Richard Joseph Hopkins
Judge Hopkins no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Hopkins decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Hopkins treated secret acquisition of interests related to an employee’s assigned work as inconsistent with fiduciary duty even without proof of completed injury.
“He chose secrecy and deception under'circumstances which demanded of him candor and full disclosure.”
He treated a good-faith substitute filing containing the required information as sufficient to start the limitations period.
“The plaintiffs made an honest endeavor to comply with the rules and regulations; they made a return that they thought was a full compliance with the law”
Procedural preferences
He required regulated parties to present the material evidence to the agency before seeking judicial intervention.
“must first exhaust its remedy before the publie service commission before seeking injunctive relief against the commission.”
He treated statutory filing deadlines as substantive requirements, including proper filing in the division where the case was pending.
“Time is a matter of substance and not merely one of form.”
Cautions
He dismissed constitutional challenges when controlling precedent left no substantial federal question.
“If it clearly appears upon the face of the hill that there is no substantial federal question involved, it would he useless to go to the inconvenience and expense of convening a court of three judges”
He regarded impaired counsel as constitutionally ineffective when the record showed the accused lacked meaningful assistance at trial.
“I am convinced from the record in this case and as abstracted and from the law applicable to the facts developed, that petitioner had no effective assistance of counsel as contemplated by the Constitution.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“An order may be drawn accordingly for judgment in favor of the defendant and against the plaintiff.”
“That plaintiffs are entitled to recover of defendant the amount of $51,824.38, with interest at 6 per cent, from day of payment, to wit, April 1, 1924, and the costs of this action.”
“the Western Distributing Company, having failed to exhaust its remedy before the public service commission, is without standing to ask for relief in the courts and its amended bill of complaint herein should be dismissed.”
“have clearly failed to show a light of recovery, and judgment will be entered against them and for the defendants.”
“I am of opinion the plaintiff is entitled to recover from the defendant the amount of the Simon judgment paid by him of $6,396.-40, with interest at 6 per cent, from the date of payment, and the amount paid on the Comanehe county judgment of $67,670.29, together with interest thereon at 6 per cent, from the date of payment, and judgment will be entered accordingly.”
“It follows that judgment must be entered for the defendant.”
“The application for a temporary restraining order and the application to convene a three-judge court to pass upon the question of the interlocutory injunction will therefore be denied”
“and the bill be dismissed.”
“The warning order against the Consolidated Oil Corporation should be granted”
“and the motions to dismiss denied.”
“I conclude that the plaintiff is entitled to recover judgment herein, as prayed in its petition.”
“is not exempt to the bankrupt, and that the trustee is entitled to the same as assets of the estate of the bankrupt.”
“A proper decree may be drawn dissolving the temporary injunction heretofore issued and dismissing the bill of complaint.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
No electronic assigned-case cohort was available for caseload analysis.
A historical record
Judge Hopkins 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.