Michael M. Baylson
How Judge Baylson rules, drawn from 32 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Baylson
Michael M. Baylson is a senior judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. President George W. Bush appointed him, and he received his commission on June 19, 2002. He previously served as United States Attorney for the district and took senior status on July 13, 2012.
Judge Baylson's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Baylson, 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.
- Notice to Counsel - Pretrial and Trial Procedures - Civil Cases ↗
- Conference Information Report ↗
- Standing Order - In Re: Artificial Intelligence ("AI") in Cases ↗
Key rules
Filing
Mail or deliver a bound, tabbed paper copy when pleadings or motions have exhibits exceeding 20 pages or multiple exhibits; do not email courtesy copies.
“If Pleadings/Motions are accompanied by lengthy (exceeding 20 pages) or multiple Exhibits, a paper copy of the Pleadings with Exhibits, bound and appropriately tabbed, must be mailed or delivered to Chambers. Courtesy copies may not be e-mailed to Chambers.”
Motions
When possible, file threshold motions before the preliminary pretrial conference.
“Motions to dismiss, amend, transfer, add parties, and other threshold motions should be filed, whenever possible, before the Preliminary Pretrial Conference.”
Conferences
Email the conference information report to chambers before the preliminary pretrial conference.
“counsel are required to discuss the following topics among themselves prior to the Preliminary Pretrial Conference and to submit (email to Chambers) a Conference Information Report”
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).
- Standing Order on Procedure for Case Opening ↗
- Standing Order on Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- Standing Order on Access and Management of Sealed Documents ↗
- Standing Order on Filing Procedures in Alien Detainee Cases ↗
- Second Amended Standing Order on Guilty Pleas and Sentencing ↗
- Standing Order on Electronic Document Submission for Unrepresented Litigants ↗
- Standing Procedural Order for Cases Seeking Social Security Review ↗
- Superseding Standing Order on Procedural Matters in Pro Se Civil and Habeas Cases ↗
- Standing Order on Electronic Access to Civil and Criminal Transcripts ↗
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED. 2) Counts I, II, III, IV, and V are DISMISSED. 3) Count VI is DISMISSED with respect to Defendants Wolf, Fetterman, and Flood. 4) Count VI will proceed to discovery”
“Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF 32) is GRANTED”
“The Borough of Yeadon’s Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF 48) as to Counts I, IV, V of the Amended Complaint, is DENIED”
“Individual Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF 47) as to Counts II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII of the Amended Complaint, is DENIED”
“Paparo’s Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF 46) as to Count V of the Amended Complaint, is DENIED”
“DENIES Plaintiff’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment”
“DENIES Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment”
“Defendant’s Motion is GRANTED IN PART, DENIED IN PART, and with LEAVE TO AMEND”
“Defendant Joseph Wolk’s Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF 64, is GRANTED”
“Defendant Borough of Glenolden and Brian Razzi’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Complaint (ECF 16) and Defendant Anthony Tartaglia and Commonwealth Code Enforcement, Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Complaint (ECF 26) are GRANTED without prejudice and with leave to amend”
“Defendant Anthony Tartaglia and Commonwealth Code Enforcement, Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Complaint (ECF 26) are GRANTED without prejudice and with leave to amend”
“Defendant the Vanguard Group, Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 13) is GRANTED without prejudice”
“this Court will GRANT in part, DENY in part, Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, GRANT Plaintiffs’ Motion to Bifurcate, and DENY Defendants’ Motion to Decertify”
“Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED. This case is DISMISSED with prejudice”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 60.5 days (N = 14).
The sampled matters include civil rights, insurance, product liability, consumer credit, and contract disputes. The small, nonrandom group does not establish a caseload mix.
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 | 6 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 6 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 5 |
| Mar 2025 | 6 | 6 |
| Sep 2024 | 1 | 7 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 10 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 11 |
| Sep 2022 | 2 | 11 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 8 |
| Sep 2021 | 4 | 8 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 9 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 7 |
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 Eastern District of Pennsylvania, not for Judge Baylson: 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 | 5,730 | 5.1 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,952 | 3.2 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,834 | 4.7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 898 | 10 months |
| Closed during trial | 46 | 17.8 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 5,730 | 5.1 months |
| Sep 2024 | 6,200 | 4.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 6,595 | 7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 5,221 | 6.6 months |
| Sep 2021 | 5,245 | 6.5 months |
| Sep 2020 | 4,686 | 5.7 months |
| Sep 2019 | 5,374 | 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 Baylson with the record in hand
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