Karen K. Brown
How Judge Brown rules, drawn from 2 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Brown no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Brown decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Brown imposed Rule 11 sanctions based on deterrence and punishment of improper litigation conduct, rather than treating sanctions as ordinary prevailing-party fee shifting.
“The Rule provides for sanctions, not fee shifting. It is aimed at deterring and, if necessary, punishing improper conduct rather than merely compensating the prevailing party.”
In a patent discovery dispute, Brown found the applicant's repeated inaccurate disclosures sufficient to make a preliminary showing of inequitable conduct and ordered production of identified documents.
“such repeated instances lead the Court to find that defendant has sustained its burden to show prima facie evidence that plaintiff breached its obligation of candor in both the original application and the re-issue application.”
Procedural preferences
Brown required production after reviewing more than two thousand disputed documents in camera and separating material that could remain protected from material that had to be disclosed.
“It is ORDERED that plaintiff shall produce the documents listed in Appendix A and Appendix B to defendant.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“It is hereby ORDERED that they are awarded sanctions against Gas Reclamation, Inc. and its attorney of record, Howard B. Butler, Jr., in the amount of $7,793.00”
“ORDERED defendant Northwestern is awarded attorneys fees and expenses in the amount of $6,917.85.”
“It is ORDERED that plaintiff shall produce the documents listed in Appendix A and Appendix B to defendant.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
No electronic docket sample was available for a historical caseload description.
A historical record
Judge Brown 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.