Wayne R. Andersen
Judge Andersen no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Andersen decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In ERISA reimbursement/subrogation disputes he applies Sereboff v. Mid Atlantic Medical Services: a plan's contractual right to recover overpaid benefits from specifically identifiable other benefits is an enforceable 'equitable lien by agreement,' but he confines the lien to the categories of other benefits the plan text actually reaches (e.g., the Social Security offset) and rejects attempts to extend it to benefits the plan does not specify (Veterans' benefits).
“Since the Plan specifically provides that the Insurer can recover the overpayment of funds in the amount of other benefits received, Reliance Standard's counterclaim qualifies as an equitable lien as contemplated by the Supreme Court in Sereboff.”
Procedural preferences
On motions to dismiss putative class or multi-count complaints he prunes count-by-count rather than dismissing wholesale: he dismisses the legally deficient counts while expressly preserving the surviving claims 'at this time' and declines to strike the class definition at the pleading stage, leaving class issues for later.
“Counts III, IV, VI and VII of Plaintiffs' Complaint are dismissed. The motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' claims ... is denied at this time. The motion to strike is denied as to the class definition.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the following reasons, the motion is granted.”
“For the following reasons, the motion [14] is denied in part and granted in part. ... Thus, plaintiff's motion to dismiss the counterclaim with respect to an overpayment and offset of plaintiff's Veterans' benefits is granted.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment [36] is denied with respect to Counts I and II.”
“Defendants' motion for summary judgment [38] is denied with respect to Count I and granted with respect to Count II.”
“Therefore, Defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of venue is denied.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendant Exel Direct Inc.'s motion to strike and dismiss is granted in part and denied in part [#13]. Counts III, IV, VI and VII of Plaintiffs' Complaint are dismissed. The motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' claims in the Complaint for holiday pay, workers' compensation insurance, unemployment insurance, social security, medicare, and meal, break and rest periods and failure to withhold income taxes is denied at this time.”
“For all of the reasons stated in Court's Memorandum, Opinion and Order, the Huron Defendants' motion to dismiss this interpleader action [20] is denied, and Plaintiff Executive Risk's motion for summary judgment [47] is granted.”
“the Huron Defendants' motion to dismiss this interpleader action [20] is denied, and Plaintiff Executive Risk's motion for summary judgment [47] is granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 84.0 days (N = 11).
The reviewed 2007 through 2010 filings, drawn from Judge Andersen's final years on the bench, include employee-benefit and union-fund collection, civil-rights, trademark, commercial-contract, agency-enforcement, consumer-credit, prisoner-condition, immigration, tax, and criminal matters. Several agency-enforcement and criminal dockets ended through same-day administrative entries.
A historical record
Judge Andersen 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.