William M. Nickerson

How Judge Nickerson rules, drawn from 14 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

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

Court
United States District Court for the District of Maryland
Position
district
Status
Retired 2017
Served
1990–2017
Appointed by
George H. W. Bush (Republican)
Commissioned
1990-05-14
Education
University of Virginia, B.A. (1955); University of Maryland School of Law, LL.B. (1962)
Signed orders read
14

How Judge Nickerson decides

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

What persuades

At the pleading stage in Cook, Nickerson treated an immediate change in customer behavior following targeted product criticism as enough to plead causation.

“That immediate temporal connection is sufficient to establish the requisite causation, at least at this stage in the litigation.”

Procedural preferences

In the McCoy forfeiture action, Nickerson enforced a show-cause deadline after the government neither opposed summary judgment nor answered repeated requests for its position.

“The government has failed to show cause as to why the currency should not be released to McCoy and, as such, this Court will grant McCoy’s motion for summary judgment.”

Signed rulings

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

United States v. Rachel
1:02-cv-00754 · 2007-10-17
Motion in limine (plaintiff) Granted

“the government’s motion to exclude reference to treble damages will be granted”

Motion to strike or limit expert testimony (plaintiff) Denied

“the government’s motion to strike and/or limit expert testimony will be denied”

Motion in limine (defendant) Denied

“Defendants’ motion in limine will be denied”

Action Business Systems, Inc. v. General Electric Capital Corp.
1:03-cv-03561; 1:03-cv-03562 · 2005-10-18
Motion for sanctions (defendant) Granted

“the Court concludes that it must grant GE Capital’s motions for sanction and will enter default judgment”

Motion for sanctions (defendant) Granted
United States v. $5,533 U.S. Currency
1:04-cv-03788 · 2006-03-27
Summary judgment (claimant) Granted

“this Court will grant McCoy’s motion for summary judgment.”

Lohmiller v. Meneely
1:05-cv-00394 · 2005-10-13
Partial summary judgment (plaintiff) Granted

“Plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment on Count II contribution in the amount of $89,109.50 will be granted.”

Motion for leave to amend (plaintiff) Granted

“Plaintiff has also filed a motion for leave to file an amended complaint. Defendant has consented to this motion and it will be granted.”

Sailors v. Steinebrunner
1:06-cv-01249 · 2006-07-05
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“the Court will deny Defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint.”

Baker v. Anne Arundel County
1:06-cv-01365 · 2007-03-06
Motion for reconsideration (defendant) Granted

“the Court will grant the motion for reconsideration.”

Chase v. Red Roof Inns, Inc.
1:06-cv-02566 · 2006-11-29
Motion for voluntary dismissal (plaintiff) Granted

“Plaintiffs’ motion to dismiss will be granted”

Motions to transfer (defendant) Moot / procedural

“Defendants’ motion to transfer will be denied as moot.”

Featherstone v. Kennedy Krieger Institute, Inc.
1:07-cv-01120 · 2007-11-06
Motions to remand (plaintiff) Granted

“Plaintiffs’ Motion to Remand will be granted.”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“Defendants’ motion to dismiss will be denied.”

Motion for leave to respond (defendant) Moot / procedural

“Defendants’ motion is denied as moot.”

Covington v. Kennedy Krieger Institute, Inc.
1:07-cv-01761 · 2007-10-12
Motions to remand (plaintiff) Granted

“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Remand will be granted.”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“the motion will be denied.”

Motion for leave to file surreply (defendant) Moot / procedural

“Defendants’ motion is denied as moot.”

Johnson v. Chester River Hospital Center
1:07-cv-02069 · 2007-12-13
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“Defendants' motions to dismiss will be denied.”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied
Brooks v. State of Maryland
1:07-cv-03224 · 2010-04-20
Summary judgment (defendant) Denied

“Defendants’ Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment will be denied.”

Harris v. United States
1:08-cv-02266 · 2009-09-23
Partial summary judgment (plaintiff) Denied

“both Plaintiff’s motion and Defendant’s counter motion will be denied.”

Summary judgment (defendant) Denied

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 228.5 days (N = 10).

Median motion-to-ruling time: 1 days (N = 3).

The sampled early-2009 matters included a Section 2255 petition, civil and criminal forfeiture, FOIA, contract, criminal prosecution, ERISA, civil rights, habeas, and personal-injury litigation. All sampled cases were terminated, consistent with a closed 2017 service period.

A historical record

Judge Nickerson 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.