Richard L. Puglisi
Judge Puglisi no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Puglisi decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a fee dispute where the objecting party raised only a procedural failure (no meet-and-confer) rather than disputing the substance of the costs claimed, the judge found the procedural lapse harmless because a conference would have been futile, and reached the merits anyway.
“Although this does not excuse Defendant's counsel failure, it would be wasteful of the parties' time and the court's resources to require Defendant to file another bill of costs.”
Procedural preferences
The judge required strict, in-person compliance with settlement-conference attendance orders and would recommend fee-shifting sanctions against a party who sent only counsel with settlement authority instead of personally appearing, even where the party was reachable by phone throughout.
“Magistrate Judge Puglisi -- who conducted the settlement conference -- specifically described the conference as 'fruitless,' and did so '[a]s a result of Plaintiffs' failure to comply with the court's orders.'”
When recommending attorneys' fees, the judge audited billing records line by line rather than accepting a lodestar at face value, cutting entries for duplicate billing among co-counsel, vague time descriptions, and clerical tasks.
“The Court FINDS and RECOMMENDS that Defendants' Motion for an Award of Attorneys' Fees and Non-Taxable Costs be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”
Cautions
A pro se litigant who fails to attend a show-cause hearing and ignores a discovery order risks an outright Rule 41(b) dismissal with prejudice, not merely a lesser sanction.
“The Court FINDS AND RECOMMENDS that this action be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to comply with a court order and cooperate in discovery.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The Court FINDS AND RECOMMENDS that this action be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to comply with a court order and cooperate in discovery.”
“The Court FINDS and RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff Cook Production, LLC's Motion for Default Judgment Against Defendant Alex Stewart be GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART as follows: (1) Default judgment be entered in Plaintiff's favor and against Defendant Alex Stewart; ... (4) Plaintiff be GRANTED an award of $750 in statutory damages; and (5) Plaintiff's request for attorneys' fees be DENIED.”
“The Court FINDS and RECOMMENDS that Defendants' Motion for an Award of Attorneys' Fees and Non-Taxable Costs be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The Court RECOMMENDS that the court AWARD Defendant $273,589.25 in attorneys' fees and non-taxable costs and DENY Plaintiff's objections to Defendants' Bill of Costs.”
“The Court FINDS and RECOMMENDS that Defendant is entitled to $1,462.54 in taxable costs.”
A district judge reviewed de novo Puglisi's Amended Findings and Recommendation to sanction the plaintiffs for failing to personally attend a court-ordered settlement conference. The district judge overruled the objections and adopted the recommendation in full, calling the underlying decision correct. This entry supplies context on Puglisi's reasoning, while the final order itself was signed by the district judge.
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Puglisi's Hawaii docket spanned civil-rights, ADA, personal-injury, copyright, ERISA, and insurance-declaratory-judgment cases as the parties' consent magistrate judge under 28 U.S.C. Section 636(c), plus a criminal and magistrate (mj/po) caseload including petty offenses, search-warrant applications, and detention hearings. In the sampled window, most civil cases resolved through case management, scheduling, and settlement conferences without a dispositive motion being decided -- consistent with a consent-jurisdiction docket where settlement is a strong pull.
A historical record
Judge Puglisi no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.