Howell Cobb
Judge Cobb no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Cobb decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
He transferred cases when the chosen division had no meaningful connection to the parties, events, or witnesses and another forum was substantially more convenient.
“This case has no factual nexus to Beaumont.”
At the pleading stage, he accepted well-pleaded facts and refused to resolve factual disputes through materials outside the complaint before discovery developed the record.
“The motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is viewed with disfavor and is rarely granted.”
At summary judgment, he required evidence on essential elements rather than reliance on allegations alone.
“Rodrigues cannot survive a properly supported motion for summary judgment on his allegations alone.”
He distinguished a state workplace-negligence claim from a claim for employee-plan benefits when deciding whether federal law supplied removal jurisdiction.
“The plaintiff is the master of her complaint and may choose to pursue state law causes of action even though federal causes of action are available.”
Cautions
He denied a post-removal amendment that would destroy diversity when the plaintiff knew of the proposed defendant earlier, delayed seeking joinder, and showed no substantial prejudice.
“Third, the court finds that Perry will not suffer any serious prejudice if the amendment is denied.”
He enforced a valid employment-arbitration agreement when its language covered the asserted discrimination claims.
“the Federal Arbitration Act mandates that these claims be submitted to arbitration.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ORDERED, that defendant’s motion to transfer venue is GRANTED”
“ORDERED, that defendants’ motions to transfer venue are GRANTED”
“Defendant Steinhagen Oil Company, Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss [Dkt. #4] and Defendant Julie Payne’s Motion to Dismiss [Dkt. # 5] are hereby DENIED.”
“ORDERED, that plaintiff Baptist Hospital’s Motion to Remand is DENIED.”
“General Electric Corporation’s motion for summary judgment is hereby GRANTED”
“Defendant Kohler Company’s Motion for Summary Judgment is hereby GRANTED in PART and DENIED in PART.”
“Defendant Kohler Company’s Pretrial Brief Requesting Additional Relief is hereby DENIED.”
“Motion for Judgment on the Pleading is hereby GRANTED with regard to Plaintiffs’ federal claims.”
“Third-Party Defendant Enviro-Kleen Enterprises’s Motion to Dismiss [Dkt. # 20] is hereby DENIED.”
“the United States’s Motion to Dismiss [Dkt. # 3] is hereby GRANTED and the Brandins’ claims against the United States are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“the plaintiffs motion to remand is GRANTED at defendant’s cost.”
“It is therefore ORDERED that they be DISMISSED with prejudice.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 379 days (N = 20).
The bounded early-1990 enumeration contains twenty terminated cases. It is a narrow archival slice, not a career-wide caseload measure.
A historical record
Judge Cobb 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.