Glen H. Davidson
How Judge Davidson rules, drawn from 17 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Davidson
Glen H. Davidson is a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Judge Davidson received a commission on October 17, 1985. Judge Davidson assumed senior status on June 1, 2007.
Judge Davidson's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Davidson'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 Davidson decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In an ERISA benefits suit, an uncontroverted affidavit showing the plaintiff had actually been paid his pension and was told to exhaust the plan's claims procedure outweighed the plaintiff's silence, once the court treated the motion as one for summary judgment.
“it is uncontroverted that Wilkes failed to exhaust the required appeal procedure. Wilkes has not responded to the present motion nor provided any evidence to show that the administrative claims procedure was pursued prior to bringing this suit.”
On a Hague Convention return petition, uncontested hearing testimony about where a child actually lived and attended school for years carried more weight than the respondent's belated paternity doubts or unproven claims about the petitioner's home life.
“it is undisputed that Respondent sent Petitioner money to cover basic needs for at least two years after Petitioner and DFB moved to Mexico.”
In McRaney v. North American Mission Board, Davidson declined to dismiss defamation and two interference claims at the pleading stage. He found the alleged false statement and resulting employment harm could be assessed without deciding religious doctrine or internal church governance; a separate interference claim was dismissed for lack of alleged loss.
“on the face of the complaint, the Court can adjudicate this claim without delving into impermissible religious inquiries”
Procedural preferences
In Little v. Synergies3 Tec Service, LLC, Davidson set aside a state court default judgment after removal. He found that the late response resulted from company reorganization and miscommunication, the plaintiff showed no sufficient prejudice, and the defendant had presented a potentially meritorious defense.
“the Defendant’s motion to set aside the state court entry of default and default judgment in the case sub judice should be granted”
In Russell v. Wal-Mart Stores East, Davidson denied a motion to exclude a treating physician who had been designated as a nonretained expert and deposed. He limited the physician's trial testimony to facts and opinions in treatment records produced during discovery.
“Dr. Hendrix’s testimony will, however, be limited to the facts and opinions contained in the treatment records that were produced during discovery.”
In Wilkes v. Cargill, Davidson denied relief from a judgment entered after the plaintiff missed the response deadline. The plaintiff's expectation of a hearing or scheduling order did not establish excusable neglect under Rule 60(b)(1), and the court found no extraordinary circumstance under Rule 60(b)(6).
“[g]ross carelessness, ignorance of the rules, or ignorance of the law are insufficient bases for 60(b)(1) relief.”
In Haas Outdoors, Inc. v. Dryshod International, LLC, Davidson found that Mississippi lacked personal jurisdiction over the Texas defendants. He transferred the case to the Western District of Texas, where jurisdiction and venue existed, because a transfer served the interest of justice.
“The Court finds that transfer to the Western District of Texas is in the interest of justice in the case.”
Cautions
In Larry James Oldsmobile-Pontiac-GMC Truck Co. v. General Motors Corp., Davidson found that defense counsel violated Mississippi Rule of Professional Conduct 4.2 by communicating with a represented class plaintiff about settlement without class counsel’s consent or legal authorization. He found bad faith and granted the sanctions motion.
“The court finds that counsel for GM violated Mississippi Rule of Professional Conduct 4.2 and did so in bad faith.”
In Hubbard v. Fair, Davidson dismissed a prisoner's civil rights case without prejudice for failure to prosecute. The plaintiff did not complete a scheduled Spears hearing and failed to answer a later order to show cause.
“the instant case is hereby DISMISSED without prejudice for Plaintiff's failure to prosecute and obey an order of the Court under Rule 41(b).”
In a contract and fraud dispute, Davidson denied the defense summary judgment requests because material factual questions still required trial.
“The Court finds genuine issues of material fact exist with respect to the Plaintiff's claims, and the Defendants are not, at this juncture, entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Respondent Kohn Law Group, Inc. shall pay coercive sanctions of $100 per day to this Court's registry from the date of this memorandum opinion and corresponding Order and Judgment until such time as this Court has entered an Order finding that Respondent Kohn Law Group, Inc. has purged itself of civil contempt.”
“Upon due consideration, the Court finds that the motion [279] is not well taken and should be denied.”
“(1) The verified petition for return of minor child [1] is GRANTED;”
“the motion for summary judgment based on Eleventh Amendment immunity [68] filed by McTeer and Bradley is GRANTED; all claims asserted against McTeer and Bradley in their official capacities are DISMISSED”
“The Court finds that the Petitioner has failed to meet his burden of proof, and accordingly that his conviction for honest services fraud should be sustained.”
“the plaintiffs' Motion for Order Declaring Void as Against Public Policy Provision Compelling Release of Class Claims and Compelling Specific Performance of Remainder of Agreement to Sell Dealership shall be denied.”
“Mr. Jess Dickinson shall be fined a total of $500.00 and shall pay that amount to the Clerk of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. As a sanction against the law firm of Page, Mannino, Peresich, Dickinson & McDermott, Class counsel shall be awarded their reasonable attorneys' fees”
“the plaintiffs' motion to add Rebel, Inc. as the class representative shall be held in abeyance pending reasonable discovery as to Rebel, Inc.'s adequacy.”
“the defendant's motion to dismiss without prejudice shall be denied at this time.”
“The class did not file the motion to strike until May 1, 1996 and has failed to explain why the court should consider such an untimely motion. As such, the motion shall be denied as untimely.”
“For that reason, Defendant's motion to transfer is granted”
“Defendant's motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and for lack of venue are denied.”
“Defendant Chase’s two Rule 12(b)(6) motions to dismiss, [27] and [41], shall be denied.”
“Plaintiffs motion to strike summary judgment evidence [82] is DENIED”
“Plaintiffs motion for an evidentiary hearing [85] is DENIED”
“Defendant’s motion for summary judgment [65] is GRANTED, as no genuine dispute of material fact remains on Plaintiffs claims and judgment as a matter of law is proper.”
“Upon due consideration, the Court finds that the motion should be granted in part and denied in part.”
“Upon due consideration, and for good cause shown, the Court finds that the motion should be GRANTED.”
“IT IS THEREFORE hereby ORDERED that the Defendant’s Motion [40] to Quash or Modify Subpoena is MOOT.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 115.5 days (N = 8).
- The sampled dockets spanned insurance and personal-injury removals, prisoner civil-rights and habeas petitions (largely referred to and resolved by magistrate judges), employment discrimination, ERISA benefits, federal land condemnation for the Tennessee Valley Authority, and interpleader actions.
- Several sampled cases ended in voluntary or agreed dismissal rather than a contested ruling, consistent with a civil docket where most cases resolve before judgment.
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 | 1 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| 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 U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, not for Judge Davidson: 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 | 563 | 7.3 months |
| Closed with no court action | 121 | 2.8 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 199 | 4.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 242 | 11.8 months |
| Closed during trial | 1 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 563 | 7.3 months |
| Sep 2024 | 734 | 5.5 months |
| Sep 2023 | 761 | 5.7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 640 | 10.8 months |
| Sep 2021 | 592 | 10.7 months |
| Sep 2020 | 633 | 9.3 months |
| Sep 2019 | 567 | 9 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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