Phillip J. Caraballo
How Judge Caraballo rules, drawn from 6 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Caraballo
Phillip J. Caraballo has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania since January 2025. Before joining the bench, he served as an assistant United States attorney and senior litigation counsel in the district. He earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.
Judge Caraballo's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Caraballo, 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.
Key rules
Motions
Make any request for an order, including an extension, by motion.
“Any application for an order, including an application for an extension of time, must be made by motion.”
Motions
Move to exceed a brief page limit.
“Judge Caraballo requires a motion in order to exceed page limitations.”
Discovery
Before a discovery motion, meet and confer meaningfully in person, by video, or by telephone.
“including through convening an actual and meaningful meet and confer session in person or, at the very least, by video or telephone; not simply in the exchange of written missives.”
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 Caraballo decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In one prisoner civil rights case, he recommended summary judgment after finding some claims unexhausted and substantive defects in the others.
“those claims properly exhausted in accordance with the PLRA suffer from fatal substantive flaws.”
Procedural preferences
He asks parties to try to resolve discovery disputes through a meaningful meeting before moving for relief.
“Judge Caraballo expects counsel to make all efforts to resolve discovery disputes before any discovery motion is filed”
Applications for extensions and other court orders must be filed as motions.
“Any application for an order, including an application for an extension of time, must be made by motion.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The Defendants’ motion for summary judgment (Doc. 196) be GRANTED, and all claims against all defendants be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE;”
“The Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment (Doc. 193) be DENIED;”
“The motion for a temporary restraining order (Doc. 3) be DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE;”
“The pending motions to dismiss (Docs. 64; 66; 67; 70) be GRANTED. 2. All claims contained in the second amended complaint (Doc. 61) be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“The pending motion for a preliminary injunction (Doc. 61) be DENIED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“The Defendants’ motion for summary judgment (Doc. 73) be GRANTED;”
“The Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment (Doc. 65) be DENIED;”
“Motion to Stay the Proceedings (Doc. 89) is DENIED.”
“Motion for an Extension of Time to File an Answer (Doc. 92) is GRANTED.”
“The defendants’ motion to dismiss (Doc. 114) be GRANTED, all claims be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, and this action be DISMISSED;”
“motion to transfer venue (Doc. 145) be DENIED AS MOOT;”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 2 days (N = 11).
The selected early assignments include civil rights, commercial, and Social Security cases. The observed mix is descriptive of this small sample.
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 | 1 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2025 | 2 | 1 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 1 |
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 Middle District of Pennsylvania, not for Judge Caraballo: 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 | 1,590 | 8.5 months |
| Closed with no court action | 660 | 6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 901 | 10.6 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 21 | 39.8 months |
| Closed during trial | 8 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,590 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,535 | 8.7 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,370 | 11 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,550 | 12.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,420 | 9.4 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,410 | 10.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,611 | 11 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 Caraballo with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Caraballo, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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