Dean Whipple
How Judge Whipple rules, drawn from 27 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Whipple
Dean Whipple is a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Judge Whipple received a commission on December 9, 1987. Judge Whipple assumed senior status on April 30, 2007.
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026).
How Judge Whipple decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In the Consolidated Freightways case, Whipple denied a discretionary stay after finding that the competing hardship and public-interest arguments did not carry the defendant’s burden.
“On balance, the factors discussed above do not support a stay of this action.”
Procedural preferences
In Devore, Whipple treated fraudulent joinder as an equitable doctrine suited to guide discretion where the ordinary statutory framework did not squarely control.
“the doctrine, being equitable in nature, is well-suited to decide this case where the Court has discretion to remand.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Pursuant to the Court’s Modified Judgment of Preliminary Injunction, Defendants are directed to transport Plaintiff to Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of St. Louis”
“ORDERED that the judgment of the bankruptcy court is affirmed.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court denies the defendant’s motion for a discretionary stay”
“the Court orally granted the United States’ motion to revoke Defendant’s supervised release”
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED that Boatmen’s motion is DENIED.”
“the court affirms the bankruptcy court’s order.”
“ORDERED that Defendant Goldline Laboratories, Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss, filed September 25, 1990 is denied.”
“ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to File First Amended Complaint, filed October 17, 1990 is granted.”
“AFFIRMS the decision by the Commissioner to deny Plaintiffs applications for disability insurance benefits under Title II and supplemental security income under Title XVI.”
“the Court denies Defendants’ motion for new trial, or in the alternative, motion for relief from judgment, or in the alternative, motion for remittitur or reduction in judgment.”
“ORDERED that the Court’s September 13, 1993 Order is MODIFIED, nunc pro tunc, by the present Order.”
“ORDERED that Count II of Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint be dismissed against Defendant Todey without prejudice.”
“The Court finally DENIES Defendant Todey’s motion to dismiss Count II against him with prejudice”
“DENIES Defendant Todey’s remaining motions to dismiss as moot.”
“It is therefore ORDERED that Defendants’ motion to dismiss the FTC’s amended complaint for failure to state a claim is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 772 days (N = 20).
The 20 oldest returned assigned matters were all terminated and included product-liability, contract, prisoner, benefits, ERISA, property, tax, and personal-injury cases.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, not for Judge Whipple: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 1,429 | 6.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 520 | 5.7 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 876 | 7.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 19 | 49.3 months |
| Closed during trial | 14 | 22.7 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,429 | 6.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,461 | 6.9 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,502 | 6.2 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,738 | 7.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,341 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,312 | 6.9 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,485 | 7 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
Draft for Judge Whipple with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Whipple, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Whipple's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace