William Merritt Steger
Judge Steger no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Steger decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
At the pleading stage, he required only a legally sufficient state-law theory and rejected dismissal when federal drug law did not generally preempt the pleaded tort claims.
“The motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is viewed with disfavor, and is rarely granted.”
He denied preemption-based summary judgment when the evidence left a genuine factual dispute about whether federal regulation displaced state-law duties.
“the Plaintiff has provided evidence to establish a genuine issue as to a material fact regarding the Defendant’s federal preemption defense.”
He ordered benefits rather than another administrative remand after an extensive record and repeated proceedings established functional illiteracy.
“The Court finds it unconscionable to remand this eight-year-old case to the ALJ for further review.”
He treated the jury's fact-finding role as a substantial reason not to disturb a verdict through post-trial motions.
“the court should always respect the collective wisdom of the jury and should not merely substitute its opinion for the jury’s verdict.”
Cautions
He limited broad employment discovery when the plaintiff offered no factual basis extending beyond the local workplace.
“To burden Entex with having to provide the requested information relating to all its facilities would be to condone the fishing expedition”
He barred unauthorized private contact with a plaintiff's nonparty treating physician and favored ordinary noticed discovery instead.
“The answer is no.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“(Docket No. 28) is hereby GRANTED.”
“ORDERED that the Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.”
“ORDERED that all relief not expressly granted is DENIED.”
“(Docket No. 21) is hereby GRANTED in all respects.”
“(Docket No. 11) is GRANTED.”
“ORDERED that defendant Upjohn’s motion to dismiss count II of the complaint shall be, and is hereby, DENIED.”
“As such, the ALJ’s findings must be reversed.”
“ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion to Revise Docket Control Order (docket number 33) is GRANTED; the parties may depose Drs. Donaldson and Martinez.”
“ORDERED that Plaintiffs Motion to Quash Depositions is DENIED.”
“the defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED with respect to the FDIC’s claim for ordinary negligence and that the ordinary negligence claim is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“(Docket No. 13) is hereby DENIED.”
“ORDERED that the petition for a writ of habeas corpus is GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Discovery (filed April 15, 1981) and Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Production of Documents (filed August 6, 1981) are hereby DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 2481.5 days (N = 20).
The bounded 1980-1984 enumeration contains twenty terminated cases. It is a narrow archival slice, not a career-wide caseload measure.
A historical record
Judge Steger 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.