Gregory A. Presnell
How Judge Presnell rules, drawn from 11 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Presnell decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On Section 1983 summary-judgment motions Presnell separates the surviving constitutional core from the municipal-liability and tort add-ons: he lets individual-capacity Fourth Amendment claims reach a jury while granting summary judgment for the official-capacity/Monell defendant and dismissing an emotional-distress claim.
“it is ORDERED that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 42) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART as follows: 1. In regards to Defendant Jerry L. Demings, in his capacity as Sheriff of Orange County, Florida, Summary Judgment is GRANTED as to all Counts in the Amended Complaint; 2. In regards to Defendant Gerald Cavis, Summary Judgement is DENIED as to Counts I and II, but GRANTED as to Count III.”
In insurance disputes, personal jurisdiction must rest on the defendant's purposeful forum contacts rather than the insured's unilateral decision to bring damaged property into Florida. In SMB Capital, an inspection and claim handling that reacted to the aircraft's presence did not establish jurisdiction over Canadian insurers whose policies and business were centered elsewhere.
“Plaintiffs’ reliance on Defendants’ isolated, reactive contact to their own presence in Florida is insufficient to support personal jurisdiction.”
Evaluates trademark confusion in the context of what consumers actually did, not merely whether they noticed similar names. Questions about a possible affiliation did not show that customers had been misled into believing an affiliation existed.
“the very fact that individuals were asking the question could suggest the opposite conclusion — i.e., that they had not been misled into believing the businesses were affiliated.”
Treats a pharmacist's duty of due care as extending beyond mechanically matching a valid prescription when the pharmacy allegedly possesses patient-specific safety information, such as a known allergy to the prescribed drug.
“Walgreens would have this Court interpret a pharmacist’s duty to use ‘due and proper care in filling the prescription’ as being satisfied by a robotic compliance with the instructions of the prescribing physician.”
In consent-judgment insurance litigation, requires the claimant to establish policy coverage before reaching wrongful refusal to defend or settlement reasonableness. The agreement cannot create coverage for an excluded loss.
“The determination of coverage is a condition precedent to any recovery against an insurer pursuant to a Coblentz agreement.”
Procedural preferences
He sequences federal-then-state analysis with discipline: having granted summary judgment on the federal claim, he declines supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state-law count and dismisses it without prejudice.
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment on Count I (Doc. 36) is GRANTED; ... The Clerk is directed to enter judgment in favor of Defendant on Count I”
When no party objects to a magistrate judge's recommendation, Presnell confirms and adopts it as part of his order before entering the recommended relief.
“No objections have been filed. Therefore, it is ORDERED as follows: 1. The Report and Recommendation is CONFIRMED and ADOPTED as part of this Order.”
For compromised FLSA settlements, asks the parties to agree on the employee's recovery before negotiating counsel's fee and to disclose that sequence. This separates the worker's recovery from counsel's economic interest without automatically redoing the fee bargain.
“the best way to insure that no conflict has tainted the settlement is for the parties to reach agreement as to the plaintiffs recovery before the fees of the plaintiffs counsel are considered.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“it is ORDERED that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 42) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART as follows: 1. In regards to Defendant Jerry L. Demings, in his capacity as Sheriff of Orange County, Florida, Summary Judgment is GRANTED as to all Counts in the Amended Complaint; 2. In regards to Defendant Gerald Cavis, Summary Judgement is DENIED as to Counts I and II, but GRANTED as to Count III.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment on Count I (Doc. 36) is GRANTED; ... The Clerk is directed to enter judgment in favor of Defendant on Count I”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Count II (Doc. 36) is GRANTED; ... Count II is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE”
Confronted with counsel who could not agree on where to hold a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition, which Presnell called 'the latest in a series of Gordian knots that the parties have been unable to untangle without enlisting the assistance of the federal courts,' he denied the motion and directed the lawyers to settle the question by a single game of rock-paper-scissors. He offered an appeal hearing if either side disputed the game's outcome. The order illustrates his impatience with attorney gamesmanship over routine discovery logistics.
“The Plaintiff's Amended Motion and Incorporated Memorandum of Law in Support of its Renewed Motion for Entry of Default Judgment is GRANTED IN PART.”
“The Supplemental Motion for Attorney's Fees and Additional Interest is GRANTED IN PART.”
“Defendants’ Amended Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint (Doc. 49) is hereby GRANTED;”
“Defendants’ Alternative Motion to Stay is DENIED as moot;”
“Plaintiffs’ (duplicative) Motion to Stay (Doc. 77) is hereby DENIED as moot.”
“ORDERED that the Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 10) is DENIED.”
“Plaintiff-Counterdefendant Inter-tape Polymer Corporation’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 43) is GRANTED;”
The court articulated a procedure for reviewing compromised FLSA settlements: the parties should disclose the compromise's basis and confirm that attorney fees were negotiated separately from the employee's recovery. Because the filing omitted that representation, the court required an amended joint motion without classifying the settlement motion's outcome.
“Plaintiff Melissa J. Sinni’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 51) is DENIED”
“Defendant Scottsdale Insurance Company’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 53) is GRANTED.”
“the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 15) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. Counts II, III and IV are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. In all other respects, the motion is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The sampled civil cases provide illustrative caseload context rather than weighted counts. No authoritative caseload baseline was available.
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