H. Christopher Mott
How Judge Mott rules, drawn from 28 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Mott no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Mott decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Contract-based fee claims should track the agreement's exact limiting words; the court declined to rewrite a prevailing-party clause by omitting a material modifier.
“The Court cannot ignore this critical word in the text of the agreement, nor can it rewrite the agreement by subtracting this word.”
Procedural preferences
A fixed date in a court order remains controlling even when it falls on a legal holiday, unless the governing rule or order provides otherwise.
“As the Complaint was filed by Smart-Fill one day after the specific deadline, it is untimely and time-barred.”
Cautions
Removed litigation may return to state court when mandatory abstention applies, even though bankruptcy subject-matter jurisdiction exists.
“the Court is required to abstain from hearing the Suit under 28 U.S.C. § 1334(c)(2)”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The Court will enter a separate final Order granting the Motion in part and denying the Motion in part, for the reasons set forth by the Court in this Opinion.”
“As a result, all relief sought by KCSR against the Chavez Family in the KCSR Complaint (dkt# 1) will be denied by the Court.”
“the relief sought for breach of fiduciary duty by R&W in the Chavez Crossclaims (dkt# 50-1) should be granted in part as set forth above.”
“all relief sought by the Chavez Family against the R&W estate for barratry in the Chavez Crossclaim (dkt# 50-1) will be denied by the Court.”
“the relief sought by the Trustee for an attorney's lien against the Chavez Family in the Trustee Counterclaims (dkt# 56) will be granted in part as follows.”
“all relief sought by the Trustee for quantum meruit against the Chavez Family in the Trustee Counterclaims (dkt# 56) should be denied.”
“all relief sought by the Trustee for unjust enrichment against the Chavez Family in the Trustee Counterclaims (dkt# 56) should be denied.”
“the Court will deny the Creditor's Objection to the Debtors' homestead exemption.”
“the Court grants the Debtor's Motion to Dismiss Complaint (dkt# 6).”
“the objection to discharge of the Debtors by the Trustee will be granted under § 727(a)(4)(A) of the Bankruptcy Code.”
“the Court will grant Plaintiff's Motion and remand the Suit to the 149th District Court of Brazoria County, Texas, for adjudication and disposition.”
“the proposed Final Judgment grants Plaintiff a monetary judgment against Defendant Cedar Park in the amount of $23,204 in actual damages”
“the Court will dismiss all claims in the Amended Complaint and dismiss all Defendants, except for the breach of the duty of loyalty claims in Count 1 against Director Schindler, Director Habicht, Director Duncan, and Director Gotcher.”
“the intentionally fraudulent transfer of several real properties by Abie to his ex-wife Rema must be avoided.”
“Abie must be denied his bankruptcy discharge.”
“USED's secured claims for attorneys' fees must be denied and Castlelake's objections to the secured claims must be granted.”
“the Counterclaim filed by Clean Fuel2 against the Petitioning Creditors should be denied.”
“much of Plaintiff Trust's Complaint will survive until another day.”
“the request to transfer venue by the Director Defendants to the District of Delaware must be denied.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Seven sampled dockets supplied the 25 selected express motion outcomes; eight short, sparse, or otherwise non-dispositive dockets supplied none.
A historical record
Judge Mott 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.