Phillip J. Green
How Judge Green rules, drawn from 33 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Green
Phillip J. Green joined the Western District of Michigan as a United States Magistrate Judge in August 2014. He previously served in the United States Navy and spent sixteen years in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan.
Judge Green's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Green'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 Green decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Williams v. Cline, Green recommended granting the defendants’ summary-judgment motion on the merits and, alternatively, because the prisoner did not respond and waived opposition.
“Because Plaintiff has failed to respond to Defendants' motion, the undersigned recommends, in the alternative, that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment be granted on the ground that Plaintiff has simply waived opposition thereto.”
In Powell v. Page, Green recommended denying a post-screening motion for judgment on the pleadings because it repeated disagreement with the screening analysis without identifying an error that would change the result.
“Defendant's motion merely expresses her disagreement with the Court's screening analysis without articulating any error the correction of which would result in a different outcome. To re-visit screening decisions in this manner constitutes a waste of this Court's limited time and resources.”
In Zambrano, Green recommended dismissal in part because the plaintiff sought review of state appellate orders that a federal district court could not undertake.
“To the extent Plaintiff attempts to have this Court review the state appellate court’s orders, such review is barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the undersigned recommends that Defendant's motion be granted and Plaintiff's remaining claim against Defendant Hadden be dismissed without prejudice for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.”
“the undersigned recommends that Defendants' motion for summary judgment be granted and this action terminated.”
“the undersigned recommends that Defendant's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (ECF No. 57) be denied.”
“For the reasons articulated herein, the undersigned recommends that Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 29) be granted in part and denied in part.”
“Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B), the undersigned recommends that Defendant Clark be dismissed and that this action be terminated.”
“the undersigned recommends that Defendants' motions for summary judgment (ECF No. 15, 23) be granted and Plaintiff's claims against be dismissed without prejudice for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.”
“the undersigned recommends that Defendant's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 71) be granted and Counts 1 and 6 be dismissed without prejudice for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.”
“the undersigned recommends that Plaintiff's Motion for Order Directing Michigan Department of Corrections to Provide Photocopy Loan (ECF No. 43) be denied.”
“the undersigned recommends that Defendant's motion to dismiss be granted and Plaintiff's remaining claims against Defendant Campfield be dismissed with prejudice.”
“the undersigned recommends that Defendant's motion for summary judgment be granted.”
“the undersigned recommends that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, (ECF No. 42), be granted.”
“Petitioner's habeas petition (ECF No. 1) is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
His directly-assigned 2019 docket (consent civil cases and Social Security appeals) includes Fair Labor Standards Act wage suits, Social Security disability appeals, a products-liability removal case, a trade-secrets case, and at least one felony criminal case in which he took a Rule 11 guilty plea.
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 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 2 | 1 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Sep 2020 | 1 | 3 |
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 Michigan, not for Judge Green: 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 | 1,042 | 7.6 months |
| Closed with no court action | 107 | 2.8 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 714 | 6.7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 217 | 14.2 months |
| Closed during trial | 4 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,042 | 7.6 months |
| Sep 2024 | 906 | 6.8 months |
| Sep 2023 | 847 | 6.1 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,033 | 6.2 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,081 | 9.1 months |
| Sep 2020 | 844 | 7.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 893 | 7.8 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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