Christopher L. Morgan
How Judge Morgan rules, drawn from 2 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Morgan decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
For a protective order excluding a nonparty from depositions, he requires a concrete factual showing of likely disruption or harm rather than generalized concern.
“A finding of good cause must be based on a particular factual demonstration of potential harm, not on conclusory statements.”
When deciding substitution after a transfer of interest, he treats Rule 25(c) as discretionary and asks whether changing the parties would facilitate the litigation.
“the court has considerable leeway under Rule 25(c) in deciding whether to allow Maple Street to continue alone, substitute Mr. Zherka for Maple Street, or join Mr. Zherka with Maple Street.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Mr. Zherka’s motion to file a reply brief in further support of his substitution or joinder motion (Dkt. Nos. 183) is ALLOWED”
“his motion for substitution (Dkt. No. 161) is DENIED”
“rendering his motion for a stay of discovery (Dkt. No. 164) MOOT”
“Defendant’s motion for a protective order enjoining Mr. Zherka from attending any of the depositions in this matter is GRANTED (Dkt. No. 186)”
“Defendant’s motion to strike Zherka’s non-party filings, including his response at Dkt. Nos. 188 and his motion at Dkt. No. 202 (Dkt. No. 205) is GRANTED.”
Morgan recommended dismissal without prejudice after the plaintiff's attempted amended pleading remained too disorganized to identify the defendants and the conduct attributed to each. The district judge adopted the recommendation on June 30, 2026. No party motion was before Morgan, so the recommendation is excluded from motion statistics.
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 444 days (N = 1).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 21 days (N = 6).
The screened assignments included Social Security, defamation, consumer-credit, civil-rights, labor, insurance, and environmental disputes. Most were filed during the judge's first months on the bench and had not yet reached a contested ruling.
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