Michael Joseph Melloy
How Judge Melloy rules, drawn from 15 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Melloy decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Pauly, Melloy followed circuit precedent despite contrary authority elsewhere because neither the appellate court nor Congress had clearly displaced its express holding.
“this court continues to believe that it is controlling precedent in this circuit unless and until the Court of Appeals rules otherwise.”
In Perrin, Melloy required evidence connecting a defendant's asbestos product to the particular ship and workplace rather than evidence of general shipyard use.
“the mere possibility that the Mr. Perrin may have been exposed to the defendants’ products is not sufficient to survive this motion for summary judgment.”
Procedural preferences
In Moore Business Forms, Melloy balanced goodwill harm and livelihood burdens separately for major and minor customer accounts rather than enforcing a restrictive covenant wholesale.
“The facts of each ease must be evaluated independently.”
In Wiggins, Melloy found that accepting state-court service did not waive removal where the filing expressly reserved that right.
“A waiver of the right to removal must be ‘clear and unequivocal.’”
Cautions
In Walker Manufacturing, Melloy found eight months insufficient for closed-ended continuity and treated an injunction as eliminating a future threat of repetition.
“the eight month period at issue in this case is also too short.”
In J.E. Adams Industries, Melloy distinguished prohibited creditor action from a policy's expiration after the debtor failed to pay premiums.
“The automatic stay does not eviscerate the terms of the contract. Nor can the statute extend the life of the contract.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“This order grants plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and denies defendant’s motion.”
“Summary judgment is granted in favor of defendant Owens Illinois on their motion filed July 13, 1994”
“Summary Judgment is granted in favor of defendant Owens Corning on its motion filed July 18, 1994”
“Summary Judgment is granted in favor of defendant Fibreboard on its motion filed July 15, 1994”
“Summary Judgment is granted in favor of third-party defendant Flintkote on its motion filed October 7, 1994”
“The Plaintiffs’ request to adopt a Menne style ‘burden shift’ as the law of the case (Doc. 107) is denied.”
“Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.”
“Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.”
“This order grants that motion, in part, for the reasons and to the extent set out below.”
“Defendant’s Motion For Summary Judgment is granted.”
“Defendant’s Motion For Leave To Amend Final Pre-Trial Order is denied as moot.”
“Plaintiffs Motion To Dismiss Petition For Removal is denied.”
“Defendant’s Request For Oral Argument On Plaintiffs Motion To Dismiss Petition For Removal is denied as moot.”
“the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification is DENIED.”
“The motion by defendant Hoffman, Inc., and defendant Larry Emmert (doc. no. 58) to dismiss count 1 of the plaintiffs Amended Complaint is GRANTED.”
“the decision of the bankruptcy court is AFFIRMED.”
“the decision of the bankruptcy court is REVERSED, and this case is remanded for consideration of the remaining issues in Debtor’s Chapter 7 petition.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 83 days (N = 5).
The five earliest located matters were filed over six days in August 1992. The available metadata identified two product-liability matters, two forfeiture matters, and one insurance matter; all five were terminated.
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