E. Clifton Knowles
Judge Knowles no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Knowles decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
On summary judgment he holds the moving party to its burden even when the opposing party defaults: a non-response does not earn an automatic win. He examines the movant's own showing first and will recommend denial -- or refuse to recommend a grant -- where the movant has not demonstrated the absence of a genuine dispute and an entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.
“a district court cannot grant summary judgment in favor of the movant simply because the adverse party has not responded. The Court is required, at a minimum, to examine the movant's Motion for Summary Judgment to ensure that he has discharged [his initial] burden”
He revisits his own recommendations when the district judge surfaces overlooked evidence: after an initial recommendation to grant a prisoner-exhaustion summary-judgment motion, he reconsidered a grievance record that the moving affidavit had not accounted for and, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant, reversed course to recommend denial.
“the Court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party ... Defendants have not shown that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that they are entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the undersigned concludes that Plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Thus, the undersigned recommends that Defendants' Motion to Dismiss be GRANTED.”
“the undersigned recommends that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 25) be GRANTED, and that this action be DISMISSED.”
“Defendants have not shown that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that they are entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. ... the undersigned recommends that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 71) be DENIED.”
“the undersigned recommends that Plaintiff's Motion for Judgment on the Administrative Record be DENIED, and that the decision of the Commissioner be AFFIRMED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
His assigned docket reflects a consent and duty magistrate's mix: diversity personal-injury cases (several retail slip-and-fall suits), diversity contract and product-liability actions, federal-question civil-rights and employment cases he carried to judgment by the parties' consent, and criminal-duty matters. Across the closed consent civil cases the time from filing to termination ran from roughly four months to about two and a half years (median around 600 days), with the longer-running matters being the contract, employment, and civil-rights disputes. On the cases the parties consented to have him decide, the sampled rulings lean toward grants of defense dispositive motions; the substantive reports and recommendations he wrote on referral sit on the district judges' dockets.
A historical record
Judge Knowles 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.