Mark Lawrence Wolf
How Judge Wolf rules, drawn from 16 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Wolf no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Wolf
Mark Lawrence Wolf was a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Judge Wolf received a commission on April 4, 1985. Judge Wolf assumed senior status on January 1, 2013 and retired on November 7, 2025.
How Judge Wolf decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Marks v. MRD Corp., he dismissed federal lending claims after the signed finance agreement contradicted allegations that required disclosures were missing and an unsigned replacement agreement governed the transaction.
“When such documents contradict an allegation in the complaint, the document trumps the allegation.”
In Gustavsen v. Alcon Laboratories, Wolf dismissed a consumer suit over prescription eye-dropper design because state-law claims requiring changes to the sterile container conflicted with federal approval requirements.
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss First Amended Complaint, (Docket No. 50) is ALLOWED, and this case is DISMISSED.”
In Rothbaum v. Samsung, Wolf excluded the plaintiff's engineering expert after finding the defect opinion unreliable. Without that opinion, the remaining evidence did not support the warranty and consumer-protection claims, and he granted summary judgment to Samsung.
“Therefore, judgment will be entered for the defendant.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The plaintiffs Motion for Judgment on the Record (Docket No. 17) is DENIED.”
“The defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Record (Docket No. 19) is ALLOWED.”
“the court is allowing the defendant’s motion to exclude Thompson’s report and testimony.”
“Therefore, judgment will be entered for the defendant.”
“The Plaintiffs Motion to Remand (Docket No. 12) is DENIED.”
“The Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Complaint (Docket No. 6) is ALLOWED and this case is DISMISSED.”
“Defendants’ Motion for Reconsideration (Docket No. 212) is DENIED, without prejudice to being renewed concerning the issues of direct employment and joint employment after damages are determined.”
“The motion for class certification (Docket No. 110) is DENIED.”
“Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 35) is ALLOWED. Judgment shall, therefore, enter for defendants.”
“Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 39) is DENIED.”
“Motion of Sandwich Water District and Bourne Water District to Intervene as *194Non-Aligned Parties (Docket No. 31) is MOOT.”
“Motion of the Town of Falmouth to Intervene as a Non-Aligned Party (Docket No. 50) is MOOT.”
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss First Amended Complaint, (Docket No. 50) is ALLOWED, and this case is DISMISSED.”
“The Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim (Docket No. 52) is MOOT.”
“The Motion for Leave to File Supplemental Exhibits (Docket No. 108) is DENIED.”
“the defendant Dioceses and/or Churches of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Docket No. 21) is ALLOWED.”
“The Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 63) is ALLOWED.”
“Plaintiffs Motion for a Civil Contempt Proceeding (Docket No. 67) is DENIED.”
“The Motions to Dismiss (Docket Nos. 13 & 30) are ALLOWED. Counts I, II, and X are DISMISSED with prejudice. All other claims are DISMISSED without prejudice.”
“Plaintiff's Motion to Amend the Complaint (Docket No. 19) is ALLOWED.”
“Defendant MRD's Motion to Repossess Motor Vehicle (Docket No. 21) is DENIED without prejudice to being reinstituted in the courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”
“Defendant 3M's Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 34) is DENIED.”
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 17) is DENIED as to Count I, alleging misrepresentation, and as to Counts III and IV to the extent that they allege that statements on defendants' website violated Mass. Gen. Laws Chapter 93A. The Motion to Dismiss is ALLOWED as to Count II, with respect to Counts III and IV to the extent that they allege the statements on Extra Stout's bottle and carton labels violate Chapter 93A, and as to the remaining counts in their entirety.”
“Plaintiff's Motion to Strike (Docket No. 22) is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 563 days (N = 15).
- Across a four-decade tenure the sampled docket spans habeas corpus and prisoner civil-rights petitions, patent and copyright suits, ERISA and labor cases, product-liability and diversity actions, securities and commodities matters, False Claims Act qui tam actions, mortgage-foreclosure and consumer-finance disputes, environmental (Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act) litigation, and immigration mandamus and detention cases.
- The listed examples describe the range of cases reviewed, not a quantitative measure of his full caseload.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Wolf was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2025.
| 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 | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2023 | 2 | 3 |
| Mar 2023 | 7 | 2 |
| Sep 2022 | 7 | 5 |
| Mar 2022 | 11 | 6 |
| Sep 2021 | 3 | 6 |
| Mar 2021 | 3 | 3 |
| Sep 2020 | 6 | 4 |
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 Wolf 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.