Paul G. Levenson
How Judge Levenson rules, drawn from 11 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Levenson decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
At class certification, he separates remedies the proposed representative has standing to pursue from remedies that may require a different class representative.
“The proposed class should be certified as to Plaintiff's claims for retrospective relief. Insofar as Plaintiff seeks to certify a class pursuing prospective injunctive relief, Mr. Waldner lacks standing to pursue such a claim.”
At discovery, he favors a narrower factual response when a broad request depends on unresolved legal theories and the existence of responsive documents is uncertain.
“Rather than decide whether data that may not exist would theoretically be relevant, depending on the validity of one or more legal theories that have not yet been articulated, I will order Defendants to respond to RFP N by confirming whether or not they have any responsive documents.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons set forth above, I GRANT in part the Motion to Take Third Deposition Pursuant to June 21, 2022 Order (Docket No. 260).”
“For the reasons set forth above, I recommend that Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification (Docket No. 50) be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“I RECOMMEND that the Court DENY Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket No. 138], except as to Defendants' arguments with respect to Oakmark International Fund and with respect to the alleged breach of the duty of loyalty in connection with Delafield Fund.”
“I RECOMMEND that the Court DENY Defendants' Motion in Limine to Exclude Certain Opinions and Exhibits of Plaintiff's Expert Donald C. Stone [Docket No. 153].”
“I RECOMMEND that the Court DENY Defendants' Motion in Limine to Exclude Certain Opinions of Plaintiff's Expert Brian C. Becker, PhD [Docket No. 155].”
“I recommend that the Court grant Plaintiffs' Unopposed Motion for Final Approval of Class Action Settlement [Docket No. 79]”
“and Motion for Award of Attorneys' Fees, Reimbursement of Expenses, and Service Award [Docket No. 73].”
Levenson recommended dismissal without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction after screening the complaint. No party motion was before him, so the decision is retained for reasoning but excluded from motion statistics.
After the plaintiff did not respond to an order to show cause, Levenson recommended dismissal without prejudice. Because the recommendation did not resolve a party motion, it is excluded from motion statistics.
Levenson recommended dismissal without prejudice after the plaintiff failed to cure deficiencies identified in a screening order. No party motion was decided, so the recommendation is excluded from motion statistics.
“I RECOMMEND that the Court GRANT Michael and Nancy Kaelblein's Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 70)”
“and Attorney Stephan's Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 81) and that the Court DISMISS Plaintiff's Amended Complaint without prejudice.”
“I further RECOMMEND that the Court DENY AS MOOT Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment as to Amanda Kaelblein (Docket No. 84)”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment, Motion to Compel, and Request for Hearing on Damages (Docket No. 97)”
“and Plaintiff's Motion for Status Conference (Docket No. 100).”
“For the forgoing reasons, I RECOMMEND that Defendant's partial motion to dismiss (Docket No. 16) be ALLOWED and that Counts II, III, and IV of the Complaint be dismissed”
“For the forgoing reasons, Plaintiffs' motion is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel is DENIED with respect to information about VCEs' own cybersecurity measures, and ALLOWED with respect to requiring Defendants to respond, to the extent described supra, to RFP N.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 571 days (N = 9).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 25 days (N = 11).
The nine terminated civil matters examined include Social Security, habeas, personal-injury, real-property, contract, insurance, and copyright disputes. Several settled or ended without a contested merits ruling; one consent real-property docket supplied the usable motion timeline.
Draft for Judge Levenson with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Levenson, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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