Kenneth G. Gale
How Judge Gale rules, drawn from 3 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Gale no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Gale
Kenneth G. Gale served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Kansas from 2010 until his retirement in 2023. Before joining the bench, he practiced law in Wichita and served in the Army and Kansas National Guard. He earned degrees from Loyola University of New Orleans and Washburn University School of Law.
How Judge Gale decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Coffman v. Krebs, Gale recommended granting the plaintiff leave to proceed without prepaying fees but dismissing the complaint with prejudice for failure to state a claim. The district judge adopted the unopposed recommendation.
“This matter is before the Court on Magistrate Judge Kenneth G. Gale's Report and Recommendation (Doc. 4) that the Plaintiff’s Motion for IFP status be granted, but that Plaintiff’s Complaint be dismissed with prejudice for failure to state a claim.”
Procedural preferences
In Hulett v. Johnson County Sheriff's Office, Gale issued a show-cause order after the plaintiff missed deadlines to provide a mailing address and prepare summonses. When those failures continued, he denied an extension request that did not follow local rules and recommended dismissal for failure to prosecute; the district judge adopted the recommendation without prejudice.
“Judge Gale also recommended that the court dismiss this action under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b).”
In Hapka v. CareCentrix, Gale granted the defendant’s unopposed request for more time to respond to the complaint and set a new answer deadline.
“ORDER granting 7 Defendant's Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time. Defendant CareCentrix, Inc. answer due 7/11/2016. Signed by Magistrate Judge Kenneth G. Gale on 6/21/16.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Magistrate Judge Kenneth G. Gale's Report and Recommendation (Doc. 4) that the Plaintiff's Motion for IFP status be granted, but that Plaintiff's Complaint be dismissed with prejudice for failure to state a claim. ... this Court accepts the recommended decision of the Magistrate Judge and adopts it as its own.”
“On June 2, 2022, Magistrate Judge Kenneth G. Gale recommended that the Court deny Golubski's motion. ... the Court adopts the report and recommendation in its entirety. ... IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant Golubski's Motion To Dismiss Plaintiff Rose McIntyre's Claim ... filed April 1, 2022 is OVERRULED.”
“In a Memorandum and Order filed July 7, 2023, Judge Gale denied the motion for an extension of time because plaintiff failed to follow local rules. Doc. 24 at 2-3.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 580 days (N = 2).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 13 days (N = 18).
Gale's sampled matters span insurance and motor-vehicle disputes, consumer-credit claims, data-breach and privacy litigation, civil-rights cases, labor disputes, contracts, and criminal warrant or complaint proceedings. The five cases analyzed below are counseled civil matters, including consent cases in which Gale signed the discovery, dispositive, and pretrial orders himself.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Gale was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2023.
| Motions pending more than six months | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 0 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
A historical record
Judge Gale no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.