John Thomas Fowlkes Jr.
How Judge Fowlkes rules, drawn from 28 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Fowlkes no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Fowlkes
John Thomas Fowlkes Jr. served on the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Appointed by President Barack Obama, he received his commission on August 1, 2012, and assumed senior status on September 1, 2022. He later retired from the bench.
How Judge Fowlkes decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Cigna Healthcare v. Baptist Memorial, Fowlkes denied the insurer's request to vacate an arbitration award. He found no binding authority that the panel had disregarded and confirmed the award after considering the panel's explanation.
“Cigna fails to point to any binding authority that the Panel disregarded in reaching its decision. For that reason, the Court does not find that the Panel refused to heed a clearly defined legal principle... and DECLINES to vacate the award on this basis.”
In a nursing-home wrongful-death case, the judge rejected an arbitration agreement even though a family member had signed it and represented she had oral authority to do so: the judge held that an agent's own unsupported representation of her authority is legally insufficient, and ordered no arbitration without independent proof of that authority.
“the sole evidence supporting a finding that Mavis Harris possessed express actual authority... is the placement of her initials on the arbitration agreement... this fact alone is insufficient to establish express actual authority.”
Procedural preferences
In Vasconez v. Langston Companies, Fowlkes reviewed a magistrate judge's recommendation for clear error because the plaintiff's objections did not identify specific findings for review.
“Plaintiff does not offer any specific Objections to the Report, as the Objections do not specifically identify those findings or recommendations to which Objections are being made... the Court will review the Report and Recommendation for clear error as opposed to de novo review.”
In Herron v. Brennan, Fowlkes read the magistrate judge's report as a whole, identified an apparent error in its conclusion, and adopted the recommendation to grant summary judgment.
“there is an error in the conclusion to the Magistrate Judges' Report and Recommendation... it is clear that the Magistrate Judge's intention was to Recommend that Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment be GRANTED.”
Cautions
In United States v. Clayton, Judge Fowlkes reviewed renewed suppression objections de novo and denied the motion after finding that an inventory search would inevitably have discovered the gun.
“Upon de novo review, the Court hereby ADOPTS the Chief Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation and DENIES Defendant's Motion to Suppress.”
In Diei v. Boyd, Fowlkes granted two dismissal motions and closed the case with prejudice 885 days after the motions were filed. The Sixth Circuit later affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
“ORDER Granting Defendants' DE 24 and DE 25 Motions to Dismiss and Order finding as moot DE 58, DE 60 Motions for Discovery and Dismissing the case with Prejudice signed by Judge John T. Fowlkes, Jr. on 8/3/23.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court hereby ADOPTS the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation to DENY Defendant's Motion to Dismiss.”
“the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is DENIED as MOOT.”
“the case DISMISSED with prejudice for failure to prosecute pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b)”
“DENIES Plaintiffs' Motion to Amend Complaint.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1).”
“State Farm's Partial Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim is GRANTED.”
“the Court hereby ADOPTS the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation and GRANTS the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's complaint in its entirety.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment be GRANTED.1 Plaintiff's Complaint is hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b).”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.”
“DENIES Plaintiff's Default Motions (ECF Nos. 48; 51; 53; 55; 60; 67; 68; 69; 70; 71; 72; 73; 74; 84; 85; 86; 87; 88; 89; 90; 91; 93; 119).”
“Defendants' United States Postal Service (‘USPS’) and Office of Workers' Compensation Program (‘OWCP’) Motion to Dismiss Second Amended Complaint is GRANTED”
“the MetLife Defendants' Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED”
“Defendant OPM's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED”
“Plaintiff's Record/Motion for Judgment on the Administrative Pleadings is DENIED”
“the Petition (ECF No. 1) is hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. The pending motions (ECF Nos. 2 & 7) are DENIED as moot because the case will not proceed.”
“the Court DENIES the § 2254 Petition.”
“the Court DENIES a certificate of appealability.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The sampled caseload spans employment discrimination, civil rights, insurance coverage, prisoner habeas and civil-rights filings, consumer and debt-collection claims, garnishment, forfeiture, and a university-discipline First Amendment case that reached the Sixth Circuit. Most sampled civil cases ended through settlement or stipulated dismissal; a smaller group produced dispositive rulings.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Fowlkes was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2025.
| Motions pending more than six months | 1 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 4 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1 | 4 |
| Mar 2025 | 11 | 6 |
| Sep 2024 | 5 | 7 |
| Mar 2024 | 14 | 9 |
| Sep 2023 | 4 | 8 |
| Mar 2023 | 11 | 10 |
| Sep 2022 | 32 | 7 |
| Mar 2022 | 35 | 6 |
| Sep 2021 | 27 | 8 |
| Mar 2021 | 20 | 4 |
| Sep 2020 | 17 | 4 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
A historical record
Judge Fowlkes no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.