Benjamin D. Battles
How Judge Battles decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a summary-judgment fight over a landowner's affirmative defense, he looks past the bare fact of a recorded lien or mortgage to whether it was ever actually enforced against the party claiming injury -- an encumbrance that sits dormant in the land records for years does not, by itself, start a limitations clock.
“Given that the mortgage appears to have sat in the land records from 2008 until the Newberrys inquired about it sometime prior to 2021, it does not appear to have been any type of active possession”
On a claim that turns on what a person subjectively believed or intended, he requires direct evidentiary support for that state of mind rather than accepting an inference built on the surrounding facts, however sympathetic the underlying story.
“None of these statements concern defendants' title. ... The essence of the tort is the publication of an assertion that is derogatory to the plaintiff's title to property in an effort to prevent others from dealing with the plaintiff.”
Reviewing a town's exercise of discretion under a deferential standard (Rule 75), he will not reweigh the competing interests himself so long as the record shows the town actually considered the relevant public-safety and practical factors -- the question is whether the decision-maker considered the right things, not whether he would have struck the same balance.
“It was also within the Town's discretion to conclude that this concern, coupled with the general lack of public need for a town highway in the quarry, outweighed the public's interest in being able to use the discontinued roads”
Procedural preferences
He treats a party's failure to properly join or serve a person with a direct stake in the outcome as a defect to fix, not a reason to end the case outright -- he will vacate or modify relief to bring in the missing party rather than simply dismissing.
“The court concludes that in these circumstances, Ms. Kinsella and her daughter are indispensable parties, as a writ of possession for the mobile home cannot in 'equity and good conscience' be issued without joining them as parties to the case.”
He enforces the rule that a party needs leave of court before filing supplemental briefing (a sur-reply), and will strike an unauthorized filing even where the same party makes a good-faith argument that it should be treated as something else instead.
“The court declines to consider the sur-reply and supporting affidavit filed by defendants. ... The motion to strike the sur-reply is accordingly granted”
In fee-shifting disputes under a statute like the anti-SLAPP law, he limits an award to the work actually attributable to the specific motion the statute rewards, rather than the whole case, allocating shared time entries proportionally rather than granting or denying the whole request.
“the court will award defendants 100% of the 2/17 and 2/18 time entries ($4,032.88); 50% of the 2/16, 4/1, 4/2, and 4/3 entries ($2,358.32); and 33% of the 2/19, 2/26, 3/4, 3/5, and 3/6 entries”
Cautions
A litigant who repeatedly cites fabricated case law or quotations, after being warned, will face escalating consequences beyond the individual filing -- he treats this as conduct that threatens the integrity of the court itself and will impose a filing restriction rather than a fee he knows the litigant cannot pay.
“In this litigation, plaintiff has repeatedly presented the court with filings that misrepresent the holdings of existing cases or cite to nonexistent cases. ... no other sanction besides a pre-filing injunction would be adequate to protect the courts and other parties.”
In records-access disputes touching a pending criminal trial, he takes seriously an agency's showing that disclosure could taint a local jury pool, but will not let that showing swallow categories of records the legislature has expressly made public regardless -- such as bare arrest and charging records.
“the court concludes based on the summary judgment record that it is more likely than not that pretrial disclosure of the requested materials could taint the relatively small jury pool ... This provision unambiguously carves out from the Town's cited exemption records that merely reflect Mr. Lovell's initial arrest and subsequent criminal charge. These records must be made public.”
On a request for emergency relief mid-litigation, he requires a concrete showing that the status quo will cause irreparable harm before the case is resolved -- a party's ultimate entitlement to permanent relief if it prevails does not excuse this showing at the preliminary-injunction stage.
“Plaintiffs have not shown they will be irreparably harmed by a continuation of the status quo until the case is resolved on the merits.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The motion to dismiss is GRANTED IN PART. The court grants Ms. Kinsella relief from judgment under Rule 60(b)(6) and vacates the writ of possession issued by the court on August 28, 2024.”
“Accordingly, the court denies the motion to strike defendants' counterclaim under the anti-SLAPP statute.”
“Accordingly, the court grants the motion to dismiss defendants' counterclaim under Rule 12(b)(6).”
“Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on their nuisance claim is denied. ... Summary judgment on this issue is accordingly denied. ... Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on this claim is denied. ... Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on their quiet title claim is denied.”
“Defendants' cross-motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs' timber trespass claim is granted.”
“the motion to dismiss the timber trespass claim is accordingly moot.”
“Plaintiffs' motion to strike defendants' sur-reply and affidavit (Motion 16) is GRANTED.”
“Defendants' motion to allow the sur-reply (Motion 17) is DENIED.”
“The motion for judicial notice (Motion 5) is DENIED.”
“The motions in limine (Motions 6 and 9) are DENIED.”
“The motion for summary judgment (Motion 7) is GRANTED IN PART.”
“The motion to quash the subpoena (Motion 11) is GRANTED.”
“The motion to amend the complaint is GRANTED.”
“The motion to dismiss is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. The motion is granted with respect to plaintiffs' claims for breach of warranty and slander of title but denied with respect to plaintiffs' claim for trespass.”
“The Town's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED and Peter's cross-motion for summary judgment is DENIED.”
“The motion for a preliminary injunction is DENIED.”
“DCF's motion to dismiss (Motion 6) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. The motion is granted with respect to Counts 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. The motion is denied with respect to Counts 3 and 5.”
“Lund's motion to dismiss (Motion 8) is DENIED.”
“Copley's special motion to strike, or in the alternative, for judgment on the pleadings (Motion 13) is DENIED.”
“The motion for attorney's fees (Motion 8) is GRANTED.”
“The court additionally sanctions plaintiff by imposing a limited pre-filing injunction. Plaintiff is enjoined from filing any pleading, complaint, motion, letter or other document in the Lamoille Civil Division unless represented by an attorney ... unless plaintiff first obtains permission for the proposed filing from the assigned superior court judge.”
“The motions for summary judgment are GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART as set forth above (Motions 1, 2, 5).”
“Plaintiff's motions under Rule 56(h) are DENIED (Motions 6, 7).”
“The court denied the motion. It noted that while this Court has yet to address the question of whether there is a right to effective assistance of counsel in a furlough-violation appeal, assuming there was, petitioner could not make the necessary showing of prejudice. ... The court also held that petitioner failed to identify any other ground for reconsideration, noting that he sought to relitigate issues that had already been decided.”
Put Judge Battles's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Battles actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Battles's own signed orders and cites them.