James E. Grimes Jr.
How Judge Grimes rules, drawn from 56 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Grimes
James E. Grimes Jr. has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Ohio since September 12, 2022. He earned a law degree from Ohio State University in 1995. Before his appointment, he served as a Navy judge advocate, a Justice Department attorney, and an administrative law judge at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Judge Grimes's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Grimes, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- Mediation Scheduling Order ↗
- Rule 56 Procedure in consent cases ↗
- Social Security Initial Order ↗
- Report of Parties' Planning Meeting Blank Form ↗
- Standing Order in Civil Consent Cases ↗
- Civil Trial Order ↗
Key rules
Motions
Before moving for summary judgment in a consent case, the movant must confer with the opponent and prepare stipulated facts.
“Before moving for summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, the movant must confer with that party’s opponent and prepare a joint statement of stipulated facts.”
Motions
The movant's statement of material facts may contain at most 80 numbered paragraphs.
“A movant’s 1.1(b) statement of material facts must not exceed 80 numbered paragraphs.”
Motions
A defendant must answer the complaint even if it files or plans to file a Rule 12 motion.
“Defendants must file an answer to the complaint regardless of whether the Defendant has filed or plans to file a motion under Rule 12.”
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 Grimes decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a Social Security appeal, Grimes held that the ALJ need not separately articulate an evaluation of each discrete finding in Ogren's two medical opinions.
“The ALJ wasn’t required to articulate her evaluation of each discrete finding in Ogren’s two opinions.”
In Myers, Grimes took the ALJ’s stated restriction against moving machinery at face value and required the Commissioner to reconcile that restriction with the occupation’s exposure to moving mechanical parts. He also identified a misunderstanding of the vocational expert’s job totals.
“This Court takes the ALJ’s words at face value: the ALJ found that Myers cannot be exposed to moving machinery, Tr. 15, 56, and the striping machine tender job requires exposure to moving mechanical parts. So Myers has shown that the ALJ’s finding—that Myers can perform this job—is not supported by substantial evidence.”
In a Social Security appeal, Grimes held that the ALJ erred under Earley by treating a prior residual functional capacity finding as binding on a new application.
“Under Earley, ‘each application is entitled to review.’ 893 F.3d at 933. Yet the ALJ in this case announced from the start that under Drummond, he was ‘bound’ by the previous RFC determination. Tr. 17. That was error.”
In Green, normal examinations and modest daily activities did not justify discounting fibromyalgia symptoms. Grimes required an explanation tailored to the condition and the actual extent of the claimant’s activities.
“Moreover, both the ALJ and the Commissioner here have mischaracterized Green’s testimony regarding the scope of his daily activities.”
Procedural preferences
In the Myers v. Commissioner report and recommendation, Grimes instructed parties to file objections with the clerk within 14 days of service.
“Any objections to this Report and Recommendation must be filed with the Clerk of Court within 14 days after the party objecting has been served with a copy of this Report and Recommendation.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons explained above, I affirm the Commissioner’s decision.”
“For the reasons explained above, I recommend that the Court affirm the Commissioner’s decision.”
“For the reasons explained above, I recommend that the Court remand the Commissioner’s decision.”
“For the reasons explained above, I recommend that the District Court reverse the Commissioner’s decision and remand for further proceedings consistent with this Report and Recommendation.”
“For the reasons explained above, I recommend that the Commissioner’s decision be affirmed.”
“For the reasons explained above, I recommend that the Commissioner’s decision be affirmed.”
“For the reasons explained above, I recommend that the Court affirm the Commissioner’s decision.”
“For the reasons explained above, I recommend that the Court affirm the Commissioner’s decision.”
Grimes recommended dismissal without prejudice for failure to prosecute after counsel missed the merits-brief deadline and did not respond to the show-cause order. This court-initiated recommendation is retained outside motion statistics.
“For the reasons explained above, I recommend that the Court remand the Commissioner’s decision.”
“For the reasons explained above, I recommend that the Commissioner’s decision be affirmed.”
“For the reasons explained above, I recommend that the Court affirm the Commissioner’s decision.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- The reviewed matters show three principal parts of Judge Grimes's work in the Cleveland-based Eastern Division: referred civil matters, predominantly Social Security appeals; consent civil cases in which he enters final judgment under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c); and duty-magistrate criminal matters, including complaints and search or seizure warrants.
- Judges Nugent, Pearson, Knepp, Adams, and Boyko appear among the district judges who referred matters to him or reviewed his recommendations.
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 |
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 Ohio (Eastern Division, Cleveland), not for Judge Grimes: 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 | 2,048 | 7.1 months |
| Closed with no court action | 394 | 3.3 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 1,035 | 5.9 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 607 | 11.4 months |
| Closed during trial | 12 | 18 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,048 | 7.1 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,008 | 7.4 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,137 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,330 | 9.8 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,432 | 9.3 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,788 | 10.3 months |
| Sep 2019 | 3,158 | 9.9 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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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Grimes, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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