Steven Charles Seeger
How Judge Seeger decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Strongly textualist on statutory questions: he resolves venue, FCRA, and FCA issues by the 'plain text' of the statute and rejects atextual arguments (e.g. that a plaintiff's own residence can establish venue). Frame statutory arguments to him on the words Congress used, not on equities.
“Based on the plain text of the statute, this case does not belong in the Northern District of Illinois.”
At the 12(b)(6) stage he takes the complaint's well-pleaded facts as true and will not let a defendant win by telling its own story through materials outside the pleadings. A movant who wants a merits ruling on its defense should move for summary judgment, not dismissal.
“a motion to dismiss is not the time for the defendant to tell its side of the story, let alone receive judgment in its favor based on that story.”
Procedural preferences
When a Rule 12(b)(6) movant relies on materials outside the pleadings (e.g. public records), he will convert the motion to one for summary judgment under Rule 12(d) -- but only after giving the non-movant explicit notice and a real opportunity to submit responsive material. Expect conversion (not automatic denial) when the dispositive facts are in judicially noticeable public records.
“On May 4, 2020, this Court gave notice to Robinson that it was converting the motion to dismiss to a motion for summary judgment.”
Cautions
Fraud-based claims (False Claims Act / Illinois FCA) must satisfy Rule 9(b) particularity. Pleading a regulatory violation is not enough -- the complaint must allege an actual false claim submitted to the government, with at least a representative example (who, what, when, where, how). The implied-false-certification theory does not relax this, and 'information and belief' pleading is unavailable to a relator who claims personal knowledge.
“A failure to comply with a regulatory requirement, without more, is not enough to state a claim for a violation of the False Claims Act.”
Article III standing / traceability is enforced at the threshold: sue the entity that actually made the challenged decision, not peripheral actors who merely opposed or 'worked in concert.' A defendant with influence but no decisional authority ('a voice, but ... no vote') will be dismissed for lack of traceability, and conclusory conspiracy allegations cannot cure it.
“the School District and the Fire District had a voice, but they didn't have a vote. So there is no traceability.”
Statute of limitations is applied firmly on a motion to dismiss where the timeline is clear from the pleadings -- a defendant added years after the plaintiff's claim accrued (here, a 2017 diagnosis sued on in 2020) will be dismissed as time-barred.
“the Court grants Defendant Dunn's motion to dismiss. Defendant Dunn is dismissed.”
Motion outcomes
Counted from classified signed orders only. Percentages are shown only where the sample is large enough to be meaningful; smaller samples are reported as raw counts.
| Motions to dismiss N = 5 |
Granted: 4Denied: 1 | counts only |
| Summary judgment N = 2 |
Granted: 2 | counts only |
| Judgment on the pleadings N = 1 |
Denied: 1 | counts only |
A "1 of 1" is one ruling, not a tendency. Treat small samples as illustrative, not predictive.
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The motions to dismiss for improper venue are granted, and this case is dismissed without prejudice.”
“Defendant's motion to dismiss is denied. Defendant shall answer Plaintiff's complaint by March 27, 2020.”
“the Court grants Defendant Dunn's motion to dismiss. Defendant Dunn is dismissed.”
“Wexford's motion for judgment on the pleadings is denied.”
“There is no genuine issue of material fact. Defendants did not prevent Robinson from becoming a registered voter because he was already a registered voter. This Court grants summary judgment to Defendants.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' motion to dismiss is granted.”
“the motions to dismiss the School District and the Fire District are hereby granted. The Itasca Fire Protection District No. 1, the Itasca Public School District 10, and School Superintendent Craig Benes are hereby dismissed for lack of standing.”
“For the reasons stated above, Defendants' motion for summary judgment is granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 69 days (N = 19).
Active Eastern Division (Chicago) civil + criminal docket. Currently drawing the 2025-26 alien-detainee 2241 habeas surge and Schedule A IP-counterfeiting filings alongside the ordinary civil mix. Sampled nature-of-suit spans civil rights (Sec. 1983, ADA Title III), consumer (FDCPA/FCRA), insurance/contract, employment, fraud/qui tam, product liability, copyright/Schedule A, and civil forfeiture; criminal felony docket also present.