David John Novak
How Judge Novak decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a 12(b)(6) motion he prunes the complaint count by count rather than dismissing or sustaining it wholesale -- in the Capital One MDL he dismissed four specific counts and let all others proceed. Frame a motion to dismiss (or an opposition) claim-by-claim; expect a surgical result, not all-or-nothing.
“The Court hereby GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Defendants' Motion to Dismiss. (ECF No. 29.) Counts XVI, XX, XXII and XXIII of the Consolidated Amended Complaint ... are hereby DISMISSED. This matter shall proceed on all other Counts ...”
Procedural preferences
He prefers to decide unsettled questions of Virginia law himself rather than certify them to the Supreme Court of Virginia -- denying Capital One's certification motion. (Contrast with some E.D. Va. colleagues who certify novel state-law questions.) Do not expect certification to be an easy off-ramp in his courtroom.
“The Court hereby DENIES Defendants' Motion to Certify Question to the Supreme Court of Virginia (ECF No.53).”
Aggressive, hands-on complex-case management: in the Capital One MDL he appointed a Rule 53 Special Master for discovery over the plaintiffs' objection, set strict page limits, ordered Lexecon-waiver positions, and imposed a tight pretrial schedule within weeks of the MDL transfer. Come prepared for fast, closely-managed proceedings.
“The Court hereby DIRECTS the Special Master to begin the execution of his duties as set forth above, and to "proceed with all reasonable diligence." Fed. R. Civ. P. 53(b)(2).”
Cautions
STRONG REPRESENTATIVENESS CAUTION: this record is a THIN first slice (6 motions across 5 orders) AND every classified motion comes from a SINGLE high-profile matter -- the Capital One 360 Savings MDL. It is NOT a cross-docket grant rate and not a merits tendency. The usual published-opinion sources (GovInfo USCOURTS, docket records case law) contain NO Novak opinions, and docket entry coverage for his many other dockets is very thin (most of his terminated Richmond-Division cases return zero docket entries). His broader work -- a heavy pro se / prisoner / FCRA / Social Security docket plus a federal criminal docket -- is not yet sampled here. A step-5 deepen is recommended but will be slow and docket-bound.
“The Court hereby GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Defendants' Motion to Dismiss.”
Motion outcomes
Counted from classified signed orders only. Percentages are shown only where the sample is large enough to be meaningful; smaller samples are reported as raw counts.
| Motions to dismiss N = 2 |
Granted in part: 1Moot / procedural: 1 | counts only |
| Motions to strike N = 1 |
Denied: 1 | counts only |
| Motion to certify question N = 1 |
Denied: 1 | counts only |
| Motion for appointment of counsel N = 1 |
Granted: 1 | counts only |
| Motion for extension of time N = 1 |
Granted: 1 | counts only |
A "1 of 1" is one ruling, not a tendency. Treat small samples as illustrative, not predictive.
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The Court hereby GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Defendants' Motion to Dismiss. (ECF No. 29.) Counts XVI, XX, XXII and XXIII of the Consolidated Amended Complaint, (ECF No. 10), are hereby DISMISSED. This matter shall proceed on all other Counts asserted in the Consolidated Amended Complaint.”
“The Court hereby DENIES Defendant's Motion to Strike (ECF No. 31).”
“The Court hereby DENIES Defendants' Motion to Certify Question to the Supreme Court of Virginia (ECF No.53).”
“The Court hereby GRANTS Plaintiffs' Unopposed Motion for Appointment of Lead Counsel (ECF No. 4) on the terms set out above.”
“the Court hereby DENIES AS MOOT Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Second Amended Complaint in Savett v. Capital One, N.A., No. 1:23cv890 (ECF No. 32).”
“the Court hereby GRANTS Capital One's Motion (ECF No. 27). Capital One shall file an Answer no later than August 12. 2024.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 79 days (N = 12).
assigned_judge canonical string = 'David Novak' (the bare surname-form; 'David J. Novak' returns zero). docket suffix (DJN). Confirm the signer on each order: assigned_judge is the currently-assigned judge, which can differ from the signer after reassignment.