Reuben J. Sheperd
How Judge Sheperd rules, drawn from 16 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Sheperd
Reuben J. Sheperd has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Ohio since April 1, 2024. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Miami University in 1992 and a law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1995.
Judge Sheperd's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Sheperd, 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.
- Social Security Initial Order ↗
- Order Setting Mediation-Settlement Conference ↗
- Order Concerning Courtroom Participation by Newer Attorneys in Civil Cases ↗
- CMC Rule 26(F) Order ↗
Key rules
Conferences
Named parties and authorized entity representatives must attend the mediation or settlement conference with lead trial counsel.
“The conference must be attended by all named individual parties, as well as by an authorized representative of any named corporate, governmental, or other entity, together with lead trial counsel for each party.”
Conferences
Each party must send the magistrate judge a confidential settlement statement at least seven days before the conference.
“Each party must submit a confidential settlement statement to the Magistrate Judge no later than seven days prior to the mediation/settlement conference.”
Conferences
Counsel must identify attending client representatives and certify their full settlement authority in the confidential statement.
“counsel must identify the client representative(s) that will be attending and certify that the attending representative has full settlement authority.”
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 Sheperd decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Daniels v. CoreCivic, Sheperd recommended summary judgment for CoreCivic, Dr. Swanson, and Warden Fender on all of Daniels's claims. With no objections filed, the district judge adopted the recommendation in full and granted the motion.
“Magistrate Judge Sheperd correctly determined that, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a), Defendants are entitled to judgment as to all of Mr. Daniels' claims. The Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants, CoreCivic, Inc., Shannon Swanson, M.D., and Warden Douglas Fender (Docket #46) is hereby GRANTED.”
In Jones v. Commissioner of Social Security, Sheperd recommended vacatur and remand because substantial evidence did not support the administrative law judge's step-five finding. The district judge adopted that recommendation.
“The Report and Recommendation of Magistrate Judge Sheperd is, therefore, ADOPTED. The decision of the Commissioner denying Plaintiff's application for DIB is VACATED and the case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with the Report & Recommendation.”
In Sack v. Commissioner of Social Security, Sheperd recommended remand after finding that the administrative law judge had failed to evaluate Dr. Klimowicz's opinion about Sack's limits on focus, concentration, pace, and complex decisions.
“The failure to evaluate the medical opinion of Dr. Klimowicz, however, cannot so easily be excused. Dr. Klimowicz very specifically indicated that Sack lacked the capacity to perform activities requiring focus, concentration, pace and complex-decision making capacity necessary for a ‘high-level’ occupation such as her most recent job.”
Procedural preferences
In Tate v. Commissioner of Social Security, Sheperd recommended affirming the denial of disability benefits. Neither party objected, and the district judge adopted the recommendation and affirmed.
“the Court ADOPTS the Magistrate Judge's R&R, incorporates it fully herein by reference, and AFFIRMS the final decision of the Commissioner.”
In a later habeas petition challenging the same convictions, Judge Sheperd treated claims that were ripe during the first petition as successive and recommended transfer to the court of appeals for authorization. The recommendation did not decide the petition’s merits.
“Thus, I recommend that Respondent’s motion to transfer be granted.”
Cautions
In Gaines v. Commissioner of Social Security, Sheperd recommended affirmance after finding that the administrative law judge had used the record to translate a consultative examiner's vague findings into a vocationally relevant functional assessment.
“Here, the ALJ clearly evaluated the evidence in the record, and utilized it to convert the vague findings in the consultative examiner’s opinion into a vocationally relevant RFC.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Magistrate Judge Sheperd correctly determined that, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a), Defendants are entitled to judgment as to all of Mr. Daniels' claims. The Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants, CoreCivic, Inc., Shannon Swanson, M.D., and Warden Douglas Fender (Docket #46) is hereby GRANTED.”
“The Report and Recommendation of Magistrate Judge Sheperd is, therefore, ADOPTED, and the decision of the Commissioner denying Plaintiff's application for disability insurance benefits is AFFIRMED.”
“the Court ADOPTS the Magistrate Judge's R&R, incorporates it fully herein by reference, and AFFIRMS the final decision of the Commissioner.”
“This Court, having reviewed the Report and Recommendation and finding no clear error, accepts the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation. The Court hereby denies the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus for the reasons stated by the Magistrate Judge”
“The Report and Recommendation of Magistrate Judge Sheperd is, therefore, ADOPTED. The decision of the Commissioner denying Plaintiff's application for DIB is VACATED and the case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with the Report & Recommendation.”
Procedural in-forma-pauperis screening (Toledo). Sheperd's recommendation (February 4, 2026) recommended denying the plaintiff's motion to proceed in forma pauperis; no objections were filed; District Judge Helmick adopted it in its entirety and denied the motion. This procedural ruling did not resolve the merits of a litigated motion. The adoption order states: 'I... adopt Judge Sheperd's R & R in its entirety as the final Order of this Court. Accordingly, Plaintiff's motion to proceed in forma pauperis is denied.'
“Because the ALJ failed to apply proper legal standards when finding that Sack had no severe medically determinable impairments at Step Two of the sequential evaluation, I recommend the Commissioner’s final decision denying Sack’s application for DIB be remanded.”
“Because the ALJ applied proper legal standards when evaluating the opinion of PA Bonsky, I recommend affirming the Commissioner’s final decision denying Spradlin’s application for DIB.”
“Because the ALJ applied proper legal standards and supported her decision with substantial evidence, I recommend the Commissioner’s final decision denying Gaines’ application for SSI be affirmed.”
“I therefore recommend the District Court dismiss Webster’s habeas corpus petition as untimely.”
“Because the ALJ applied proper legal standards and reached a decision supported by substantial evidence, I recommend the Commissioner’s final decision denying Adkins’ applications for DIB and SSI be affirmed.”
“Because the ALJ applied proper legal standards and reached a decision supported by substantial evidence, I recommend that the Commissioner’s final decision denying McKinney’s application for DIB be affirmed.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Judge Sheperd's directly assigned work in the Cleveland-based Eastern Division is dominated by duty-magistrate criminal matters, including complaints and arrest or search warrants, together with civil-forfeiture seizures.
- His referred civil work includes many Social Security appeals, as well as habeas petitions, prisoner civil-rights matters, and initial review of filings by litigants proceeding without prepayment of fees.
- Judges Barker, Fleming, Helmick, and Nugent appear among the referring district judges.
- Because he joined the bench in 2024, the reviewed record covers only the early years of his tenure.
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 | 3 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 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 United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, not for Judge Sheperd: 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).
Draft for Judge Sheperd with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Sheperd, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Sheperd's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace