Elsijane Trimble Roy
Judge Roy no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Roy decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
She treated a contract’s annual funding-out clause as limiting the county’s enforceable obligation to one budget year when testing the agreement against a constitutional revenue limit.
“Because the County is only ‘on the hook’ for one year at a time, the Court finds that the proper dollar figure to use when making the ‘obligation vs. revenue’ comparison is the annual fee under the contract, $93,316.08.”
Once an employer produced a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason, she required evidence that would permit a jury to find the stated reason was pretextual.
“Because defendant has offered evidence of legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for firing the plaintiff, a defense under the Act, plaintiff had to put before the Court evidence which would permit a jury to find that the real reason she was fired was on account of her race.”
Procedural preferences
She declined to grant summary judgment on an issue the movant had not actually pursued, emphasizing fairness to the responding party.
“Second, it seems contrary to the spirit of the ADA for the Court to bar the plaintiffs claim by summary judgment because the Court seized on an issue both her counsel and opposing counsel did not.”
She enforced scheduling deadlines where a late defense would require reopening discovery and disadvantage the opposing party.
“Of course, this is why the Court has deadlines and spells them out to the litigants well in advance.”
Cautions
She declined requests that would require an advisory ruling on contingent competing claims before an actual controversy had matured.
“The parties are simply seeking an advisory opinion regarding priority of claims to a possible pot of gold at the end of a litigation rainbow that is now ten years old and counting, with no pot yet in sight.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The pending motions for summary judgment are therefore granted in part and denied in part.”
“In summary, pursuant to this Court’s previous Order, the VA’s motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ claim under the FTCA has been granted. The VA’s motion to dismiss the CERCLA claim is also granted. Plaintiffs’ claims for breach of warranty and an unconstitutional ‘taking’ are transferred to the United States Claims Court per 28 U.S.C. § 1631.”
“Now before the Court is the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. For the reasons set out below, said motion will be granted.”
“It follows that the defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction should be, and hereby is, granted.”
“Plaintiffs alternative request to remand this matter to state court rather than suffer dismissal is denied.”
“Upon all of the foregoing, the Court finds that defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment should be, and it is hereby, granted.”
“Thus, AECI’s motion to stay (DOC # 5) is granted in part.”
“Accordingly, the Court grants partial summary judgment to the defendant on the issue of punitive damages.”
“Accordingly, the County’s motion for partial summary judgment on constitutional grounds is denied at this time.”
“Accordingly, the Motion to Amend Judgment and the Motion for Costs and Fees are hereby granted.”
“Accordingly, the case was not removed in a timely manner per § 1446 and must be, and hereby is, remanded to the Chancery Court of Pulaski County.”
“For the reasons set out below, defendant City of Little Rock’s pending motion for summary judgment is granted.”
“Therefore, this matter must be, and hereby is, dismissed with prejudice.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The reviewed decisions span civil rights, employment, insurance coverage, contracts, environmental liability, federal tort claims, removal, jurisdiction, and post-judgment fees. This publication-selected sample cannot support a career-wide caseload estimate.
A historical record
Judge Roy 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.