Richard W. Story

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (Gainesville Division) Senior status Appointed by Bill Clinton (Democratic) 7 signed orders read

How Judge Story decides

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

What persuades

In uninsured/underinsured-motorist coverage disputes he denies the insurer's summary judgment where factual issues on coverage remain.

“the Motion for Summary Judgment of Encompass Insurance Company of America [17] is DENIED.”

Procedural preferences

He refers criminal suppression motions to a magistrate judge and, after de novo review, adopts the report and recommendation, typically denying suppression.

“Judge Fuller's R&R [Dkt. 31] is accepted with approval and ADOPTED for all purposes. It is ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Suppress [Dkt. 14] is DENIED.”

Cautions

He denies motions to recuse or disqualify himself, including those construed from pro se filings, absent a valid basis.

“Plaintiff's construed Motion for Recusal [21] is DENIED.”

In pro se wrongful-foreclosure suits against mortgage servicers he grants the defendants' motion to dismiss where the claims fail as a matter of law.

“Defendants' Motions to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Complaint [4 and 7] are GRANTED such that all claims with respect to Defendant J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, all claims against McCalla Raymer, LLC and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association premised on Wells Fargo's alleged lack of standing to foreclose are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, and to the extent Plaintiffs have attempted to allege any claims ... under any other theory, those claims are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE”

Signed rulings

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

Deal v. Tugalo Gas Company, Inc., et al.
2:17-cv-00209-RWS · 2018-09-06
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted in part

“Defendants' Motions to Dismiss [Doc. Nos. 22, 23, and 24] are GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Defendants' Motions to Dismiss Counts I, II, VI, VII, IX, X, XI, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, and XVII are GRANTED as to Plaintiff's direct action claims. Defendants' Motions to Dismiss the fraud claims are DENIED.”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss [Doc. No. 34] is GRANTED. The derivative claims brought in Counts I, II, VI, VII, IX, X, XI, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, and XVII are DISMISSED.”

Cook v. Encompass Insurance Company of America
1:16-cv-04354-RWS · 2018-06-29
Summary judgment (defendant) Denied

“the Motion for Summary Judgment of Encompass Insurance Company of America [17] is DENIED.”

FuQua v. Massey, et al.
1:13-cv-03611-RWS · 2014-05-29
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss [11] is GRANTED, and Plaintiff's Verified Petition for Permanent Injunction and Temporary Restraining Order [2], Motion to Strike [15], Construed Motion for Recusal [21], and Request for Entry of Default [25] are DENIED.”

Motion for recusal (plaintiff) Denied

“Plaintiff's construed Motion for Recusal [21] is DENIED.”

United States v. Christopher Shawn Messer
2:24-cr-00003-RWS-JCF · 2025-01-23
Motion to suppress (defendant) Denied

“Judge Fuller's R&R [Dkt. 31] is accepted with approval and ADOPTED for all purposes. It is ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Suppress [Dkt. 14] is DENIED.”

Parker v. Felcor Lodging Trust, Inc.
1:08-cv-03644-RWS · 2010-09-14
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“Defendant Felcor's Motion for Leave to File Affidavit [23] and Motion for Summary Judgment [17] are GRANTED.”

O'Connor v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., et al.
1:12-cv-02525-RWS · 2013-03-27
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“Defendants' Motions to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Complaint [4 and 7] are GRANTED such that all claims with respect to Defendant J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, all claims against McCalla Raymer, LLC and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association premised on Wells Fargo's alleged lack of standing to foreclose are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, and to the extent Plaintiffs have attempted to allege any claims ... under any other theory, those claims are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE”

Motion for recusal (plaintiff) Denied

“Plaintiffs' Motion for Recusal and Disqualification of Judge [27] is DENIED.”

Summary judgment (plaintiff) Denied

“Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment [19] is DENIED.”

United States v. Akins
Motion to suppress (defendant) Denied

“Suppress [Dkts. 18, 38; 19, 36; 20, 25, 35; 21, 39; 22, 37] are DENIED.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 423 days (N = 11).

General civil docket (Gainesville/Atlanta divisions) plus a criminal caseload: civil rights, employment/age discrimination, consumer credit (FCRA), Social Security, insurance/subrogation, corporate/derivative, qui tam, and felon-in-possession criminal. His current (2026) direct docket is dominated by Gainesville-division SSA and general-civil filings, with Anna W. Howard as the referral magistrate.

Put Judge Story's record to work

Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Story actually rules, not a generic AI guess.

Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Story's own signed orders and cites them.