William Edwin Orr

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit circuit Retired 1965 · served 1945–1965 Appointed by Harry S. Truman (Democratic) 25 signed orders read

Judge Orr no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

How Judge Orr decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

Orr treated foreseeable contract damages as recoverable when they arose naturally from the testing laboratory's breach.

“The damages which Grace should receive because of the breach by Pittsburgh of its contract are such as may be fairly and reasonably considered as arising naturally, i. e., according to the usual course of things, from such breach of contract itself.”

Procedural preferences

Orr reserved extraordinary writs for cases that could not proceed through ordinary intervention and appeal.

“The extraordinary legal remedies cannot be used to circumvent the established procedure for bringing a controversy before an appellate tribunal.”

Orr declined a remand for evidence that could have been presented at the agency hearing when the omission was not justified.

“The motion to remand is not made on the ground of newly discovered evidence but on the ground that the failure to produce the evidence at the hearing is excusable. The facts do not justify this conclusion. The motion is denied.”

Cautions

Orr applied primary-jurisdiction principles when uniform agency expertise was needed before judicial resolution.

“The doctrine of primary jurisdiction is one concerned with the allocation of issues between the jurisdiction of the I.C.C. and the courts.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Basich Bros. Const. Co. v. United States Ex Rel. Turner
11353 · 1946-12-26
Appeal (appellants) Denied

“Judgment affirmed.”

Marion v. United States
11837 · 1948-12-20
Appeal (appellant) Denied

“Judgment affirmed.”

Harvey v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
11823 · 1949-01-03
Petition for review (petitioners) Granted in part

“The case is remanded with directions to the Tax Court to permit petitioner to pre *956 sent evidence of the reasonable value of the services rendered by Lawrence Harvey and to make a finding thereon. Otherwise the decision of the Tax Court is affirmed.”

Hawaiian Trust Co. v. Kanne
11909 · 1949-01-08
Appeal (appellant) Granted

“Judgment reversed.”

Studio Carpenters Local Union No. 946 v. Loew's, Inc.
12345 · 1950-05-01
Appeal (appellant) Denied

“Judgment of dismissal affirmed.”

MacKay v. Loew's, Inc.
12346 · 1950-05-01
Appeal (appellants) Denied

“Judgments affirmed.”

Corrigan v. San Marcos Hotel Co.
12410_1 · 1950-06-01
Appeal (appellant) Denied

“Judgment affirmed.”

Barker v. United States District Court, in and for Southern Dist. Of California, Central Division
12726 · 1950-11-27
Petition for writ (petitioner) Denied

“Petition denied.”

Armstrong v. United States
12739_1 · 1951-04-26
Appeal (appellant) Granted

“The order denying appellant’s petition for correction of sentence is reversed”

McGrath Attorney General v. Chung Young
12688_1 · 1951-04-27
Appeal (appellant) Denied

“Judgment affirmed.”

Jones v. Barteldes Seed Co.
12735_1 · 1951-11-28
Appeal (appellant) Denied

“Judgment affirmed.”

United States v. Firth
13524 · 1953-10-26
Appeal (appellant) Granted

“The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded to the District Court with instructions to dismiss the libel without prejudice to libellant’s right to renew her claim for compensation”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Not applicable to this circuit-court record.

A historical record

Judge Orr 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.