Eric Claude Schulte
How Judge Schulte decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a motion for default judgment he does not treat the clerk's entry of default as automatic victory: the plaintiff must still plead a legitimate cause of action, because a defaulting party admits only well-pleaded facts, not conclusions of law. He will hold a Rule 55(b)(2) evidentiary hearing to test the claim and the damages before entering (or, as here, refusing) judgment.
“The entry of default by the Clerk does not entitle the non-defaulting party to a default judgment as a matter of right. ... Necessary for default judgment are facts in the complaint that constitute a legitimate cause of action, since a party in default does not admit mere conclusions of law.”
In a racial-discrimination case he requires the pleading to allege race as the more-likely-than-not / but-for cause of the adverse action, and he will look past labels to the pleaded facts: where the alleged mistreatment traces to a workplace accident and an unrelated safety remark rather than race, both Title VII and Section 1981 claims fail. He also enforces Title VII's threshold elements (the 15-employee floor; the existence of an employer-employee, not independent-contractor, relationship).
“On the facts pleaded, the Court considers it more likely than not that the actions Defendant took were not based on El Karmassi's race. ... The Court finds it more likely than not that the statements were made not because of El Karmassi's race, but in reference to the leaking gas.”
On the extraordinary remedy of a receivership he applies the Eighth Circuit's six-factor Aviation Supply test (valid claim; probable fraud; imminent danger to property; inadequacy of legal remedies; lack of a less drastic remedy; more good than harm), treats a contractual consent-to-receiver clause as weighing in favor, and will look to state receiver statutes for additional guidance. He found insolvency plus an alleged check-kiting scheme threatening perishable collateral met the 'extreme case' bar.
“The present situation meets the criteria of an 'extreme case.' Compeer has presented evidence of a potential fraud and that there is 'imminent danger that property will be concealed, lost, or diminished in value.' ... this Court finds that they are all met here.”
Procedural preferences
He acts quickly on genuine emergencies: in the Compeer receivership he set a status conference and an expedited evidentiary hearing within days of removal and ruled four days after the motions were filed, citing the imminent danger to living collateral (110,000 head of swine lacking feed, veterinary care, and propane heat).
“An expedited evidentiary hearing was set for Compeer's motions because it alleges its collateral on Defendants' loans, largely Defendants' 110,000 head of swine, are in danger of diminishing in value given Defendants' insolvent position.”
Cautions
He reads federal statutory schemes as exclusive where Congress so intended: the Agricultural Credit Act's restructuring provisions create no private right of action and cannot be imported into a state foreclosure/receivership action, so a borrower cannot use them to block a lender's otherwise-permitted enforcement, especially given the Act's own collateral-dissipation exception.
“there is no implied private right of action available to enforce the [Agricultural Credit Act] because Congress intended administrative review to be the exclusive remedy for violations of the Act. ... this Court cannot enforce the provisions of the Agricultural Credit Act.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The caseload mixes current intake (2025-2026 filings, still largely pending) with an inherited block of older cases that have now mostly terminated, so the sample is no longer purely recency-weighted the way it was at the June 2026 build. Prisoner habeas and civil-rights petitions are overrepresented relative to a typical general-civil docket because they were the most groundable inherited cases (clear R&R-adoption dismissals with dated filings).
Put Judge Schulte's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Schulte actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Schulte's own signed orders and cites them.