John Davis Larkins Jr.

How Judge Larkins rules, drawn from 30 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

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

Court
United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
Position
district
Status
Deceased
Served
1961–1990
Appointed by
John F. Kennedy (Democratic)
Commissioned
1961-08-21
Education
Wake Forest College, B.A. (1929); Wake Forest College School of Law; Read law (1930)
Signed orders read
30

How Judge Larkins decides

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

What persuades

In Standard Tankers, Larkins emphasized the narrow statutory grounds for disturbing an arbitration award and the federal policy favoring maritime arbitration.

“the policy embodied in the Federal Arbitration Act: to encourage arbitration of disputes arising in maritime practice and to eliminate extended court proceedings.”

Procedural preferences

In Sadler, Larkins deferred a stay request when the plaintiff represented that the duplicative state action would be voluntarily dismissed if federal jurisdiction existed.

“the court will hold the motion to stay in abeyance pending further action in this regard by the plaintiff.”

Cautions

In Pacific Indemnity, Larkins enforced the duty to prosecute even after earlier allowing the plaintiff additional time to prepare the case.

“To leave this case open would be to foster a charade, and to unfairly inconvenience and harass the defendant.”

Signed rulings

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

Williams v. United States
· 1965-05-12
Motion to vacate sentence (federal prisoner) Denied

“the petition be, and the same is hereby denied.”

Shultz v. Clay Transfer Co.
· 1970-09-01
Motion for more definite statement (defendants) Denied

“the Motion for a More Definite Statement be and the same is hereby, denied;”

Motions to dismiss (defendants) Denied

“the Motion to Dismiss be and the same is hereby, denied.”

Floyd v. Richardson
· 1971-06-18
Summary judgment (defendant Secretary) Granted

“Defendant’s Motion should be allowed.”

Lai v. Board of Trustees of East Carolina University
· 1971-07-22

Larkins declined to substitute judicial judgment for university academic discretion after finding no bad faith or arbitrary action.

Williams v. Batton
· 1972-05-03
Motions to dismiss (prison official) Granted

“the Defendant’s motion to dismiss be, and the same is hereby, allowed.”

Herrick v. Cushman
· 1974-07-29
Motions to dismiss (military defendant) Granted

“defendant’s motion to dismiss be, and the same is, hereby allowed”

Wetherington v. Phillips
· 1974-08-12
Motions to dismiss (defendants) Granted

“all of the defendants’ motions to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure be, and the same are, hereby allowed”

Motion for attorney fees (counterclaiming defendants) Denied

“the requests for costs and attorneys fees of defendants, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Earney, H. H. Green, and Earnest Huff, be, and the same are, denied.”

Pacific Indemnity Co. v. United States
· 1975-01-25
Motions to dismiss (United States) Granted

“defendant’s Motion to Dismiss be, and the same is, hereby granted”

Kilcoyne v. Morgan
· 1975-02-05
Summary judgment (plaintiff professor) Denied

“plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment be denied”

Summary judgment (university defendants) Granted

“defendants’ motion for summary judgment be allowed.”

Love v. United States
· 1975-03-05
Motion to vacate sentence (federal prisoner) Granted

“the petitioner’s motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 be, and the same is, granted”

Rankin v. Coleman
· 1975-10-01
Motion to modify preliminary injunction (federal defendant) Granted

“the federal defendant’s Motion to Modify the Preliminary Injunction be, and the same is hereby allowed”

In Re Southern Supply Co. of Greenville, North Carolina, Inc.
· 1975-11-13
Bankruptcy petition for review (Small Business Administration) Granted

“the Order of the Bankruptcy Judge dated August 7, 1972 be, and the same is hereby Suspended.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

The five sampled terminated cases included four prisoner civil-rights matters and one habeas matter, but no electronic entry timelines were available for motion or timing analysis.

A historical record

Judge Larkins 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.