Colin H. Lindsay
How Judge Lindsay rules, drawn from 6 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Lindsay
Colin H. Lindsay has served as a United States magistrate judge in the Western District of Kentucky since January 2015. A graduate of West Virginia University and Emory University School of Law, he practiced commercial litigation in Louisville before joining the bench.
Judge Lindsay's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Lindsay's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
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 Lindsay decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Schnatter v. 247 Group, Lindsay granted the motion to compel in part and denied it in part. He required a more detailed privilege log for the subpoenaed investigation materials before deciding further disclosure.
“DN 99 is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
After granting a continuance, the court warned that any further schedule extension would face close scrutiny.
“Further extensions of this schedule are highly unlikely and future requests for an extension will be closely scrutinized.”
On a request to keep exhibits sealed, he assessed the proposed redactions individually, protecting private information irrelevant to the pending motion while leaving relevant material available.
“Here, the Court finds that the proposed redactions are narrowly tailored.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“DN 99 is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“Plaintiff's Motion to Compel (DN 36) is GRANTED IN PART.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel (DN 70) is GRANTED IN PART. Defendant shall again send the requested salary analysis documents for Plaintiff’s previously held positions beginning with the year 2017. The motion is denied in all other respects.”
“The Motion to Compel filed by Defendant (DN 34) is GRANTED in part.”
“The Motion to Supplement filed by Defendant (DN 37) is GRANTED in part.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel (DN 69) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as set forth herein.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion to Modify Briefing Schedule (DN 73) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as moot.”
“The Motions to Withdraw (DNs 85, 88) are GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as moot as set forth herein.”
“Defendants’ Motion for Leave to File Surreply (DN 91) is DENIED.”
“Defendants’ Motion to Continue (DN 92) is GRANTED.”
“Defendants’ Motion for Leave to Seal Documents (DN 162) is DENIED AS MOOT.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion (DN 167) is GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Small sample of dockets naming Colin H. Lindsay as assigned judge (his own consent-jurisdiction docket, where parties agreed under 28 U.S.C. 636(c) to have him decide the case to final judgment), drawn from his first two years on the bench. Both sampled cases are Social Security disability appeals.
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 | 1 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| 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 United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, not for Judge Lindsay: 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 | 931 | 7.9 months |
| Closed with no court action | 121 | 3.7 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 790 | 8.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 17 | 27.1 months |
| Closed during trial | 3 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 931 | 7.9 months |
| Sep 2024 | 966 | 9.9 months |
| Sep 2023 | 835 | 9.6 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,130 | 11.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,065 | 10.2 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,184 | 8.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,111 | 8.6 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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