James McPherson Proctor
How Judge Proctor rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Proctor no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Proctor
James McPherson Proctor was a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Appointed by President Harry S Truman, Judge Proctor received a commission on March 5, 1948. Judge Proctor previously served on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Supreme Court of the District of Columbia), commissioned there on March 2, 1931. Judge Proctor served until death on September 17, 1953.
How Judge Proctor decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Proctor enforced reliance-based fairness when a party induced detrimental preparation through assurances.
“Justice and fair dealing require that one who acts to his detriment on the faith of conduct of the kind revealed here should be protected by estopping the party who has brought about the situation from alleging anything in opposition to the natural consequences of his own course of conduct.”
He treated the actual scope of the professional relationship as controlling when deciding whether counsel also served as an agent for process.
“We hold that Messrs. Segal and Caldwell were not agents within the meaning of the statute.”
Procedural preferences
Proctor required parties to preserve a challenge to submission of an issue to the jury through an appropriate trial motion.
“If he wished to assert that there was no case to go to the jury on the basic issue of assault, he was bound to make an appropriate motion.”
He expected issues to be presented first to the responsible administrative body before judicial review.
“It is essential that the administrative remedy be fully availed of and exhausted before resort to judicial review.”
Cautions
Proctor enforced an express condition precedent when noncompliance was intentional and unjustified.
“Uncontradicted evidence leaves no doubt that the requirement of the policy was knowingly and intentionally violated without reasonable justification or excuse, notwithstanding another valid provision which made compliance a condition precedent to suit.”
He rejected a suppression position that conflicted with the appellants' own denial of possession or seizure.
“They never claimed that it was seized by the police, or that they owned or possessed it.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“We think, though, the court erred in adding the item of $350 for loss of profits on radios promised under an initial order.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Not applicable to this circuit-court record.
A historical record
Judge Proctor no longer hears cases. 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.