Gregory Howard Woods III
How Judge Woods rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Woods
Gregory Howard Woods, III is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Woods received a commission on November 18, 2013.
Judge Woods's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Woods, 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.
- Appearance Sheet Template ↗
- Civil Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order ↗
- FLSA Mediation Referral Order ↗
- Form of Protective Order ↗
- Individual Rules of Practice In Civil Cases ↗
- Individual Rules of Practice in Criminal Cases ↗
- Speedy Trial Exclusion Order ↗
Key rules
Filing
At reply service, the movant must send two marked courtesy copies of all motion papers.
“B. Courtesy Copies. At the time the reply is served, the movant must mail or hand-deliver to the Court two courtesy copies of all motion papers, marked as such and which include the automatically-generated ECF header at the top of each page. Courtesy copies should”
Motions
Pre-motion submissions are required for the listed dismissal, judgment, arbitration, class, sanctions, amendment, discovery, and remand motions.
“E. Pre-Motion Conferences. Pre-motion submissions are required for motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment, motions for judgment on the pleadings, motions to compel arbitration, motions to certify collective or class actions, motions for sanctions, motions to amend a complaint or answer, motions concerning discovery, and motions to remand to state court. Pre-motion submissions do not stay any future deadlines, except that a pre-motion”
Discovery
Request a discovery pre-motion conference with one jointly composed letter of no more than five pages.
“ii. To request a pre-motion conference concerning discovery, counsel must submit a single, jointly composed letter describing their discovery dispute(s). Letters submitted pursuant to this section must comply with the procedures set forth above in Rule 1(A), except that letters under this section must be no longer than 5 pages total, excluding exhibits. Strict adherence to Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(1)’s ‘meet and confer’”
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).
- Amended Standing Order on Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- Second Amended Standing Order on Civil Case Opening ↗
- Amended Standing Order on Miscellaneous Civil Case Opening ↗
- Standing Order on Applications to File a Civil Case Under Seal ↗
- Standing Order on Emergency Relief and Section 2255 Filing Procedures ↗
- Notice on Immigration Custody Habeas Petitions and Emergency Relief ↗
How Judge Woods decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Lloyd's excessive-force case, he denied the officers' summary-judgment motion on those claims because the circumstances of the arrest and handcuffing remained disputed.
“Because there are disputed issues of fact regarding the circumstances of her arrest and the officers' handcuffing of Plaintiff, the officers' motion for summary judgment for her claims of excessive force are denied.”
Procedural preferences
In No Hero Enterprises, he denied AXA's motion to dismiss an insurance claim because the policy's definition of loss did not clearly override New York's default rule for the limitations period.
“Because the language of the policy is not clear enough to avoid long-established principles of interpretation under New York law, the Court denies AXA's motion to dismiss.”
Cautions
In Gersbacher v. City of New York, he denied a Rule 12(b)(6) motion against an Occupy Wall Street protester’s civil-rights complaint. He evaluated the alleged arrest, force, and medical-care claims at the pleading stage and declined to convert the motion into one for summary judgment before discovery.
“The City of New York (‘the City’), Police Officers Gonzalez and Alan Ramirez, and Police Deputy Inspector Edward Winski (together ‘Defendants’), move to dismiss Gersbacher's complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). For the reasons that follow, Defendants' motion is DENIED.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Because there are disputed issues of fact regarding the circumstances of her arrest and the officers' handcuffing of Plaintiff, the officers' motion for summary judgment for her claims of excessive force are denied.”
“Ms. Lloyd's constitutional claims related to deliberate indifference to her medical needs, however, are dismissed, principally because the officers offered her treatment after her arrest which she declined.”
“Because the language of the policy is not clear enough to avoid long-established principles of interpretation under New York law, the Court denies AXA's motion to dismiss.”
“Chase now moves for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. For the following reasons, Chase's motion is granted.”
“Accordingly, Defendants' motion is GRANTED, and Plaintiffs motion is DENIED.”
“Both Plaintiff and the appearing Defendants have filed motions for partial summary judgment on the issue of successorship liability ... Accordingly, Defendants' motion is GRANTED, and Plaintiffs motion is DENIED.”
“The City of New York (‘the City’), Police Officers Gonzalez and Alan Ramirez, and Police Deputy Inspector Edward Winski (together ‘Defendants’), move to dismiss Gersbacher's complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). For the reasons that follow, Defendants' motion is DENIED.”
“Because a reasonable jury could conclude that Mr. Yorzinski's ejection from the stadium was not an order by the attendant also to leave the privately owned portion of the sidewalk outside, and because there is a genuine dispute regarding whether the police later ordered Mr. Yorzinski to leave that portion of the sidewalk prior to his arrest, Defendants' motion for summary judgment is denied.”
“the City’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED”
“GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“Because Counts II through VIII of the complaint are expressly preempted by ERISA, and, therefore, cannot be saved by amendment, they are dismissed with prejudice. Dr. Chau is not left without recourse, however. She may pursue the claim pleaded in Count I of the complaint under the statutory scheme established by Congress in ERISA. The Clerk of Court is directed to remove the names of all defendants other than Hartford from the caption of this action, and to terminate the *574motions pending at Dkt. Nos. 42, 64, and 68.”
“the DOJ’s motion for summary judgment (Dkt. No. 62) is GRANTED.”
“Defendants’ motion to sever the claims brought by Elyse Dickerson and transfer venue of those claims to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth Division) is GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff RCC Ventures, LLC’s motion for reconsideration is DENIED, and this action is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for failure to serve Defendant Brandtone Holdings Limited in a manner permitted under the Federal Rules.”
“Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s claims in the First Amended Complaint is GRANTED”
“Plaintiff’s motion to amend the complaint is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Duration sample drawn from 19 civil cases filed in a single window (January-February 2016) and since terminated; durations are filed-minus-terminated. The mix below is that window, not a tenure-wide caseload.
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 | 1 |
| 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 | 12 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 1 | 12 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 14 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 14 |
| Sep 2024 | 2 | 13 |
| Mar 2024 | 9 | 16 |
| Sep 2023 | 24 | 18 |
| Mar 2023 | 6 | 18 |
| Sep 2022 | 5 | 20 |
| Mar 2022 | 2 | 16 |
| Sep 2021 | 10 | 10 |
| Mar 2021 | 7 | 8 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 5 |
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 Southern District of New York, not for Judge Woods: 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 | 9,565 | 5.6 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,749 | 3.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 6,416 | 5.1 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 1,313 | 14.1 months |
| Closed during trial | 87 | 51.7 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 9,565 | 5.6 months |
| Sep 2024 | 10,695 | 6.4 months |
| Sep 2023 | 10,316 | 5.6 months |
| Sep 2022 | 11,818 | 6.1 months |
| Sep 2021 | 10,662 | 5.7 months |
| Sep 2020 | 10,118 | 6.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 11,357 | 6.6 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).
Draft for Judge Woods with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Woods, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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