Jay A. Garcia-Gregory
How Judge Garcia-Gregory rules, drawn from 26 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Garcia-Gregory
Jay A. Garcia-Gregory is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Garcia-Gregory received a commission on July 11, 2000. Judge Garcia-Gregory assumed senior status on September 30, 2018.
Judge Garcia-Gregory's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Garcia-Gregory, 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.
- Standing Order in re: Revocation Proceedings ↗
- In Re: Communications by Counsel and their Staff with U.S. District Judge Jay A. García-Gregory or Chambers Staff ↗
- Standing Order in re: Procedure for Criminal Motions ↗
- Standing Order in re: Procedure for Motions for Summary Judgment ↗
- Standing Order in re: Petitions to Modify Bail Release Conditions in Criminal Cases before Judge García-Gregory ↗
- Pretrial Conference and Associated Filings ↗
- Discovery Disputes in Civil Cases ↗
- Filing Requirements in RICO Cases ↗
- Petitions to Modify Conditions of Pretrial Release ↗
- Mandatory Filing Requirement of Sentencing Memoranda in Criminal Cases before Judge Garcia-Gregory ↗
Key rules
Contacting chambers
Use a motion to contact Judge García-Gregory about a case; do not call chambers for case or scheduling inquiries.
“A motion is the only appropriate mechanism to contact the Court.”
Filing
File revocation memoranda ten days before the final hearing, specifying contested allegations and witnesses or exhibits.
“Revocation Memoranda are due 10 days prior to the final revocation hearing.”
Filing
Criminal motions must cite record evidence by document and page.
“All facts MUST have citations to the record”
Filing
Deliver a courtesy copy of a Rule 29 motion or a criminal filing with exhibits exceeding 30 pages.
“MUST deliver a courtesy copy to”
Filing
Summary judgment fact statements must attach evidence and cite each supporting document and page.
“Each SUMF, response to the SUMF, or additional SUMF”
Filing
Deliver a courtesy copy of any summary judgment motion, opposition, or reply.
“MUST deliver a courtesy copy to the Court.”
Filing
In covered criminal cases, the defense sentencing memorandum is due 30 days after the plea hearing and the government’s 30 days later.
“The defendant’s memorandum is due 30 days after the change of plea hearing is”
Trial
File the joint civil pretrial memorandum at least seven days before the pretrial conference.
“at least seven days prior to the”
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).
- General Standing Order - Revocation Proceedings ↗
- General Standing Order in re: Change of Plea Hearing ↗
- General Standing Order in re: Procedures for Initial Appearances ↗
- Standing Order In Re: Appropriate Attire ↗
- Standing Order In Re: Access to Presentence Reports Pursuant to Standing Order 11: Request for Copies ↗
- Standing Order In Re: Storage and Management of Sealed and Restricted Documents: New Guidelines ↗
How Judge Garcia-Gregory decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a bench proceeding on whether an arbitration agreement existed, he gave little weight to a party's testimony that repeatedly conflicted with his own sworn declaration, crediting the opposing witness and business-routine evidence instead.
“Plaintiff's in-court statements, which directly conflicted with his own declaration filed under penalty of perjury, was a fatal blow to his credibility.”
In MCDP Phoenix Services PTE LTD. v. First Finance International Bank, Inc., García-Gregory dismissed civil RICO claims against an individual defendant because the complaint lacked particularized allegations of his predicate acts.
“For a RICO complaint to survive the motion to dismiss stage, there must be more than conclusory allegations -- there must be meat on the bones. Here, the allegations are as thin as broth, and the Court is left starved for facts.”
In Government of Puerto Rico v. CaremarkPCS Health, LLC, García-Gregory rejected a claim-splitting dismissal argument because the broader prescription-drug suit involved different parties, products, and evidence than an earlier insulin case. He denied the remaining defendants’ pleading motion while dismissing two others for lack of personal jurisdiction.
“the Court finds that this case is not barred by the doctrine of claim-splitting.”
Procedural preferences
In Perez Tavarez v. LUMA Energy, LLC, García-Gregory dismissed federal discrimination claims filed two days after the 90-day deadline and declined equitable tolling despite the cited hospitalization.
“equitable tolling 'cannot be used to rescue a plaintiff from [their] lack of diligence.'”
In Annoni Mesias v. Hospital HIMA San Pablo, García-Gregory left the liability verdict intact but reduced the emotional-damages award after finding the supporting testimony too vague.
“the damages award was 'grossly disproportionate to any injury established by the evidence,' even when they demonstrated that they miss and grieve their brother.”
Cautions
In Nieves-Ortiz v. Corporacion del Centro Cardiovascular de Puerto Rico y del Caribe, he resolved six defendants' dismissal motions in one ruling and dismissed the qui tam complaint with prejudice because it lacked the particulars required by Rule 9(b).
“the Relator's Amended Complaint fails to comply with the heightened pleading standard in Rule 9(b). Accordingly, the Amended Complaint is hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
In Citibank, N.A. v. R2 Advertising, Inc., he denied the defendants' dismissal motions, ordered counsel to explain a legally baseless filing, and warned that further violations of court orders or procedural rules would bring monetary sanctions.
“The Court also puts defendants on notice that further violations of the Rules of Procedure or of this Court's orders shall result in severe monetary sanctions.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court GRANTS the Motion to Dismiss. Accordingly, the Court DISMISSES WITH PREJUDICE all federal claims against Defendants and DISMISSES WITHOUT PREJUDICE Plaintiff's state law claims.”
“the case is hereby DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE and the Parties are compelled to proceed to arbitration.”
“the Relator's Amended Complaint fails to comply with the heightened pleading standard in Rule 9(b). Accordingly, the Amended Complaint is hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“the Bankruptcy Court did not abuse its discretion in denying Island Portfolio's Motion for Relief from Stay as there is no cause to lift the stay ... Accordingly, the Court AFFIRMS the Orders of the Bankruptcy Court.”
“Defendant Poignant's Motion to Dismiss is hereby GRANTED. The claims against Defendant Poignant are hereby DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“Ms. Micheo's Law No. 115 claim is hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE ... Ms. Micheo's Law No. 80 claim is hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Imposition of sanctions and awarding of attorney's fees are not warranted here.”
“the Renewed Motion for Sanctions under Rule 11 is DENIED”
“the Court hereby ADOPTS the Magistrate Judge's R&R in its entirety for the reasons stated therein and, accordingly, DENIES Defendant's Motion to Suppress.”
“Defendants' request for judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50 is DENIED.”
“the request for a new trial under Rule 59 is DENIED.”
“Defendants' petition for remittitur is GRANTED ... The Court remits the compensatory damages award against Defendants from $700,000.00 to $400,000.00 in total.”
“the Court hereby DENIES the Motion for Reconsideration.”
“the Court hereby ADOPTS the Report, and DENIES defendant's Motion to Suppress.”
“Sedgwick's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.”
“Sedgwick's Motion to Deem Unopposed is GRANTED”
“the Court denies defendants’ motion to dismiss as premature.”
“For the reasons stated below, defendant’s motions are hereby DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Cases assigned to this judge span a wide generalist mix consistent with a long-tenured district judge: Section 1983 and prisoner civil-rights suits, qui tam False Claims Act actions, employment-discrimination and ERISA benefits claims, admiralty and product-liability matters, real-property foreclosures, labor and telecom-regulatory disputes, immigration and Social Security appeals, federal tort claims, and a steady stream of narcotics, firearms, and fraud prosecutions with associated habeas petitions.
- The docket shows new civil filings assigned to him as recently as May 2026, consistent with an actively-sitting senior judge who continues to draw a regular share of the court's 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 | 13 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 13 |
| Sep 2025 | 1 | 4 |
| Mar 2025 | 1 | 7 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 6 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 9 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 12 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 13 |
| Sep 2022 | 3 | 24 |
| Mar 2022 | 37 | 32 |
| Sep 2021 | 11 | 19 |
| Mar 2021 | 6 | 15 |
| Sep 2020 | 10 | 8 |
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 District of Puerto Rico, not for Judge Garcia-Gregory: 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 | 584 | 13.9 months |
| Closed with no court action | 84 | 7.6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 470 | 14.1 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 13 | 37.1 months |
| Closed during trial | 17 | 37.2 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 584 | 13.9 months |
| Sep 2024 | 706 | 13.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 778 | 17.6 months |
| Sep 2022 | 725 | 19 months |
| Sep 2021 | 818 | 17.1 months |
| Sep 2020 | 862 | 13.9 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,249 | 16.8 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 Garcia-Gregory with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Garcia-Gregory, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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