William Odis Bertelsman

How Judge Bertelsman rules, drawn from 16 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Judge Bertelsman no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

Court
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
Position
district
Status
No longer serving
Appointed by
Jimmy Carter (Democratic)
Commissioned
1979-11-27
Education
Xavier University, A.B. (1958); University of Cincinnati College of Law, J.D. (1961)
Signed orders read
16

How Judge Bertelsman decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

In McLaren-Knipfer, Bertelsman found a benefits denial deficient where the reviewers discounted the only physician evidence through a narrow reading of test results rather than a competing medical assessment.

“Yet, the reviewers rejected his opinion out of hand based solely on their narrow and inaccurate interpretation of the test results, as opposed to a genuine disagreement among medical professionals.”

Procedural preferences

In Kentucky Speedway, Bertelsman treated strong local public interest and the plaintiff's chosen forum as sufficient to outweigh related contractual forum clauses.

“the great public interest in having this dispute decided locally tips the balance in favor of retaining the case here.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Turner v. City of Newport
· 1995-06-08
Motions to strike (defendants filing Doc. 17) Denied

“That the motions of the defendants to strike plaintiffs supplemented response (Docs. # 17 and # 19) be, and they are, hereby denied;”

Motions to strike (defendants filing Doc. 19) Denied
Motions to dismiss (defendants filing Doc. 7) Denied

“That the motions of the defendants to dismiss (Docs. # 7 and # 9) be, and they are, hereby denied.”

Motions to dismiss (defendants filing Doc. 9) Denied
Dixon v. CSX Transportation, Inc.
· 1996-12-04
Summary judgment (defendant CSX Transportation, Inc.) Granted

“That the motion of defendant, CSX Transportation, Inc., for summary judgment (Doc. # 27) be, and it is, hereby granted.”

Kentucky Speedway, LLC v. National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.
· 2005-12-21
Motions to transfer (defendant NASCAR) Denied

“That the motion to transfer venue (Doc. # 30) be, and it is, hereby DENIED;”

Sexton v. Kenton County Detention Center
· 2010-03-18
Motions to strike (county defendants) Denied

“Defendants’ joint motion to strike the report and testimony of plaintiffs’ expert witness (Doc. 69) is hereby DENIED;”

Summary judgment (official-capacity county defendants) Granted

“Motion of Defendants, Kenton County Detention Center, Kenton County Fiscal Court, and Jailer Terry Carl and Chief Deputy Rodney Ballard, in their official capacities, for summary judgment (Doc. # 71) is hereby GRANTED”

Summary judgment (individual-capacity defendants Terry Carl and Rodney Ballard) Granted

“Motion of Defendants, Jailer Terry Carl and Chief Deputy Rodney Ballard, in their individual capacities, for summary judgment (Doc. # 70) is hereby GRANTED”

Jones v. Dirty World Entertainment Recordings, LLC
· 2012-01-10
Motion for judgment as matter of law (defendants) Denied

“That the defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law (Doc. 64) be, and hereby is, DENIED;”

Jones v. Dirty World Entertainment Recordings, LLC
· 2013-08-12
Motion for judgment as matter of law (defendants) Denied

“The Court denied the motion for the same reasons expressed in its earlier opinion addressing this issue.”

McLaren-Knipfer v. ArvinMeritor, Inc.
· 2012-06-27
Motions to strike (defendants) Granted

“Defendants’ motion to strike (Doc. 63) is GRANTED and the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment are GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART (Docs. 53, 65), consistent with this Memorandum Opinion;”

Summary judgment (plaintiff) Granted in part
Summary judgment (defendants) Granted in part
American Atheists, Inc. v. Shulman
· 2014-05-19
Motions to dismiss (defendant Commissioner of Internal Revenue) Granted

“the Defendant’s motion to dismiss (Doc. 19) be, and hereby is, GRANTED;”

Van Winkle v. HM Insurance Group, Inc.
· 2014-12-18
Summary judgment (plaintiff Jill Van Winkle) Granted

“The motion for summary judgment by Plaintiff Jill Van Winkle (Doc. 41) be, and is hereby, GRANTED”

Summary judgment (defendant HM Insurance Group) Granted in part

“The motion for summary judgment by Defendant HM Insurance Group (Doc. 44) be, and is hereby, GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART”

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Norcold, Inc.
· 2015-11-06
Summary judgment (plaintiffs State Farm and Larry Swerdloff) Granted in part

“State Farm and Swerdloffs motion for summary judgment (Doc. 28) be, and is hereby, GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART”

Motion for leave to file surreply (defendant Norcold, Inc.) Granted

“Norcold’s motion for leave to file a surreply (Doc. 33) be, and is hereby, GRANTED;”

Eat More Wings, LLC v. Home Market Foods, Inc.
· 2017-10-10
Motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction (defendant Home Market Foods, Inc.) Denied

“Following argument, the Court announced its decision to deny the motion to dismiss”

S.R. v. Kenton County Sheriff's Office
· 2017-10-11
Summary judgment (defendants filing Doc. 151) Granted in part

“Defendants' motions for summary judgment (Docs. 151, 152) be, and are hereby, GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.”

Summary judgment (defendants filing Doc. 152) Granted in part
Summary judgment (plaintiffs) Granted in part

“Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment (Doc. 153) be, and is hereby, GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 247 days (N = 5).

The five sampled terminated matters included two Social Security appeals and one matter each involving property, employment benefits, and civil rights.

A historical record

Judge Bertelsman 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.