Steven E. Rau
How Judge Rau rules, drawn from 5 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Rau no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Rau
Steven E. Rau served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota from 2011 until his death in 2019. He earned his undergraduate degree at Carleton College and his law degree at William Mitchell College of Law, and he previously practiced law and clerked for a Minnesota Supreme Court justice.
How Judge Rau decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Johnson v. Commissioner, he recommended granting the Commissioner's summary judgment motion; the district judge adopted that recommendation.
“Defendant Commissioner's Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket No. 17] is GRANTED.”
Procedural preferences
In Erdmann v. Hanson, he recommended dismissing the action without prejudice at preservice screening; the district judge adopted the recommendation.
“This action is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. ... Plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. No. [2]) is DENIED AS MOOT.”
Cautions
In Tholen v. Assist America, his adopted recommendation imposed adverse-inference sanctions over the defendant's failure to preserve or produce its operations manual.
“Magistrate Judge Steven E. Rau's April 19, 2019 Report and Recommendation (Doc. No. [247) is ADOPTED. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Assist America is sanctioned as follows: ... will give rise to the adverse inference that Assist America's operations manual ... provided insufficient information ...”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Plaintiff Dale William Johnson's Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket No. 11] is DENIED.”
“Defendant Commissioner's Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket No. 17] is GRANTED.”
“JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.'s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. No. [17]) is GRANTED;”
“City of Saint Paul, Minnesota's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. [25]) is GRANTED;”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. [10]) is DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. [12]) is GRANTED.”
“This action is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. ... Plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. No. [2]) is DENIED AS MOOT.”
“Magistrate Judge Steven E. Rau's April 19, 2019 Report and Recommendation (Doc. No. [247) is ADOPTED. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Assist America is sanctioned as follows: ... will give rise to the adverse inference that Assist America's operations manual ... provided insufficient information ...”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Consent (636(c)) SS and FDCPA cases make Rau the assigned judge and final decision-maker, so the docket record holds his own dispositive rulings: distinct from his referral R&R work. Consumer-credit cases here mostly settled (e.g. Elliot ended in a 2017-09-12 stipulated dismissal with prejudice), leaving no contested dispositive motion.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Rau was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2020.
| 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 | 0 |
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 Rau 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.