Gene E.K. Pratter
How Judge Pratter decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Carefully separates surviving claims from those that fail as a matter of law rather than dismissing wholesale: in employment MSJs she lets the core discrimination claim reach the jury while granting on retaliation/ancillary claims (Tingley-Kelley v. Penn), and in MTDs she dismisses discrete counts while denying the remainder (Hayward, Carter).
“With regard to Count I (Sex Discrimination), Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED. ... With regard to Count II (Retaliation), Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.”
Enforces statutes of limitations strictly on their text: dismissed an FDCPA claim with prejudice on the occurrence (not discovery) rule -- a reading later affirmed by the en banc 3d Cir. and the Supreme Court.
“the Motion (Docket No. 16) is GRANTED. The Amended Complaint (Docket No. 15) is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
Procedural preferences
Routinely grants leave to amend when dismissing on pleadings deficiencies, with a short, specific deadline (10-14 days), rather than ending the case -- signaling a replead-friendly posture on first dismissals.
“Plaintiffs may file an amended complaint no later than 14 days from the date of this order.”
Actively manages cases toward settlement and ADR: places contested matters in civil suspense pending status updates and refers cases to a magistrate judge for settlement conferences before trial (West v. Wal-Mart -> MJ Rice; many 2018 cases terminate by settlement).
“ORDER THAT THIS CASE IS REFERRED TO MAGISTRATE JUDGE RICE FOR A SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE”
Motion outcomes
Counted from classified signed orders only. Percentages are shown only where the sample is large enough to be meaningful; smaller samples are reported as raw counts.
| Summary judgment N = 9 |
Granted: 3Granted in part: 3Denied: 3 | counts only |
| Motions to dismiss N = 5 |
Granted: 2Granted in part: 2Denied: 1 | counts only |
| Motion to dismiss indictment N = 1 |
Denied: 1 | counts only |
| Daubert motion to exclude N = 1 |
Granted in part: 1 | counts only |
A "1 of 1" is one ruling, not a tendency. Treat small samples as illustrative, not predictive.
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Defendants' Motion (Docket No. 12) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part ... Count III ... DISMISSED without prejudice. Plaintiff shall file a second amended complaint within 10 days ... Count I and II ... DISMISSED with prejudice as to Plaintiff's claim for punitive damages only. ... Motion to Dismiss is DENIED as to the remainder of Counts I and II.”
“Defendant's Motion (Docket No. 16) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART, as follows: 1. With regard to Count I (Sex Discrimination), Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED. 2. With regard to Count II (Retaliation), Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED. 3. With regard to Count III (Fraudulent Misrepresentation), Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED;”
“Defendant's Motion to Preclude Mr. Bernheim's Testimony is GRANTED only to the extent that Mr. Bernheim may not testify as to the cause of Mr. Jones's injury, or to whether or not the features of the basketball court constitute a “dangerous condition”; Defendant's Motion to Preclude is DENIED in all other respects.”
“Defendant's Motion is GRANTED in part, and DENIED in part as follows: 1. Defendant's Motion is GRANTED as to Count III only regarding Plaintiff's allegations of procedural due process violations, and those allegations are DISMISSED with prejudice. 2. By Consent of Plaintiff, Defendant's Motion is GRANTED as to Count V, and Count V is DISMISSED without prejudice. 3. By Consent of Plaintiff, Defendant's Motion is GRANTED as to Count VI, and Count VI is DISMISSED with prejudice. 4. The remainder of Defendant's Motion is DENIED. ... 5. Plaintiffs may file an amended complaint no later than 14 days from the date of this order.”
“Sun's Motion is GRANTED. JUDGMENT IS ENTERED in favor of Sun National Bank and against Arthur Hudson, in the amount of $2,151,223.28”
“Standard's Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 266) is GRANTED;”
“Lincoln's Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 286) is GRANTED;”
“Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 269) is DENIED; ... The captioned case is DISMISSED;”
“the Motion (Docket No. 16) is GRANTED. The Amended Complaint (Docket No. 15) is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. The Clerk of Court shall mark this case CLOSED for all purposes, including statistics.”
“the Motions (Docket Nos. 11, 12) are GRANTED. Mr. Willis's claims are DISMISSED. The Clerk of Court shall mark this case CLOSED for all purposes, including statistics.”
“the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 14) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as outlined in the Court's January 29, 2018 memorandum.”
“PennEngineering's summary judgment motions (Doc. Nos. 257, 258, 260 & 261) are DENIED;”
“Peninsula's summary judgment motion (Doc. No. 259) is GRANTED IN PART for the following claims: a. Trademark infringement claims based on hidden use of trademarks for keyword conquesting; b. Counterfeiting claims in counts 23-34 of the Second Amended Complaint; and c. All claims based on the 20 unused registered marks and 31 of the unused common law marks; and 4. Peninsula's summary judgment motion (Doc. No. 259) is DENIED IN PART as to the remainder.”
“Mr. Anand's Motion (Doc. No. 118) is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the First Amended Complaint (Docket No. 7) is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 339.5 days (N = 12).