Peter E. Ormsby
How Judge Ormsby rules, drawn from 7 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Ormsby
Peter E. Ormsby is a recalled United States Magistrate Judge assigned to the Western District of Pennsylvania from April 2026 through April 2027. He previously served as a magistrate judge in the Southern District of Texas.
Judge Ormsby's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Ormsby's own (checked October 10, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
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 Ormsby decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In one prisoner case, he denied summary judgment without prejudice when the filings did not comply with procedural rules, leaving room for a corrected motion.
“ECF Nos. 90 and 97 are DENIED without prejudice for failure to comply with applicable rules.”
In a discovery dispute, he declined a 94-page supporting brief as disproportionate at that stage of the case.
“Plaintiff’s request for leave to file a 94-page discovery motion brief at this stage of the litigation is disproportionate and unnecessary.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Plaintiff’s motion to end stay (ECF 28) is GRANTED in part to the extent that the stay previously entered in this case is lifted and DENIED as to other requested relief.”
“Plaintiff’s motion at ECF No. 119 is DENIED as moot;”
“Plaintiff’s motion at ECF No. 143 is DENIED;”
“Plaintiff’s motion at ECF No. 149 is GRANTED to the extent that a scheduling conference is set for June 30, 2016, and the Court will thereafter enter a scheduling order; the motion is DENIED in all other respects;”
“Plaintiff’s motion at ECF No. 150 is GRANTED to the extent that a scheduling conference is set and a scheduling order will thereafter be entered;”
“Plaintiff’s motion at ECF No. 151 is DENIED;”
“Plaintiff’s motion at ECF No. 159 is DENIED without prejudice; Plaintiff may refile his motion to compel discovery as to any remaining disputes as discovery proceeds after the scheduling conference and after conferring in good faith about those remaining disputed issues;”
“Plaintiff’s motion at ECF No. 161 is DENIED”
“Plaintiff’s motion at ECF No. 162 is DENIED;”
“Plaintiff’s motion at ECF No. 163 is DENIED without prejudice; any refiled briefing on discovery issues shall not exceed 20 pages without obtaining leave of Court;”
“Plaintiff’s motion at ECF No. 167 is DENIED;”
“The Psychiatry Defendants motion at ECF No. 145 is GRANTED to the extent that the Clerk is directed to administratively terminate Defendants Dr. Bloom and Ms. Ligas;”
“Defendants’ motion at ECF No. 158 is GRANTED to the extent that a scheduling conference is set and a scheduling order will thereafter be entered.”
“ECF Nos. 90 and 97 are DENIED without prejudice for failure to comply with applicable rules.”
“Because Plaintiff’s summary judgment motions are denied, those related Motions at ECF Nos. 92, 93, and 94 are DENIED as moot.”
“Plaintiff’s motion will be denied as moot.”
“In sum, for the foregoing reasons, the following Motions are DENIED: 1. Motion for Mandamus Relief (ECF No. 88); 2. Motion for Rule 42(b) Relief (ECF No. 91), without prejudice; 3. Motion for a Three-Judge District Court (ECF No. 100); and 4. Motion for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ECF No. 103), without prejudice.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s request for an administrative stay is GRANTED.”
“For these reasons, Petitioner’s IFP Motion will be denied.”
“Larry Garland’s Motion to Join (ECF No. 8) is DENIED without prejudice;”
“Larry Garland’s IFP Motion (ECF No. 12) is DENIED as moot;”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The reviewed matters chiefly concern prisoner civil rights and habeas petitions. The docket search is too sparse to estimate the judge’s full recalled 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 | 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 |
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 Western District of Pennsylvania, not for Judge Ormsby: 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 | 1,965 | 6.5 months |
| Closed with no court action | 665 | 4.6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 659 | 5.1 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 632 | 8.4 months |
| Closed during trial | 9 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,965 | 6.5 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,871 | 6.3 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,021 | 5.9 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,988 | 6.5 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,891 | 6.3 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,939 | 5.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,766 | 6.9 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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