Roy Percy
How Judge Percy rules, drawn from 10 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Percy
Roy Percy has served as a United States magistrate judge for the Northern District of Mississippi since 2016. He sits in Oxford and earned his law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law.
Judge Percy's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Percy'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 Percy decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Hester v. Colvin, Percy found the benefits denial unsupported after the administrative law judge favored a nonexamining physician's prediction of the claimant's capacity after surgery over an examining physician's later assessment. He remanded solely to calculate benefits.
“It is clear that the findings of Dr. Jeffcoat, who did not examine the plaintiff, contradict those of Dr. Morris, who did examine the plaintiff.”
Procedural preferences
In Holman v. Colvin, Percy remanded a benefits denial because the administrative law judge discounted a VA disability determination without obtaining the medical examination and rating decision on which it relied.
“the ALJ should have requested copies of the evidence upon which the VA expressly relied in reaching its decision.”
In Melton v. Commissioner of Social Security, he reversed and remanded because treatment notes and two treating-source assessments raised a substantial question about disabling neuropathy, making a physical consultative examination necessary.
“a physical CE was necessary to enable the ALJ to determine the severity of the plaintiff's residual neuropathy”
In one employment case, he denied a request for a Rule 26(f) conference after the requesting party declined two offers to hold one; he found a further conference would not aid discovery already underway.
“The court finds that a discovery planning conference is unlikely to be of benefit to the parties or the court in this case.”
Cautions
In Shells v. Colvin, he affirmed the benefits denial after finding that the treating physician's stated pain limitations conflicted with her own clinical notes and that the ALJ's residual-capacity finding had substantial support in the record.
“Conflicts in the evidence are for the Commissioner to decide, and if there is substantial evidence to support the decision, it must be affirmed even if there is evidence on the other side.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The court finds the evidence is conclusive that the plaintiff is disabled, and that an award of benefits at this stage would be in the best interests of the plaintiff's health and welfare... This case is remanded for the sole purpose of determining the amount of benefits to be awarded.”
“Because the ALJ's decision was supported by substantial evidence, the Court affirms the decision of the Commissioner.”
“The Commissioner's denial of benefits will be remanded for additional review in accordance with this opinion.”
“the court finds the Commissioner's decision is supported by substantial evidence, and it is AFFIRMED.”
“the Commissioner's decision is REVERSED and REMANDED for a rehearing of the plaintiff's application under the fourth sentence of § 405(g).”
“the undersigned finds that the Commissioner's decision is supported by substantial evidence, and it is AFFIRMED.”
“the court finds the Commissioner's decision is supported by substantial evidence, and it is AFFIRMED.”
“Ozark Motor Lines, Inc.'s Partial Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED, and the plaintiff's claims against the individual defendant, Mario Jones, are hereby DISMISSED without prejudice.”
“For these reasons, the plaintiff’s motion is DENIED.”
“DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The consent-jurisdiction cases reviewed here were Social Security disability appeals, each resolved by a final Memorandum Opinion and Judgment under the parties' 636(c) consent. As a magistrate judge, he also handles case management, discovery, and settlement conferences in matters assigned to the district judges; those referral matters are outside this record's current coverage.
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 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| 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 Percy: 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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