Pat E. Morgenstern-Clarren
How Judge Morgenstern-Clarren rules, drawn from 24 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Morgenstern-Clarren no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Morgenstern-Clarren decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Declining to reopen was favored where parallel state litigation could resolve the dispute without fragmented proceedings or unnecessary federal interference.
“Declining to reopen the case will avoid piecemeal litigation and the appearance of procedural maneuvering, conserve judicial resources, and avoid friction between the state and federal courts.”
Procedural preferences
Competing interpretations of a developed factual record were reserved for trial rather than resolved through summary judgment.
“Head may be correct that all of this evidence can be viewed in a different way that makes him an innocent bystander, but in this court’s opinion that is an issue for trial, not for resolution by summary judgment.”
Cautions
Civil contempt required clear proof of a knowing violation of a definite and specific order.
“Contempt must be shown by clear and convincing evidence that the alleged contemnor violated a definite and specific court order”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“As the debtor failed to establish that there is a basis for granting relief from the judgment, her motion is denied.”
After trial, the creditor failed to prove its nondischargeability complaint.
“For the reasons stated, the objection is sustained and the motion to reopen this case is denied.”
“For the reasons stated, the trustee’s objection to the debtors’ claim of exemption is overruled and the exemption is allowed.”
The court finalized compensatory and coercive sanctions following its earlier contempt ruling.
The initial opinion requested limited supplemental briefing before a final claim-distribution order.
“For the reasons stated in the memorandum of opinion filed this same date, the motion of the United States Trustee to 1) Find John W. Gold in Contempt; 2) Request for an Accounting of Funds; and 3) Assess Sanctions is granted.”
“The request to revoke Mr. Gold’s ECF privileges is denied without prejudice”
“The request to deny Mr. Gold any attorney fees from the estate and to enjoin him from attempting to seek any such fees is moot because the court has already ruled that Mr. Gold is not entitled to any fees from any funds that were the subject of the agreed order.”
“For the reasons stated in the memorandum of opinion entered this same date, the United States trustee’s motion is granted and this case is dismissed.”
“For the reasons stated, the IRS’s motion for costs in the amount of $986.05 is granted.”
“Based on consideration of these factors, the court finds that the debtor has not established cause to reopen her case and her motion is denied.”
“The motion to strike is, therefore, granted, not in the sense that the brief will be physically removed from the court record but in the sense that the hearing issues will not be expanded to include the ‘unreported income’ issue addressed in the brief.”
“For those reasons, the motion to quash is denied.”
“The request to compensate Mr. Mahsua is granted in part.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The median reflects case-level filing and termination dates only; the sampled matters contained no archived motion entries.
A historical record
Judge Morgenstern-Clarren 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.