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Kevin S.C. Chang

United States District Court for the District of Hawaii magistrate 14 signed orders read

How Judge Chang decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

Chang declined to enforce a warranty disclaimer when the record did not establish the buyer’s awareness and the text itself was inconspicuous.

“Even if Plaintiff was aware of the disclaimer, the disclaimer itself is not conspicuous.”

He treated innocent-intervenor status as defeating fee liability under the civil-rights fee statute.

“finds that CFV is not liable for fees under § 1988(b) and declines to recommend an award of attorneys’ fees to Plaintiffs.”

Procedural preferences

He reduced fee requests when block billing prevented meaningful review of the time claimed.

“The use of block billing here makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the Court to determine the reasonableness of the hours expended with respect to specific time entries.”

He favored remand where federal adjudication would require resolving unsettled state-law questions unnecessarily.

“the factor of avoiding needless determination of state law issues weighs in favor of declining jurisdiction.”

Cautions

For transfer motions, he weighed the practical location of parties and witnesses heavily.

“it is clear that the majority of witnesses and parties reside in Mississippi or on the mainland.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Robinson v. Plourde
· 2010-06-14
Motion for attorneys fees (plaintiffs) Granted in part

“Based on the foregoing, the Court HEREBY FINDS AND RECOMMENDS that the district court GRANT IN PART AND DENY IN PART Plaintiffs’ Motion for Attorney Fees, filed April 14, 2010, and award Plaintiffs $20,929.57 in attorneys’ fees.”

Rodriguez v. General Dynamics Armament & Technical Products, Inc.
· 2011-02-25
Bill of costs (defendant) Granted in part

“In accordance with the foregoing, this Court FINDS and RECOMMENDS that Defendant’s Bill of Costs, filed December 14, 2010, be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The Court recommends that the district court award Defendant $26,439.85 in costs.”

Lee v. Corrections Corp. of America
· 2007-11-26
Motions to transfer (defendants) Granted

“The Court accordingly RECOMMENDS that the district court GRANT Defendants’ Motion to Transfer and ORDER transfer of this action to the Northern District of Mississippi.”

Au v. Funding Group, Inc.
· 2013-03-21
Motion for attorneys fees (defendant Homeward Residential) Granted in part

“In accordance with the foregoing, the Court HEREBY FINDS AND RECOMMENDS that the district court GRANT IN PART AND DENY IN PART Defendant’s Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs, filed December 21, 2012, and award Defendant $16,560.39 in attorneys’ fees and $14.10 in costs.”

United States v. Hawaii
· 2006-03-24
Motion for sanctions (United States) Denied

“The Court denies the United States’ request for the imposition of sanctions against Defendants based on the findings presented by the Special Master in the Eleventh Report.”

Keown v. Tudor Insurance
· 2008-05-30
Motions to remand (plaintiff) Granted

“In accordance with the foregoing, the Court HEREBY FINDS AND RECOMMENDS that the district court GRANT Plaintiffs Motion for Remand, filed February 27, 2008.”

I.T. ex rel. Renee T. v. Department of Education
· 2014-04-29
Motion for attorneys fees (plaintiff) Granted in part

“In accordance vrith the aforementioned discussion, this Court FINDS and RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff’s Second Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Related Nontaxable Expenses, filed December 30, 2013, be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The Court recommends that the district court award Plaintiff $30,936.11 in attorneys’ fees.”

HRPT PROPERTIES TRUST v. Lingle
· 2011-02-28
Motion for attorneys fees (plaintiffs) Denied

“In accordance with the foregoing, the Court HEREBY FINDS AND RECOMMENDS that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses, filed November 1, 2010, be DENIED.”

Razo v. Thomas
· 2010-05-18
Habeas petition (petitioner) Denied

“The court therefore RECOMMENDS that the Petition be DENIED with prejudice.”

Keahole Point Fish LLC v. Skretting Canada Inc.
· 2013-09-04
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted in part

“Based on the foregoing, the Court HEREBY GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment and DENIES AS MOOT 1) Defendant’s Supplemental Motion for Summary Judgment on the Doctrine of Res Ipsa Loquitur and Any Similar Theories and 2) Plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Re: Circumstantial Evidence Under Strict Products Liability (‘Quasi’ — Res Ipsa).”

Summary judgment (defendant) Moot / procedural
Summary judgment (plaintiff) Moot / procedural
World Triathalon Corp. v. Dunbar
· 2008-03-19
Motion for attorneys fees (plaintiff) Granted in part

“In accordance with the foregoing, this Court, acting as Special Master, FINDS and RECOMMENDS that Plaintiffs Renewed Motion for Attorney’s Fees, filed November 9, 2007, be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”

In re Earle A. Partington
· 2017-01-25
Motion to end stay (Earle A. Partington) Denied

“ORDER DENYING REQUEST TO END STAY”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 468 days (N = 80).

Median motion-to-ruling time: 3.5 days (N = 10).

The 80 located assigned cases were all terminated and form a bounded historical cohort rather than a career-wide caseload measure.

Put Judge Chang's record to work

Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Chang actually rules, not a generic AI guess.

Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Chang's own signed orders and cites them.