Rodolfo Lozano

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana district Retired 2018 · served 1988–2018 Appointed by Ronald Reagan (Republican) 2 signed orders read

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

How Judge Lozano decides

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

What persuades

He enforces the discovery-disclosure rules strictly at summary judgment: under Rule 26(e) and the automatic Rule 37(c)(1) exclusion, evidence a party first surfaces in its summary-judgment response is struck as unduly prejudicial, and a lay party's misunderstanding of the law is no excuse.

“A misunderstanding of the law does not equate to a substantial justification for failing to comply with the disclosure deadline.”

Procedural preferences

He treats motions to strike as disfavored, granting them only where the contested material actually prejudices the movant, and otherwise resolving the summary-judgment motion without relying on the challenged evidence.

“Motions to strike are heavily disfavored, and usually only granted in circumstances where the contested evidence causes prejudice to the moving party.”

On cross-motions for summary judgment he decides each independently and will deny both where neither side establishes entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, declining to read a short contract more broadly than its terms support.

“the Court can deny all motions if the parties do not establish their rights to judgment as a matter of law”

Signed rulings

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

Davis v. Munster Medical Research Foundation, Inc.
· 2016-09-30
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted in part

“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (DE # 67) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART ... Count II of the First Amended Complaint is hereby DISMISSED.”

Motions to strike (defendant) Denied

“Defendant's Motion to Strike (DE # 91) is DENIED”

Motions to strike (defendant) Granted in part

“Defendant's Motion to Strike (DE # 93) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”

Entertainment USA, Inc. v. Moorehead Communications, Inc.
· 2015-03-20
Summary judgment (plaintiff) Denied

“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (DE# 86) is DENIED”

Summary judgment (defendant) Granted in part

“Defendant's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (DE# 90) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART”

Motions to strike (defendant) Moot / procedural

“Defendant's Motion to Strike (DE# 99) is DENIED AS MOOT”

A historical record

Judge Lozano 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.