David C. Godbey
How Judge Godbey decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a motion to compel arbitration he treats FAA step one as contract formation, which the movant bears the burden to prove, and denies the motion where the movant fails to put the complete agreement (e.g. an omitted schedule) into the record.
“Because the Court cannot determine whether a valid and enforceable arbitration agreement exists between Stephens and DFW LinQ, the Court denies DFW LinQ's motion to dismiss and compel arbitration.”
Procedural preferences
On discovery disputes he holds Rule 34 entitles a party to electronically stored information in a native, usable format with metadata; an unreadable .dat load file does not satisfy the rule.
“Because Defendant Nasco Healthcare has not complied with Plaintiff Goodson's discovery requests for relevant information that are proportional to the needs of the case, the Court grants [the] motion to compel. ... Nasco Healthcare is ordered to produce documents responsive to Goodson's Second Request for Production Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 16, including associated metadata in a native format within fourteen (14) days of this Order.”
Cautions
He dismisses with prejudice a suit re-filed nearly identical to an earlier dismissed case where claim preclusion or limitations bars it.
“Because Aston has again failed to state a claim even after the opportunity to cure defects after its previous complaint was dismissed, the Court grants Wilmington's motion and dismisses Aston's claims with prejudice.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court denies Defendants' motion to quash the deposition notice served on ASC and grants Alvarado's motion to compel ASC's appearance. ... Because Alvarado has not shown good cause to conduct new depositions of JCI, Addington, or George, the Court denies her motion for leave to take these depositions and grants Defendants' corresponding motions to quash.”
“the Court grants Defendants' motion for protective order as to deposition topics 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 14 and grants in part Defendants' motion for protective order as to topics 10, 11, 12, and 13. The Court denies Defendants' motion for protective order as to all other topics in the notice.”
“Upon evidentiary hearing, the Court concludes that the parties entered a valid agreement; thus, the Court grants the motion to compel and denies the motion to dismiss as moot.”
“the Court grants the motion to compel and denies the motion to dismiss as moot.”
“Because Defendant Nasco Healthcare has not complied with Plaintiff Goodson's discovery requests for relevant information that are proportional to the needs of the case, the Court grants [the] motion to compel. ... Nasco Healthcare is ordered to produce documents responsive to Goodson's Second Request for Production Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 16, including associated metadata in a native format within fourteen (14) days of this Order.”
“This Order addresses Defendant State Farm Lloyds' ('State Farm') motion for summary judgment [15]. For the reasons below, the Court grants summary judgment to State Farm on all claims.”
“Because the Court cannot determine whether a valid and enforceable arbitration agreement exists between Stephens and DFW LinQ, the Court denies DFW LinQ's motion to dismiss and compel arbitration.”
“For the following reasons, the Court grants the motion, but awards reduced fees as specified below. ... The Court awards Origin $1,059,334.10 in attorney's fees and $61,956.60 in related nontaxable expenses.”
“The Court concludes that fact issues exist as to the majority of Plaintiffs' nonabandoned claims. Defendants have, however, demonstrated entitlement to judgment as a matter of law on a subset of issues. Accordingly, the Court grants in part and denies in part the motions for summary judgment. ... the Court grants summary judgment in favor of TD Bank with respect to OSIC's constructive TUFTA claims and in favor of HSBC on any constructive TUFTA claim tied to conduct outside of the relevant limitations period. The Court denies summary judgment on all grounds asserted by the parties.”
“Because Aston has again failed to state a claim even after the opportunity to cure defects after its previous complaint was dismissed, the Court grants Wilmington's motion and dismisses Aston's claims with prejudice.”
“Because Sasoro has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, the Court grants 7-Eleven's motion. The Court dismisses Sasoro's claims without prejudice and grants leave to amend... Sasoro may file a Second Amended Complaint within thirty (30) days of the date of this order.”
“Because the Archers have not provided sufficient evidence of damages, the Court grants Kennedy's motion for summary judgment.”
“The Court denies Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and grants Associated Industries' motion for summary judgment.”
“The Court concludes that Associated Industries does not have a duty to defend Plaintiffs in the underlying JB&A lawsuit. The Court denies Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and grants Associated Industries' motion for summary judgment.”
“Because Scroggins has not raised a genuine issue of material fact, the Court grants summary judgment to DART on these claims.”
Put Judge Godbey's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Godbey actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Godbey's own signed orders and cites them.