Henry Rupert Wilhoit Jr.
How Judge Wilhoit rules, drawn from 20 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Wilhoit no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Wilhoit
Henry Rupert Wilhoit, Jr. was a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Judge Wilhoit received a commission on September 28, 1981. Judge Wilhoit assumed senior status on December 31, 2000 and served until death on September 12, 2022.
How Judge Wilhoit decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Thompson, Wilhoit rejected a debt collector's bona-fide-error defense where the asserted mistake concerned the governing limitations law rather than a clerical fact.
“Accordingly, the Court finds that under the circumstances presented in this case, the bona fide error defense is inapplicable.”
Procedural preferences
In Hill, Wilhoit declined to resolve individual-capacity qualified immunity on summary judgment where factual disputes remained about good faith.
“Again, factual questions exist as to whether Officer Adkins acted in good faith. As such, summary judgment cannot be granted.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court hereby AFFIRMS the Bankruptcy Court.”
“(1) the Plaintiffs’ Motion to Remand [Record Nos. 2 and 4] is OVERRULED;”
“leave of Court to file is unnecessary but nonetheless GRANTED;”
“Defendants’ motion for summary, judgment is SUSTAINED;”
“Defendants’ Motion to Exclude Testimony of Plaintiffs Expert, Dr. George Kirkham [Docket No. 28] be SUSTAINED.”
“Owners Insurance Company's Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket No. 24] be SUSTAINED”
“Frontier Housing Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment be OVERRULED.”
“Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket No. 24] be SUSTAINED as it pertains to the City of West Liberty and to the claims alleged against Scott Adkins in his Official Capacity as a Police Officer for the City of West Liberty, Kentucky and OVERRULED as to the remaining claims.”
“Defendant Norfolk Southern Railway Company's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Seeking Dismissal of Plaintiff's Claims under the Locomotive Inspection Act, 49 U.S.C. § 20701 and claims asserting alleged violations of the federal regulations codified at 49 CFR § 229.45 and 49 CFR § 229.119(c) [Docket No. 39] be SUSTAINED.”
“(1) Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment as it pertains to Count I of the Complaint are OVERRULED; (2) Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment is SUSTAINED as to the remaining claims alleged”
“Defendant’s Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law be SUSTAINED.”
“Defendant's Motion for Leave to File Sur-Reply [Docket No. 85] is GRANTED”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket No. 69] is DENIED”
“Plaintiff's Cross Motion for Summary Judgment as to Defendant's Liability on the Merits [Docket No. 74] is GRANTED.”
“Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company’s motion to intervene as a Plaintiff in this action [Record No. 3] is OVERRULED.”
“That defendant’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED;”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 69 days (N = 5).
The five sampled terminated matters included two foreclosure cases and one matter each involving employment civil rights, habeas corpus, and labor relations.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Wilhoit was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of March 31, 2022.
| 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 | 6 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 6 |
| Sep 2021 | 3 | 4 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 3 |
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 Wilhoit no longer hears cases. 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.