Maria Araujo Kahn
How Judge Kahn rules, drawn from 11 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Kahn decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In enforcing an international arbitration award, Kahn treated the parties' adoption of rules assigning jurisdictional questions to the tribunal as clear delegation. A party seeking judicial review of arbitrability should address the incorporated rules and its own conduct before the tribunal.
“The district court, therefore, was required to defer to the Tribunal’s resolution of Libya’s jurisdictional objections when reviewing the Jurisdictional Award.”
In an education-disability appeal, Kahn analyzed exhaustion remedy by remedy rather than dismissing the entire action. When administrative exhaustion can supply only equitable relief, counsel should separate that request from a damages claim the administrative process cannot provide.
“the failure to exhaust remedies under the IDEA bars (or defers) only the equitable relief portion of the suit, not the damages portion as well.”
Kahn looked to the substance of a transportation-work agreement rather than the corporation named on its signature line. The record was persuasive because the workers had been required to incorporate and remained personally responsible for performing the work.
“We decline to allow employers to circumvent Congress’s exception of transportation workers from the FAA’s reach by requiring those workers to take the corporate form.”
In a substantive-due-process appeal, Kahn focused on the state's actual custody and the resident's dependence instead of the formal label attached to admission. Evidence about practical restrictions on leaving and reliance on state-provided care supported the claim.
“C.B.’s status was not rendered voluntary simply because he could ask to leave—that he could not leave without initiating a lengthy process that could ultimately lead to a court-ordered commitment establishes the opposite.”
Cautions
In securities litigation, Kahn required particularized facts supporting the fiduciary-like duty on which each insider-trading theory depended. General descriptions of a longstanding business relationship did not turn an arm's-length broker relationship into a duty of trust.
“the conclusory statements about the parties’ ‘history, pattern, practice, course of dealing, [and] relationship with regard to the prime brokerage, margin lending, and other brokerage-client relationships’ are insufficient to imply a fiduciary relationship and state a plausible claim.”
Kahn criticized a late criminal-discovery disclosure but required the defendant to connect the delay to a concrete impairment of trial strategy before ordering reversal. A discovery challenge should document preparation that could not be completed, not merely the damaging nature of the evidence.
“Substantial prejudice” in this context ‘means more than that the [evidence] was damaging to the defendant: the defendant must demonstrate that the untimely disclosure of the [evidence] adversely affected some aspect of his trial strategy.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons set forth above, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.”
“For the reasons set forth above, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.”
“For the reasons set forth above, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.”
“For the reasons set forth above, we AFFIRM in part and REVERSE in part the judgment of the district court and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“For the reasons set forth above, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.”
“We have considered the parties' remaining arguments on appeal and conclude that they are without merit. For the reasons set forth above, we DISMISS for lack of jurisdiction Ventura's claim that the district court erred by refusing to downwardly depart when imposing his sentence and otherwise AFFIRM the judgments of the district court.”
“Because the New York Court of Appeals has not addressed the identified state law questions, which are essential to deciding this appeal, we certify the questions to that court. ... This panel retains jurisdiction for the purpose of resolving this appeal once the New York Court of Appeals has responded to our certification.”
“For the reasons set forth above, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.”
“For the reasons set forth above, we VACATE the judgment of the district court and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“The order and judgment of the district court are VACATED and the case REMANDED for further proceedings in conformity with this opinion.”
“Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.”
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