Leslie R. Hoffman (Leslie Hoffman Price)
How Judge Price) rules, drawn from 40 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Price) decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In her Social Security opinions, Judge Hoffman applies the standard five-step disability framework closely and affirms where the ALJ's residual-functional-capacity finding is supported by substantial evidence, even where the claimant raises multiple challenges.
“The scope of the Court's review is limited to determining whether the Commissioner applied the correct legal standards and whether the Commissioner's findings of fact are supported by substantial evidence.”
Procedural preferences
In the reviewed wage-and-hour settlement, Judge Hoffman approved the agreements after confirming that the employees received full payment, the agreements contained no problematic terms, and counsel fees were negotiated separately.
“Upon review, Defendant has agreed to pay Plaintiffs in full for their FLSA wage claims.”
In the reviewed discovery dispute, broad references to hundreds of pages did not satisfy Rule 33(d) where the documents did not contain complete answers, were partly illegible, and did not identify where responsive information could be found.
“The Court further finds that Defendants have failed to satisfy their burden to justify the use of Rule 33(d) in responding to the Interrogatories at issue.”
Cautions
A reviewed wage-and-hour settlement was rejected where the release swept beyond the pleaded wage claims, extended to nonparties, and the parties had not made a court-ordered disclosure.
“Here, the release clearly is not.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Upon review of the record, the Court finds the Commissioner's final decision is due to be AFFIRMED.”
“Upon review of the record, the Court finds that the Commissioner's final decision is due to be AFFIRMED.”
“MEMORANDUM OF DECISION. The final decision of the Commissioner is AFFIRMED. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment for the Commissioner and close the case.”
“Upon review of the record, the Court finds that the Commissioner's final decision is due to be REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings.”
“MEMORANDUM OF DECISION. The final decision of the Commissioner is REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. Section 405(g). The Clerk is directed to enter judgment for the Claimant and close the case.”
“MEMORANDUM OF DECISION. The final decision of the Commissioner is REVERSED and REMANDED for further administrative proceedings pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. Section 405(g). The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to enter judgment in favor of Claimant and against the Commissioner and CLOSE the case.”
“MEMORANDUM OF DECISION. The Commissioner's final decision is AFFIRMED. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to enter judgment in favor of the Commissioner, and thereafter, to CLOSE the case.”
“MEMORANDUM OF DECISION. The final decision of the Commissioner is AFFIRMED. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment for the Commissioner and close the case.”
“MEMORANDUM OF DECISION. The final decision of the Commissioner is AFFIRMED. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to enter judgment in favor of the Commissioner and CLOSE the case.”
“ORDER granting 32 Joint Motion and Memorandum of Law in Support of Request for Approval of Settlement. This matter is DISMISSED with prejudice and the Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to close the case.”
“ORDER granting in part and denying in part 35 Motion for Attorney's Fees and Costs. Plaintiff is awarded a total of $25,130.00 in attorney's fees under the FLSA. Plaintiff is further awarded a total of $1,442.00 in recoverable costs. The motion (Doc. No. 35) is DENIED in all other respects.”
“ORDER Setting Conditions of Release, denying as moot 7 Ore Tenus Motion for Detention as to Rene Rodriguez-Betancourt (1).”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- More than half of the reviewed matters are consent Social Security disability appeals.
- The remainder includes referred wage, insurance, contract, personal-injury, and civil-rights cases, along with criminal initial appearances and detention determinations.
- Most Social Security appeals in the 2019-2022 group took 12 to 18 months from filing to a merits decision, while several contested civil cases assigned to her by consent settled before a dispositive motion was decided.
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