John Feikens
Judge Feikens no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Feikens decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Feikens enforced the plain text of the UCC and rejected attempts to recharacterize a mandatory payment condition as a separate service.
“Adopting the fiction that the check cashing fee is separate from the payment of the check would contravene the plain meaning of the statute”
He read differing phrases within the FMLA as deliberate and treated the absence of a continuity requirement as decisive.
“The plain language of the statute does not, therefore, support Defendant’s contention that the 12 months must be continuous.”
Procedural preferences
Feikens applied the first-to-file rule unless concrete equitable circumstances justified departing from ordinary inter-court comity.
“Courts have discretion to dispense with the first-to-file rule when equity so demands, but as a principle of sound judicial administration, the first suit should have priority, absent special circumstances.”
He used reconsideration to correct a legal error when authority showed the claim could arise under a different federal statutory basis.
“because Plaintiffs do state a claim for which relief can be granted in asserting the breach of duty for fair representation under the NLRA, their claim should be reinstated.”
Cautions
Feikens would not freeze an unsecured defendant’s assets before the creditor obtained judgment and established an equitable interest in the property.
“Plaintiffs have not asserted equitable claims, nor have they articulated any equitable interest in the real property owned by Winchester Land.”
He treated an anticipatory declaratory filing made immediately after receipt of a draft complaint as procedural fencing that undermined pre-suit settlement.
“allowing Living Essentials to take advantage of CB’s attempt to settle before filing a complaint by allowing the declaratory judgment to go forward would reward Living Essentials for choosing not to engage in settlement discussions”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendant’s motions for judicial notice and a stay of proceedings are DENIED.”
“For the reasons set forth above, I GRANT Defendant’s motion and dismiss this action.”
“Thus, I DENY the motion for reconsideration of my Amended Order and Opinion of December 3, 2004.”
“Pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), therefore, I DISMISS all claims against defendant Miller.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this case be REMANDED to the Oakland County Circuit Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).”
“Therefore, I GRANT sumrriary judgment on all claims in favor of Defendants.”
“For the reasons above, the motion to remand is DENIED.”
“For the reasons set forth above, I GRANT Clear Blue’s motion and dismiss this action without prejudice.”
“the Court hereby DENIES Plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order and motion for preliminary injunction.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Reconsideration is GRANTED and the third count of the Complaint is reinstated.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Reconsideration is GRANTED and the third count of the Complaint is reinstated. Plaintiffs’ Motion to Amend Their Complaint is DENIED.”
“Because there is not complete diversity of citizenship, I GRANT Plaintiffs’ motion and remand this action back to Washtenaw County Circuit Court.”
“I, therefore, DENY Fifth Third Bank’s Motion to Dismiss.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Forty case records from two bounded chronological slices were reviewed. The oldest slice is dominated by fifteen related asbestos cases, while the recent slice includes student-loan recovery, contract, employee-benefit, immigration, bankruptcy, and other civil matters. Thirty-eight records were terminated and two lacked a termination date. Because the slices were selected by chronology and many older cases share batch-style termination dates, the profile makes no representative duration claim.
A historical record
Judge Feikens 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.