why a documented left-eye vision impairment produced no limitation in the claimant’s work-capacity finding.
“The ALJ did not provide any explanation for why he did not include any limitations related to Claimant’s vision impairment in the RFC.”
Procedural preferences
In the Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, Gilbert denied Bojangles' request to compel a nonparty deposition because the request needed a subpoena, came too late under the schedule, and was disproportionate at that stage.
“For all these reasons, Bojangles' Restaurants, Inc. and Bojangles OPCO, LLC's Motion to Compel 30(b)(6) Deposition of Cheney ... is denied.”
In Trujillo v. American Bar Association, he granted much of a discovery motion after rejecting most of the plaintiff's blanket objections, while preserving limited privilege protection.
“Defendants' Second Motion to Compel Discovery Responses [55] is granted in large part and denied in some part.”
Cautions
In Power Buying Dealers USA, Inc. v. Juul Labs, Inc., he denied a protective order against a CPA subpoena because the asserted accountant-client privilege did not apply in that federal-question case.
“For the reasons discussed in this Order, Plaintiff's Motion for Protective Order ... [199] is denied.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Accordingly, the Motion to Modify the Default Protective Order is denied.”
“Defendants' Second Motion to Compel Discovery Responses [55] is granted in large part and denied in some part.”
“Claimant's Motion for Summary Judgment is granted... The decision of the Commissioner is reversed, and the case is remanded...”
“This matter is remanded to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings consistent with this Memorandum Opinion and Order.”
“For all these reasons, Bojangles' Restaurants, Inc. and Bojangles OPCO, LLC's Motion to Compel 30(b)(6) Deposition of Cheney ... is denied.”
“Claimant's Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 15] is denied and the Commissioner's Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 19] is granted.”
“For the reasons discussed in this Order, Plaintiff's Motion for Protective Order ... [199] is denied.”
“Claimant's Brief in Support of Reversing the Decision of the Commissioner of Social Security ... is denied, and the Commissioner's Motion for Summary Judgment ... is granted.”
“Claimant's Motion to Reverse the Decision of the Commissioner of Social Security seeking remand [ECF No. 18] is granted, and the Commissioner's Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 26] is denied. This matter is remanded to the Social Security Administration for proceedings consistent with this Memorandum Opinion and Order.”
“Court grants Claimant’s Brief in Support of Reversing the Decision of the Commissioner of Social Security [ECF No. 14] and denies the Commissioner’s Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 17].”
“the Court grants Claimant’s request to reverse the Commissioner’s decision [ECF No. 16].”
“the Court reverses the Commissioner’s decision and remands this case for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion and Order.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- A substantial share of Judge Gilbert's reviewed dispositive work consists of Social Security appeals that the parties consented to have him decide under 28 U.S.C. 636(c), including final judgments on cross-motions for summary judgment.
- He also handles referred civil discovery in cases assigned to district judges, including motions to compel and disputes over protective orders in patent and antitrust matters.
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 | 2 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 12 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 1 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 2 | 1 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 3 | 2 |
| Sep 2022 | 1 | 1 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| 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 Illinois, not for Judge Gilbert: 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 | 12,205 | 5.9 months |
| Closed with no court action | 4,300 | 7 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 7,558 | 5.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 305 | 12.6 months |
| Closed during trial | 42 | 49.5 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 12,205 | 5.9 months |
| Sep 2024 | 9,700 | 6.8 months |
| Sep 2023 | 7,093 | 6 months |
| Sep 2022 | 6,841 | 7.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 9,703 | 15.1 months |
| Sep 2020 | 8,046 | 10.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 8,134 | 7.4 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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