Donal Dennis Sullivan
How Judge Sullivan rules, drawn from 28 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Sullivan no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Sullivan decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Priority treatment was tied to the statutory scheme rather than broad appeals to fairness or public policy.
“Designation of priorities is the province of Congress, and courts are not free to fashion their own super- or sub-priorities.”
Procedural preferences
When a complaint mixed estate-owned claims with claims belonging to creditors, the court required a narrowed amended pleading rather than allowing the theories to proceed together.
“The complaint should be dismissed but the trustee should be allowed 15 days within which to file an amended complaint asserting corporate claims.”
Cautions
Timely notice of the bankruptcy left the creditor responsible for investigating and filing its nondischargeability complaint before the deadline.
“this adversary proceeding is untimely and must be dismissed.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ORDERED that the United States’ Motion for Summary Judgment is denied”
“ORDERED that the Debtors’ Cross Motion for Summary Judgment is granted”
“ORDERED that the Debtors’ objection to the claim of the Internal Revenue Service is sustained and the claim is disallowed.”
“The motion of the State of Oregon for summary judgment should be granted and the complaint dismissed.”
“The motion to dismiss filed by the Government should be denied.”
“For the foregoing reason, defendant’s motion for summary judgment should be denied.”
“The motion to dismiss, which will be considered a motion for summary judgment to the extent there are factual matters, should be granted.”
“The trustee’s objection is sustained.”
“The complaint should be dismissed but the trustee should be allowed 15 days within which to file an amended complaint asserting corporate claims.”
“ORDER ALLOWING MOTION TO DISMISS AND TO MAKE MORE DEFINITE AND CERTAIN”
“Summary judgment should be granted to the trustee.”
“Burlington’s claim should be denied administrative priority”
“summary judgment should be entered in favor of plaintiffs and against the defendant on all issues under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A).”
The court allocated crop proceeds among the secured lender and those who contributed necessary preservation costs, without deciding a discrete motion.
“Relief should be denied to the credit union.”
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 Sullivan 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.