Lynda M. Hill
How Judge Hill rules, drawn from 4 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Hill
Lynda M. Hill began serving as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee in August 2026. She previously served as the court’s Clerk of Court and practiced commercial litigation in Nashville and Chattanooga. She earned a J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law and an M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University.
Judge Hill's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Hill, as published on the court's website (checked November 2, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Motions
Seek leave before filing a partial summary judgment motion.
“Motions for partial summary judgment shall not be filed without leave of Court.”
Motions
File a motion to change a case management deadline at least seven days before the earliest affected deadline.
“Any motion to modify the case management order or any case management deadline must be filed at least seven (7) days in advance of the earliest impacted deadline.”
Discovery
Lead counsel must meet in person and try to resolve discovery disputes before asking the court to intervene.
“The joint discovery dispute statement must certify that lead counsel for all parties conducted the required in-person meeting and made a good faith effort to resolve each discovery dispute presented in the statement.”
Discovery
After the in person meeting, file a joint motion for a discovery conference with a joint dispute statement.
“Discovery disputes that cannot be resolved after the in-person meeting must be brought promptly to the attention of the Magistrate Judge by filing a joint motion for a discovery conference and an accompanying joint discovery dispute statement.”
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 Hill decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Harrison v. Commissioner of Social Security, Hill remanded after finding that the administrative law judge had not substantively addressed medical assessments about the claimant’s wheelchair.
“Accordingly, remand is required.”
Procedural preferences
In DeBerry v. Youker, Hill stayed discovery and proceedings while a qualified immunity dismissal motion remained pending.
“A stay is warranted because the pending motion to dismiss raises the defense of qualified immunity.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendant’s motion to stay (Docket Entry No. 18) is GRANTED.”
“The motion (Docket Entry No. 11) of non-party Robert Gordon to intervene and join is DENIED.”
“Plaintiff’s motion (Docket No. 10) is DENIED.”
“Plaintiff’s motion (Docket No. 13) is GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff’s motion (Docket No. 12) is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The sampled docket records include newly assigned Social Security appeals and criminal duty matters, plus inherited consent appeals and a referred prisoner civil rights case.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, not for Judge Hill: 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 | 1,138 | 8.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 576 | 7.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 543 | 9.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 9 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 10 | 28.1 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,138 | 8.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,262 | 7.6 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,090 | 8.9 months |
| Sep 2022 | 987 | 11 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,007 | 10.6 months |
| Sep 2020 | 890 | 10.3 months |
| Sep 2019 | 982 | 10.7 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 Hill with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Hill, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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