Rodney Smith
How Judge Smith decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Held that virtualizing Apple's iOS for security-research purposes is transformative fair use under 17 U.S.C. 107, granting the defendant summary judgment on the copyright claim.
“Corellium's Motion for Summary Judgment [DE 464] is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED: a. The Motion is granted on the copyright claims, to the extent the Court finds that Corellium's use of iOS constitutes fair use; b. The Motion is denied regarding the DMCA claim.”
Procedural preferences
Dismisses claims and counterclaims that are procedurally mispackaged; a bare prevailing-party attorney's-fee request cannot stand as an independent counterclaim.
“ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss Counterclaim [DE 10] is GRANTED and Defendants' Counterclaim is DISMISSED.”
Cautions
Denies All Writs Act injunctions that do not aid the court's own jurisdiction, treating a stay as the less drastic alternative.
“ORDERED that Plaintiffs' Motion for All Writs Act Injunction [DE 5] is DENIED.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Apple's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment [DE 470] is DENIED”
“Corellium's Motion for Summary Judgment [DE 464] is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED: a. The Motion is granted on the copyright claims, to the extent the Court finds that Corellium's use of iOS constitutes fair use; b. The Motion is denied regarding the DMCA claim.”
“ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss Counterclaim [DE 10] is GRANTED and Defendants' Counterclaim is DISMISSED.”
“ORDERED that Plaintiffs' Motion for All Writs Act Injunction [DE 5] is DENIED.”
“The Report of the Magistrate Judge (ECF No. 106) ... is AFFIRMED and ADOPTED. ... Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Indictment, ECF No. [58] is Denied.”
“The Joint Motion to Review and Approve FLSA Settlement and Dismiss Action with Prejudice [DE 12] is GRANTED. The Settlement Agreement is approved. ... This case is DISMISSED with prejudice.”
“After reviewing the pleadings, for the reasons stated in this order, the Petition is DENIED because Petitioner is not entitled to relief on the merits. ... ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that: 1. This Petition [DE 1] is DENIED. 2. No certificate of appealability shall issue. 3. The Clerk is directed to CLOSE this case.”
“The Court having reviewed, de novo, the Report of the Magistrate Judge ... it is hereby ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that: 1. The Report of the Magistrate Judge (ECF No. 75) issued on December 20, 2019 is AFFIRMED and ADOPTED. 2. Defendants' Motion to Suppress Evidence, ECF [40] and Amended Motion to Suppress Evidence are Denied.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment [DE 13] is DENIED. Commissioner's Motion for Summary Judgment [DE 17] is GRANTED. The Commissioner's decision is AFFIRMED.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Award of Attorney's Fees and Costs [DE 177] is DENIED.”
“The parties' Joint Motion for Approval of FLSA Settlement and to Dismiss Case with Prejudice [DE 47] is GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Entitlement to Attorney's Fees and Costs or, Alternatively, Motion for Supplemental Relief [DE 60] is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss [DE 44] is GRANTED. Counts II and III of Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint [DE 35] are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“Defendant's Motion for Reconsideration [DE 9] is DENIED AS MOOT.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 153 days (N = 12).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 232 days (N = 3).
The reviewed 2019-2026 matters show that Judge Smith's 2026 docket includes many alien-detainee habeas petitions, disability-access suits, and wage-and-hour cases. The reviewed 2019-2021 civil matters include many removed personal-injury, insurance, and consumer-credit cases that often ended through settlement or voluntary dismissal. This provides descriptive context rather than a caseload-wide rate.
Put Judge Smith's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Smith actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Smith's own signed orders and cites them.