Robert Leon Jordan

How Judge Jordan rules, drawn from 20 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Judge Jordan 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 Tennessee
Position
district
Status
Deceased
Served
1988–2024
Appointed by
Ronald Reagan (Republican)
Commissioned
1988-10-17
Education
University of Tennessee, B.S. (1958); University of Tennessee College of Law, J.D. (1960)
Signed orders read
20

How Judge Jordan decides

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

What persuades

In the L-S Industries ruling, Jordan denied summary judgment where the movant did not connect the governing elements to an evidentiary deficiency.

“In order to be entitled to summary judgment on Matlack’s specific claim for intentional interference with business relationships, LSI must set out the elements of the claim and then demonstrate how Matlack has no proof to establish those required five elements. LSI has not done that.”

Procedural preferences

In Hill, Jordan declined to treat a request embedded in a dispositive brief as a motion to amend.

“A motion must be filed as a separate, freestanding document.”

Cautions

In Gregg, Jordan refused to suppress unspecified statements when the defendant had neither developed the issue nor identified the statements.

“This court, however, does not issue suppression rulings based on speculation.”

Signed rulings

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

Blalock v. Loctite Corp.
· 1996-07-02
Motion for relief from judgment (plaintiffs) Denied

“For the reasons stated, the court finds the plaintiffs’ motion, read as a Rule 60(b) motion, not well taken, and it is DENIED.”

Caughorn v. Phillips
· 1997-08-14
Motion for temporary restraining order (plaintiff) Denied

“The court will accordingly deny the plaintiffs motions for temporary restraining orders.”

Drier v. Love (In re Love)
· 1999-12-09
Bankruptcy appeal (plaintiffs-appellants) Denied

“Therefore, for the reasons discussed above, the plaintiffs’ appeal from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee will be overruled, and their complaint will be dismissed without prejudice.”

Cook v. Barnhart
· 2003-01-14
Motion for attorney fees (plaintiff) Granted

“It is ORDERED, for the reasons stated in the report and recommendation, which the court adopts and incorporates into its ruling, that plaintiffs motion for attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), [doc. 22] is GRANTED in the total amount of Two Thousand Forty Eight Dollars and Ninety Cents ($2,048.90).”

Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project v. United States Forest Service
· 2007-06-26
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“defendants’ motion will be granted, plaintiffs’ motion will be denied, and this cause will be dismissed.”

Summary judgment (plaintiffs) Denied
Steele v. United Parcel Service, Inc.
· 2007-06-27
Judgment on the pleadings (defendant Broadspire Services, Inc.) Granted

“Nonetheless, because plaintiffs state law claims against Broadspire are preempted by ERISA, the motion will be granted and defendant Broadspire will be dismissed from this litigation.”

Gatlinburg Airport Authority, Inc. v. Cantwell
· 2007-06-27
Summary judgment (United States) Granted

“For the reasons stated herein, the United States’ motion will be granted, and Cant-well’s motion will bé denied.”

Summary judgment (Grant Cantwell) Denied
Dolphin Offshore Partners, L.P. v. Industrial Resources Corp.
· 2007-06-27
Summary judgment (plaintiff) Granted

“Defendant’s motion to strike will accordingly be denied, and plaintiffs summary judgment motion will be granted.”

Motions to strike (defendant estate) Denied
Butturini v. Farmer (In re Butturini)
· 2009-01-06
Bankruptcy appeal (debtors-appellants) Granted

“For the reasons that follow, the judgment of the bankruptcy court will be reversed.”

L-S Industries, Inc. v. Matlack
· 2009-02-09
Summary judgment (defendant/counter-plaintiff Christopher Matlack) Denied

“For the reasons stated herein, Matlack’s motion for partial summary judgment will be denied.”

Summary judgment (plaintiff/counter-defendant L-S Industries, Inc.) Granted in part

“LSI’s motion for summary judgment will be granted in part and denied in part.”

Bio-Medical Applications of Tennessee, Inc. v. Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Health & Welfare Fund
· 2009-08-13
Summary judgment (plaintiff) Granted

“Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment on count one of its complaint will be granted.”

Motion for judgment on administrative record (defendant) Denied

“Defendant’s summary judgment motions will be denied and its counterclaim will be dismissed.”

Summary judgment (defendant) Denied
Herin v. Prudential Insurance Co. of America
· 2009-09-24
Motion for judgment on administrative record (defendants) Granted

“For the reasons stated herein, defendants’ motion will be granted. Herin’s motion will be denied and this civil action will be dismissed.”

Motion for judgment on administrative record (plaintiff Velva J. Herin) Denied

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

The five sampled terminated cases were filed from October 1988 through May 1989 and included disability-benefits, asbestos, personal-liability, and prisoner civil-rights matters. Their electronic entry timelines were empty.

A historical record

Judge Jordan 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.