William Louis Beatty

How Judge Beatty rules, drawn from 7 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Judge Beatty no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

Court
United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
Position
district
Status
Deceased
Served
1979–2001
Appointed by
Jimmy Carter (Democratic)
Commissioned
1979-10-05
Education
Saint Louis University School of Law, LL.B. (1950)
Signed orders read
7

How Judge Beatty decides

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

What persuades

In Richter, Beatty treated the plan administrator’s repeated requests for missing medical support as evidence that its denial was not arbitrary or capricious.

“The record presented to the court establishes that Fortis thoroughly reviewed the Plaintiffs records and submissions, however, it determined that the information received did not support an award of disability benefits.”

Procedural preferences

In United Van Lines, Beatty applied the filed tariff despite the customers’ equitable defense.

“the filed rate doctrine cannot be varied based on equitable defenses.”

Signed rulings

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

Navarre v. Wisconsin Barge Line, Inc.
· 1980-11-24
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“the motion of Wisconsin Barge Line, Inc. for summary judgment be and is hereby granted and that this cause is dismissed with prejudice”

In re Wilnor Drilling, Inc.
· 1982-08-04
Appeal from bankruptcy order (appellant Securities and Exchange Commission) Granted

“the Court reverses the portion of the Bankruptcy Court’s order which subordinated the fees and expenses of the Investors’ Committee to the reasonable fees and expenses of the Creditors’ Committee.”

Daugherty v. Pfizer, Inc.
· 1983-03-16
Structural work act claim after bench trial (plaintiff) Granted

“the Court enters judgment for the plaintiff and against the defendant and assesses damages in the sum of $624,175.00 plus taxable costs.”

Niemann v. McDonnell Douglas Corp.
· 1989-06-22
Summary judgment (General Dynamics) Granted

“the defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment based upon the government contractor defense, must be and the same hereby are, granted.”

Summary judgment (McDonnell Douglas) Granted
Summary judgment (McDonnell Douglas) Granted

“the defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment are well taken, and accordingly, judgment is hereby entered on behalf of General Dynamics Corporation and McDonnell Douglas Corporation and against plaintiff.”

Watters v. McRoberts
· 1994-04-07
Appeal from bankruptcy order (debtor appellants) Granted in part

“the Bankruptcy Court is affirmed, however, because this court is unable to ascertain whether the debtors failed to modify their plan in order to appeal the Bankruptcy Court’s ruling, the Chapter 13 proceeding is reinstated.”

United Van Lines, Inc. v. Zak
· 1994-07-07
Summary judgment (plaintiff) Granted

“the Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Motion to Dismiss the Counterclaims of the Defendants, (Doc. 13), is granted.”

Motion to dismiss counterclaims (plaintiff) Granted
Request for prejudgment interest (plaintiff) Denied

“The Plaintiffs request for pre-judgment interest is denied.”

Richter v. Fortis Benefits Insurance
· 1998-09-16
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, (Doc. 17) is granted.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 3121 days (N = 5).

All five sampled terminated matters were asbestos product-liability cases.

A historical record

Judge Beatty 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.