Frank Gordon Theis
Judge Theis no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Theis decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Theis rejected an overbroad discretionary-function defense because ordinary judgment alone could not make government conduct discretionary.
“The mere exercise of some judgment, however, cannot be sufficient to invoke the defense because ‘judgment is exercised in almost every human endeavor.’”
He allowed a warranty claim to proceed where the alleged product failure also caused property damage.
“The court rejects the defendant’s argument that it can be liable for breach of warranty if the product it sells fails to operate properly, but not if the product fails in such a way that it causes property damage”
Procedural preferences
He used a tailored protective order, rather than blocking discovery, to protect sensitive personnel information.
“An appropriately tailored protective order can be issued to ensure that any private matters are not disseminated”
He denied amendment when the proposed claim would have been futile.
“the amendment would be futile, and for that reason the court denies the plaintiffs motion to amend.”
Cautions
He treated dismissal at the pleading stage as disfavored where discovery could resolve the limitations facts.
“Motions to dismiss are disfavored: a complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears”
He upheld the implied-consent statute against the asserted right-to-counsel challenge.
“The statute does not impermissibly infringe on the fifth amendment right to counsel.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“defendants’ objections to Magistrate Judge Reid’s memorandum and order (Doc. 59) are hereby overruled.”
“defendants’ motion to dismiss (Doc. 30) is hereby granted.”
“the Secretary’s Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 38) is hereby granted;”
“Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment on the § 1983 claim is hereby granted.”
“judgment be entered in favor of plaintiff and against garnishee Social Security Administration in the amount of $8,596.00.”
“defendant’s motion for discovery and disclosure of impeaching information (Doc. 30) is hereby granted in part and denied in part.”
“the defendants’ summary judgment motion is hereby granted in part and denied in part.”
“the motion by the United States for summary judgment is hereby granted.”
“plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees in the amount of one hundred dollars per hour for 33.2 hours is hereby granted.”
“the motion for summary judgment by the Commissioners is hereby granted”
“summary judgment in favor of the United States and against the estates of Earl R. Baxter and Lynn O. Muse be entered in the amount of $1,000,000.00.”
“defendants’ motion for summary judgment (Doc. 33) is hereby granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 2099 days (N = 20).
The 20 located assigned cases filed from 1981 through 1987 were all terminated and are not a career-wide caseload measure.
A historical record
Judge Theis 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.