Justin Lowe Quackenbush
Judge Quackenbush no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Quackenbush decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
He treated clear statutory text as controlling without seeking state-court certification.
“This court does not find that statute to be ambiguous requiring interpretation by the Washington Supreme Court. The term ‘less than natural life’ is clear.”
He evaluated a fee claim across the government's conduct before and during litigation, and limited recovery once its position became reasonable.
“The court finds that the government’s original offer of $1800.00 was unreasonable in light of the ultimate award.”
He remanded an administrative appeal when the agency used the wrong legal standard.
“Since the ALJ applied the wrong legal standard when he applied the federal standard to the disability determination, the matter must be and is REMANDED for application of the correct legal standard.”
Procedural preferences
He favored staged trial management when the expected savings outweighed the risk of repeated testimony.
“The court, however, finds that the burden of speculative costs and extra time that such testimony might require is outweighed by the potential savings that trifurcation offers all involved.”
When personal jurisdiction was lacking, he preferred transfer over dismissal where transfer preserved a merits adjudication.
“However, the Court will not dismiss the action but rather will transfer the entire case to the United States District Court for the District of Idaho.”
Cautions
A search-warrant affidavit needed facts supporting both an informant's reliability and the basis of knowledge; innocuous corroboration was not enough.
“The mere presence of an ether smell, however, would be insufficient to establish that criminal activity was occurring. Ether is a non-contraband substance which has many legal uses including starting car engines.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Accordingly, defendant’s Motion To Be Allowed Supplemental Briefing is GRANTED.”
“Accordingly, defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration or for Certification is DENIED.”
“For the reasons that follow, defendants’ motion was GRANTED.”
“ORDER GRANTING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR ATTORNEY FEES”
“I have concluded that the plaintiff is entitled to recover attorney fees in the amount of $1,087.50, representing claimed hours of 14.50 at an hourly rate of $75.00.”
“ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND ORDER OF DISMISSAL WITH PREJUDICE”
“Having so concluded, plaintiffs Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Ct.Rec. 44) are DENIED.”
“Accordingly, the IRS’s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.”
“IT IS ORDERED the state’s Motion for Summary Judgment, joined by the municipal and individual plaintiffs, is GRANTED.”
“Having so concluded, plaintiffs motion for summary judgment is GRANTED and defendants’ motion for summary judgment is DENIED.”
“Because plaintiff has cited no basis for this court to award costs and attorney fees, that request is DENIED.”
“Defendants’ motion to suppress is GRANTED. All evidence obtained during the search pursuant to the warrant is HEREBY SUPPRESSED.”
“Accordingly Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss is denied and the entire case is transferred, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), to the U.S. District Court, for the District of Idaho.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act claims and the breach of contract claims (Ct.Rec. 15), is HEREBY GRANTED pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 23.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion to Strike Memorandum in Opposition (Ct.Rec. 25) is HEREBY DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Motion to Strike Complaint (Ct.Rec. 29) is HEREBY DENIED.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Hearing on Shortened Time (Ct.Rec. 28) is HEREBY GRANTED.”
“Defendant’s Motion for Hearing on Shortened Time (Ct.Rec. 32) is HEREBY GRANTED.”
“For the reasons set forth in this memorandum, the plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment should be GRANTED; the defendant’s motion should be DENIED; and the matter should be REMANDED to the ALJ for application of the proper legal standard.”
“The defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED and the case is REMANDED for application of the state standard.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 358.5 days (N = 10).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 6.5 days (N = 2).
The ten sampled closed matters span contract, labor, insurance, employment, consumer-finance, motor-vehicle, and prisoner civil-rights cases. Their durations describe this bounded historical sample rather than the judge's full career docket.
A historical record
Judge Quackenbush 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.