Waverly David Crenshaw Jr.
How Judge Jr. decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Antitrust: credits a plausibly-pleaded algorithmic price-fixing theory at the pleading stage -- lessors feeding real-time commercially sensitive pricing/supply data into a common algorithm that returns shared pricing recommendations can state a Sherman Act agreement (the RealPage multifamily claims survived dismissal).
“Plaintiffs allege that Lessors submit real-time commercially sensitive pricing and supply data to be compiled into a common algorithm to produce “forward-looking, unit-specific pricing and supply recommendations based on [Lessors’] shared data.” ... The Court has already credited these al[legations]”
Requires more than bare parallel conduct for a circumstantial antitrust conspiracy -- circumstantial evidence means parallel conduct PLUS additional factors that make a conspiracy plausible.
“The resounding majority of courts examining circumstantial evidence of an antitrust conspiracy hold that circumstantial evidence consists of parallel conduct plus additional factors tending to make a conspiracy plausible.”
Procedural preferences
Adopts magistrate-judge R&Rs and will overrule a pro se plaintiff's objections where the recommendation is sound, entering final judgment on the adopted recommendation.
“Plaintiffs' Objections (Doc. No. 72) are OVERRULED and the Report and Recommendation (Doc. No. 71) is APPROVED AND ADOPTED.”
On dismissing the federal anchor claims he declines supplemental jurisdiction over the pendent state-law claims and dismisses them without prejudice (so they can be refiled in state court), reserving with-prejudice dismissal for the federal claims decided on the merits.
“their claims under the Tennessee Open Records Act are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE because the Court DECLINES to exercise supplemental jurisdiction.”
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.
| Motions to dismiss N = 3 |
Granted: 2Denied: 1 | counts only |
| Summary judgment N = 1 |
Granted: 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.
“Plaintiffs' Objections (Doc. No. 72) are OVERRULED and the Report and Recommendation (Doc. No. 71) is APPROVED AND ADOPTED. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 37) is GRANTED. This case is dismissed.”
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint (Doc. No. 21) is GRANTED. Plaintiffs' claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, and their claims under the Tennessee Open Records Act are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE because the Court DECLINES to exercise supplemental jurisdiction.”
“the Court will grant the Student Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Student Rentals First Amended Complaint”
“and will deny Multifamily Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Multifamily Rentals Second Amended Complaint.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 626 days (N = 7).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 31 days (N = 1).
General-civil + criminal docket of a Nashville district judge (Chief 2017-2024). RECENT (2021-2023) civil mix skews to federal qui tam / False Claims Act (incl. healthcare: US v. HCA Health Services of Tennessee; US v. Piedmont Partners), trademark (BluDahlia v. Real Chemistry), state habeas (28:2254), prisoner sec.1983, and contract -- PLUS the marquee In re RealPage antitrust MDL. EARLY-career (2009-2017) sample skews criminal + prisoner civil rights / habeas + Social Security + insurance/contract (long durations reflect a backlog inherited from predecessor Judge Haynes). NOT a grant rate -- caseload composition only.