Peter B. Krupp
How Judge Krupp decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a Section 1983 attempt to route around a state's own tax-remedy scheme, he draws a sharp line between claims that can be resolved as a single, focused legal question of general policy versus claims requiring the technical fact-finding an administrative tax board is built for -- the former can bypass exhaustion, the latter cannot.
“The facts needed to decide whether the City has implemented the alleged Add-Back Policy are focused and narrow, particularly compared to the range of facts and expertise involved in a typical tax appeal.”
In privilege disputes he pinpoints the exact moment a corporate insider's interests became adverse to the board (often a specific vote or action, not merely voiced disagreement) and draws the privilege line precisely there, rather than at the first sign of friction.
“The fact that Leighton harbored, and even expressed, concerns about his disagreements with other directors prior to December 20, 2022, including the possibility that his employment might be terminated, was not sufficient to put him on reasonable notice that he was not a client of the LoadSpring board's counsel.”
On forum non conveniens, he treats a contract's Massachusetts choice-of-law and consent-to-jurisdiction clause as relevant but not decisive, and will still send the case abroad when virtually all witnesses, evidence, and the underlying events are located there.
“the parties' contractual consent to jurisdiction in Massachusetts does not bar defendants from successfully moving to dismiss the case on forum non conveniens grounds ... parties often cannot foresee the circumstances of future litigation and determine at that time whether a more convenient forum would be required”
Procedural preferences
He reads broad arbitration clauses generously to reach disputes arising from documents signed before the clause existed, so long as they are part of a single hiring or transactional package -- an early offer letter without an arbitration clause will not shield a later dispute once a comprehensive agreement with that clause is signed as part of the same deal.
“The Offer Letter and the Employment Agreement form a package of documents executed in relation to plaintiff's hiring ... Plaintiff's view of the Offer Letter as an entirely stand-alone agreement ... runs contrary to the facts presented.”
He enforces the corporate demand-futility doctrine strictly even against a sophisticated corporate plaintiff, refusing to let a party skip pre-suit demand merely because it assumes the board would not act.
“It would be pointless to require -- and for a shareholder or creditor actually to make -- a demand for action by a corporate board, and then permit the shareholder or creditor to file suit without waiting to see if the planned corporate action by that board would remedy the complained-of situation.”
When a party discloses its own former attorney as an expert witness whose trial testimony cuts against that attorney's earlier advocacy, he holds the privilege waiver to the specific scope of the inconsistency -- not the whole file -- putting the burden on the party invoking privilege to justify document-by-document why something falls outside that scope.
“As to the Wilmer Documents that fall within the Scope of the Waiver, any privilege or protection has been waived ... To the extent the Cummings Parties contend that any of the Wilmer Documents are outside the Scope of the Waiver, they shall submit a revised privilege log within 21 days, more particularly describing the nature of each such document”
On a request to seal or otherwise restrict third-party discovery, he calibrates narrowly item-by-item rather than ruling wholesale for or against a subpoena, granting only the specific document requests shown to be relevant and not unduly burdensome.
“the subpoena to 2San LLC, is reasonable as to Request for Production ('RFP') Nos. 1, 2 and 5, but is otherwise overbroad”
Cautions
A motion to dismiss or for summary judgment resting on evidence outside the four corners of the complaint (a settlement agreement quoted only in an affidavit, tax schedules attached to a motion) will not succeed merely because that evidence looks favorable -- he declines to convert the proceeding into summary judgment sua sponte and will wait for a properly developed record.
“The purported settlement agreement is beyond the scope of the pleadings. I decline to turn this into a motion for summary judgment based on a single paragraph quoted in an affidavit.”
Negligence claims resting on an institution's data-security or professional practices require expert testimony on the industry standard of care -- a plaintiff cannot get to a jury on a bare assertion that a company 'should have done more' to safeguard confidential information.
“Practices and policies for maintaining, and governing access to, confidential information in the insurance business are not matters of common knowledge or experience. Adams therefore must bring forward qualified expert testimony to proceed on his negligence claim.”
A party that fails to assert a claim in a counterparty's bankruptcy proceeding, or as a compulsory counterclaim in an earlier related suit between the same parties, forfeits it -- he treats these procedural defaults as complete, not partial, bars even where the underlying claim might otherwise have merit.
“Barracuda was required to assert its prepetition claims in Fusion's bankruptcy proceeding and by failing to do so waived them.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“I allow the motions on forum non conveniens grounds.”
“the motion must be allowed. I am compelled to stay this case and enforce the parties' agreement to arbitrate these disputes.”
“Summary judgment is improper on Counts II and III and, for the same reasons, on the claim for declaratory relief.”
“Defendant Freda L. Zifteh's Motion to Dismiss (Docket #15) is allowed insofar as the case is dismissed without prejudice to bringing a separate action after proper demand if there remains any basis or reason to do so.”
“As a result, the motion to dismiss must be denied.”
“the motion is allowed in part and denied in part”
“The Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Commonwealth's Complaint (Docket #27) must be denied for the reasons set out in Meta and, to the extent not addressed by the SJC, by the rationale that I applied in the Meta Case.”
“Defendants Nicholos Montgomery, Whitney McKinnon and Maggie Sergeff's Motion to Dismiss and to Compel Arbitration (Docket #48) is allowed insofar as they seek to compel arbitration.”
“I must enforce plaintiff's agreement to resolve his disputes with the BDO Defendants through arbitration.”
“After review of the Emergency Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Temporary Restraining Order filed by Vineyard Wind 1, LLC ('VW') ... the motion for a preliminary injunction shall be allowed.”
“Defendants argue that even if the information at issue falls under the trade secret policy, the information still belongs to the university. I cannot make that finding as a matter of law on the existing record.”
Put Judge Krupp's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Krupp actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Krupp's own signed orders and cites them.