John Aaron Gorman
How Judge Gorman rules, drawn from 6 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Gorman no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Gorman
John A. Gorman served as a United States magistrate judge in the Central District of Illinois from 2000 until February 2014, primarily in Peoria and Rock Island. Before joining the federal bench, he served on Illinois trial and appellate courts.
How Judge Gorman decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
On summary judgment he holds the non-moving party to the rules: a scintilla of evidence or 'metaphysical doubt' is not enough, and a party opposing the motion must identify specific probative evidence in the record under the court's local rule rather than rest on the allegations of the complaint.
“A scintilla of evidence in support of the non-moving party's position is not sufficient to oppose successfully a summary judgment motion ... the parties must identify the evidence that will facilitate the court's assessment.”
In Nunez v. BNSF Railway, Gorman denied a motion to strike a summary-judgment response despite imprecise record citations, explaining that his familiarity with the case let him address the defects without requiring another filing.
“The Court’s familiarity with the case enabled it to overlook these deficiencies. In the interests of efficiency, the motion to strike is DENIED.”
In an ERISA contribution case, Gorman denied the company president’s summary-judgment motion because employee contributions already withheld from wages were plan assets and her control over their disposition could make her a fiduciary.
“There is no question that Struben exercised control over the amounts deducted from S & S.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Now before the Court is the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (# 43). ... As explained herein, the motion is granted.”
“there is no opposition to the following motions, and they are therefore granted: Motions # 1 ... and # 14 ... This Order resolves the remaining motions. ... The motion in limine is denied.”
“Now before the Court is Defendant Helen M. Struben's Motion for Summary Judgment on Count II[# 53]. ... As explained herein, the motion is denied.”
“In the interests of efficiency, the motion to strike is DENIED.”
“Now before the Court is the Plaintiffs Motion to Compel (#57). The motion is fully briefed, and I have carefully considered all of the submissions of the parties. For the following reasons, the Motion to Compel is GRANTED.”
“As stated herein, National’s motions to compel are denied in their entirety.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Illustrative texture only; not weighted counts. No authoritative caseload baseline loaded.
A historical record
Judge Gorman no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.