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Richard Frank Cebull

United States District Court for the District of Montana district Retired 2013 · served 2001–2013 Appointed by George W. Bush (Republican) 12 signed orders read

Judge Cebull no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

How Judge Cebull decides

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

What persuades

Cebull treated the continuing availability of probable cause after challenged warrant statements were removed as fatal to the constitutional claims.

“whether or not charges are ultimately brought has nothing to do with whether there is probable cause to issue a search warrant.”

Procedural preferences

He denied further amendment when repeated pleading efforts did not cure conclusory claims and another amendment would be futile.

“Futility alone can justify the denial of leave to amend.”

Cautions

In copyright comparisons, he filtered out standard or unprotectable elements before assessing substantial similarity.

“unprotectible [sic] elements should not be considered when applying the extrinsic test to artwork.”

Signed rulings

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

Meigs v. City of Livingston
· 2011-06-13
Summary judgment (Gallatin County) Denied

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Gallatin County’s Motion for Summary Judgment {doc. ) is DENIED.”

Weaver v. Delta Air Lines, Inc.
· 2002-04-25
Joint motion to vacate (both parties) Granted

“Pursuant to the parties’ joint and stipulated motion to vacate, the Court hereby VACATES its Order and decision dated June 29, 1999”

United States v. Elk-Booth
· 2011-09-28
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (doc. 203) is DENIED.”

Mark Wandering Medicine v. McCulloch
· 2012-11-06
Preliminary injunction (plaintiffs) Denied

“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction is DENIED.”

Parsons v. Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, Inc.
· 2011-05-31
Summary judgment (Sisters of Charity) Granted

“Defendant Sisters of Charity’s Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. 21) is GRANTED;”

Summary judgment (Blue Cross Blue Shield) Granted

“Defendant BCBS’ Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. 27) is GRANTED;”

Dimitrov v. Norton
· 2007-03-14
Summary judgment (plaintiffs) Granted

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.”

Crow Tribal Housing Authority v. United States Department of Housing & Urban Development
· 2013-02-14
Summary judgment (plaintiff Crow Tribal Housing Authority) Granted in part

“Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. 51) is DENIED IN PART and GRANTED IN PART as stated herein.”

Summary judgment (defendant) Granted in part

“Defendant’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. 60) is DENIED IN PART and GRANTED IN PART as stated herein.”

Signal Peak Energy, LLC v. Eastern Montana Minerals, Inc.
· 2013-02-07
Motions to dismiss (Gunvor Group Ltd.) Granted

“the Motions to Dismiss Amended Counterclaims brought by Gunvor Group Ltd. (doc. 67), Pinesdale LLC (doc. 69), Boich Companies, LLC (doc. 71), First-Energy Generation Corp. (doc. 73), First-Energy Corp. (doc. 75), FirstEnergy Ventures Corp. (doc. 77), Global Coal Sales Group, LLC (doc. 79), Global Mining Holding Company (doc. 81), and WMB Marketing Ventures, LLC (doc. 83) are GRANTED.”

Motions to dismiss (Pinesdale LLC) Granted
Motions to dismiss (Boich Companies, LLC) Granted
Motions to dismiss (First-Energy Generation Corp.) Granted
Motions to dismiss (First-Energy Corp.) Granted
Motions to dismiss (FirstEnergy Ventures Corp.) Granted
Motions to dismiss (Global Coal Sales Group, LLC) Granted
Motions to dismiss (Global Mining Holding Company) Granted
Motions to dismiss (WMB Marketing Ventures, LLC) Granted
Motions to dismiss (Signal Peak Energy, LLC) Granted in part

“Signal Peak Energy, LLC’s Motion to Dismiss Amended Counterclaims (doc. 85) is GRANTED IN PART”

Motion for protective order (counterclaim defendants) Moot / procedural

“Counterclaim Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order staying all discovery (doc. 95) is DENIED AS MOOT.”

Kortlander v. Bureau of Land Management
· 2011-09-13
Summary judgment (plaintiffs) Denied

“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 17] is DENIED.”

Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 36 ] *1017 is GRANTED.”

Montana Silversmiths, Inc. v. Taylor Brands, LLC
· 2012-02-08
Motions to dismiss (defendants) Granted in part

“Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (doc. 32) is DENIED, except as to claims relating to Eaton’s breach of the Non-Disclosure Agreement, breach of the Separation Agreement after July 15, 2010, or Taylor Brands’ interference with those contracts.”

Preliminary injunction (plaintiff) Granted in part

“Plaintiffs Motion for Preliminary Injunction (doc. 16) is GRANTED IN PART”

Kortlander v. Cornell
· 2011-09-12
Judgment on the pleadings (defendants) Granted

“Defendants’ Motion for *1001 Judgment on the Pleadings (doc. 18) is GRANTED: the Complaint (doc. 1) is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”

Motion for leave to amend (plaintiffs) Denied

“Plaintiffs’ Motion to File Second Amended Complaint (doc. 31) is DENIED.”

Thiel v. Veneman
· 2012-03-14
Motions to dismiss (defendants) Granted in part

“Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Doc. # 45) be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

The 20 located cases were all terminated and form a bounded early-2008 cohort rather than a career-wide caseload measure.

A historical record

Judge Cebull 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.