Jeffrey M. Kuhlman
How Judge Kuhlman rules, drawn from 18 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Kuhlman
Jeffrey Marion Kuhlman is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Kuhlman received a commission on June 18, 2026.
Judge Kuhlman's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Kuhlman's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026).
- Standing Order 26-04: Immigration Habeas Cases ↗
- Standing Order 26-01: Use of Artificial Intelligence in Court Filings ↗
- Standing Order 25-04: Access, Service, and Management of Sealed Documents ↗
- Standing Order 25-03: Suspension of Local Rule 79.4 for Civil Sealed Files ↗
- Standing Order 2021-1: Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
How Judge Kuhlman decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
At summary judgment, Kuhlman required evidence connecting younger comparators to materially similar treatment and rejected conclusions without supporting detail.
“Kasprzyk’s conclusory statements fail to raise an inference that the younger employees were treated more favorably than Kasprzyk.”
In Rodriguez, Kuhlman denied the parties’ request to retain and stay the case after finding no diversity jurisdiction, then remanded it to state court.
“Regardless of what agreements or stipulations the parties have made, this Court simply cannot exercise jurisdiction over this matter.”
In Guerra, Kuhlman denied suppression after finding the defendant had not shown a reasonable expectation of privacy in the car. He did not reach whether the police dog’s contact with the car was a warrantless search.
“Because Guerra lacks standing to challenge the search of the Volvo, his Motion to Suppress is denied. And because Guerra lacks standing to challenge the search, the Court does not reach the issue of whether Zero’s physical contact with and physical entrance into the vehicle constituted a warrantless search of the vehicle.”
Procedural preferences
Kuhlman treats striking an affirmative defense as a demanding remedy and permits factual development where the defense may relate to the controversy.
“Motions to strike insufficient defenses are disfavored as a drastic remedy.”
In Uhlig LLC v. RealPage, Kuhlman allowed a longer response brief and directed the parties to use standard double spacing, rather than exact 24-point spacing, in later filings in that case.
“the parties use standard double spacing, and not ‘exact 24’ spacing, in all future filings in this case.”
A party seeking to seal confidential business material must identify the specific portions warranting protection. Kuhlman granted proposed redactions but denied wholesale sealing without prejudice when the exhibits included material the party had sent to others.
“It is incumbent upon Airbnb to narrowly tailor its request to specific portions of the document that must be sealed or redacted to protect its confidentiality interest.”
Cautions
A party seeking reconsideration after failing to object to a recommendation must explain the missed deadline and establish clear error or manifest injustice.
“Rundquist has not shown any clear error or manifest injustice regarding the Court’s finding that he failed to timely object to the R&R.”
A complaint must identify a basis for jurisdiction, the claimed injury, and a statutory or constitutional ground for relief; a bare two-paragraph allegation did not survive initial review.
“The Complaint does not identify a basis for federal jurisdiction or for personal jurisdiction over any defendant. The Complaint does not provide any details as to what Conway is claiming or what injury he has suffered. The Complaint does not identify any statutory or constitutional basis for relief.”
In an employment case, Kuhlman warned a self-represented litigant to check legal citations after finding that some cited decisions could not be located.
“fabrications but instead point to real cases that stand for the propositions for which they are cited.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“THE COURT THEREFORE ORDERS that Scoular’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 38) is GRANTED.”
“THE COURT THEREFORE ORDERS that Plaintiff’s Motion for Reconsideration (Doc. 16) is DENIED.”
“Counts V and VI of the Amended Answer and Counterclaim—as well as any claim for trademark misuse—are dismissed with prejudice.”
“The Court denies Airbnb’s motion to strike Tillman’s affirmative defense of unclean hands.”
“THE COURT FURTHER ORDERS that Airbnb’s Motion to Dismiss and Strike the Answer and Counterclaim (Doc. 30) is DENIED AS MOOT.”
“THE COURT THEREFORE ORDERS that Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 17) is GRANTED. Plaintiff’s Complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“THE COURT THEREFORE ORDERS that Defendants’ Joint Combined Partial Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 25) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.”
“THE COURT THEREFORE ORDERS that Defendants/Counter-Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to File Response Brief of Up to 17 Pages (Doc. 54) is GRANTED.”
“ORDERS that Defendants’ Motion for Leave to File Amended Notice of Removal (Doc. 16) is DENIED.”
“THE COURT GRANTS IN PART Plaintiffs’ Motion to Remand (Doc. 10) and REMANDS the case to the District Court of Lyon County, Kansas.”
“THE COURT DENIES Counter Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 11), Plaintiffs’ Supplemental Motion to Remand (Doc. 27), and the Parties’ Joint Motion to Stay Case Pending Closing of Settlement Transaction (Doc. 33), without prejudice, due to lack of subject matter jurisdiction.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s pending Motion for Leave to Proceed in Forma Pauperis (Doc. 2) is denied as moot.”
“The Court denies Cox’s motion under Rule 11(c)”
“Cox’s Motion to Dismiss is denied as moot.”
“Cox’s Motion to Strike (Doc. 46) is GRANTED.”
“Mobility’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 16) is DENIED.”
“Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 20) is GRANTED.”
Kuhlman dismissed the action without prejudice on his own initiative after the plaintiff failed to establish complete diversity of citizenship.
“THE COURT THEREFORE ORDERS that Defendant Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 7) is GRANTED. Velayo’s claims against Kobach are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Most assigned matters remained pending, and the inherited cases that generated early opinions were not a representative terminated cohort.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, not for Judge Kuhlman: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 967 | 7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 225 | 4.8 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 645 | 6.9 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 83 | 18.3 months |
| Closed during trial | 14 | 22.5 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 967 | 7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 912 | 7.3 months |
| Sep 2023 | 909 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,092 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,063 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,180 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,884 | 20.7 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
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