Elbert Grady Jolly Jr.
Judge Jolly no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Jolly decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Applies the governing state tort law without importing an extra injury threshold from a different federal cause of action.
“the de minimis injury test that applies to constitutional claims does not apply to an injury alleged under Louisiana tort law.”
Treats context as essential when a regulation uses flexible language rather than a single numerical rule.
“The lack of a single, precise definition indicates, however, that the regulation is malleable—that is, it is to be interpretated in the light of given circumstances.”
Procedural preferences
Requires concrete delegated federal authority before allowing a private entity to invoke federal-officer removal.
“At bottom: LCMC’s relationship with the federal government is too attenuated to show any delegation of legal authority”
Expects trial counsel to use voir dire and preparation time efficiently when exercising peremptory challenges.
“With proper preparation and effective use of his time, Aguilar could have prioritized which jurors he most wanted to strike”
Cautions
Treats a supervisor’s direct use of an unambiguously racial epithet as capable, by itself, of supporting a hostile-work-environment claim.
“being called the n-word by a supervisor—as [plaintiff] alleges happened to him—suffices by itself to establish a racially hostile work environment.”
Rejects delayed intervention when the applicant knew the litigation’s facts and legal issues from earlier related proceedings.
“Texas cannot claim that it required some three months to analyze the basis of the lawsuit”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the district court’s remand order is AFFIRMED”
“AFFIRMED in part. REVERSED in part. REMANDED.”
“APPEAL DISMISSED”
“MANDAMUS DENIED.”
“AFFIRMED; REMANDED for the limited purpose described herein.”
A historical record
Judge Jolly no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.