Kent Amos Jordan
How Judge Jordan rules, drawn from 26 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Jordan no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Jordan
Kent A. Jordan was a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Jordan received a commission on December 13, 2006. Judge Jordan previously served on the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, commissioned there on November 15, 2002. Judge Jordan retired on January 15, 2025.
How Judge Jordan decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In StoneMor v. Teamsters Local 469, Jordan affirmed vacatur of a labor-arbitration award because the arbitrator rewrote the agreement’s grievance deadline by using execution instead of ratification as the starting date.
“Nevertheless, our review is ‘not toothless,’ and we will reverse if the arbitrator ‘rewrites the contract[.]’”
In Nitkin v. Main Line Health, Jordan affirmed summary judgment on a hostile-work-environment claim after disregarding generalized allegations and finding the seven identified incidents insufficiently severe or pervasive.
“The District Court properly disregarded Nitkin’s generalized assertions of harassing conduct.”
For all-risk insurance coverage, he places the initial burden on the insured to show that the loss was fortuitous rather than assuming that an unexplained loss falls within coverage.
“Because we agree that an insured bears the burden of proving fortuity, and that the Inganamorts did not meet that burden here, we will affirm.”
Procedural preferences
When an arbitration agreement's formation is undisputed and a delegation clause assigns scope and enforceability to the arbitrator, he requires a party opposing arbitration to challenge that delegation provision directly; a challenge to the contract generally does not keep arbitrability in court.
“a party seeking to avoid arbitration must directly challenge the arbitration or delegation clause, not just the contract as a whole.”
Cautions
In Lall v. Department of Homeland Security, he held that a citizenship certificate issued in error did not confer citizenship where statutory conditions were unmet, despite the government's twenty-one-year delay in canceling it, and affirmed dismissal of Lall's citizenship claim.
“Because Lall never obtained citizenship, he was subject to removal. And, for the reasons set forth below, our equitable powers do not permit us to grant citizenship.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“We will therefore deny his petition for review.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we will reverse the District Court's order denying Mercatili's motion for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity and remand with instructions to enter judgment in his favor.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we will vacate the District Court's dismissal of the 1692e(14) claim and remand for further proceedings. We will affirm, however, the District Court's dismissal of the claims under 1692d(6) and 1692e(10).”
“For the foregoing reasons, we will deny Singh's petition for review.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we will affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand for further proceedings. We will affirm the District Court’s order that Trainer is liable under CERCLA and HSCA for PADEP’s response costs incurred after it acquired the Site, but we will vacate the District Court’s order with respect to Trainer’s liability for PADEP’s response costs incurred before acquisition of the Site.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we will affirm the sentence imposed by the District Court.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we will affirm the sentence imposed by the District Court.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the motion to transfer will be granted and the consolidated petitions for review will remain stayed pending a final decision on Ricketts's appeal of his nationality determination.”
“For the foregoing reasons we will affirm the judgment of the District Court vacating the arbitrator's award.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we will reverse the District Court's summary judgment order and remand with instructions to enter judgment for American Home.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Circuit judges do not carry a trial caseload; not enumerated.
A historical record
Judge Jordan no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.