Robert Lewis Brown Sr.
Judge Brown no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Brown decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In diversity cases, Brown treated the state supreme court's construction of state law as controlling even if he might independently have read the contract differently.
“This court is controlled in this case by the pronouncements of the Supreme Court of the State of Montana and in that respect this court sits as but another inferior court of the State of Montana.”
Brown assessed statutory willfulness from the full circumstances, including the defendant's information and purpose, rather than from the violation alone.
“That question cannot be resolved by considering only the act itself, but the act of violation must be viewed in connection with and with reference to all the circumstances under which it was committed, the knowledge or information the defendant had at the time of its commission and the intent and purpose of the defendant in committing the act.”
Uncontroverted employee testimony and the employer's operating schedule supported an inference that compensable travel pushed some workweeks beyond forty hours.
“from this uncontroverted testimony the inference follows that these witnesses did work more than 40 hours in some of the weeks, including travel time.”
Procedural preferences
For taxable trial expenses, Brown focused on whether the material was necessary to decide the actual issue, not merely whether it was admitted.
“the determinative factor is not whether or not the maps were introduced in evidence, but whether or not they were required or necessary to be used in the trial and determination of the issue that was presented to the Court for determination.”
He construed remedial statutes to preserve the remedy and declined to treat alternative state-law pleading as a waiver of the plaintiff's chosen forum.
“As the Act is one remedial in character, it is my belief that it should be so construed as to advance the remedy given by Congress and not to narrow it”
Cautions
A prevailing party could not tax deposition expenses when the deposition was neither read nor offered at trial.
“only the cost of taking such depositions as are actually read or offered in evidence at the trial of the case by the prevailing party shall be taxed as costs.”
Good-faith reliance on oral agency advice could limit a statutory penalty but did not eliminate liability for the underlying overcharge.
“The oral advice received is no defense to the defendant here against recovery for the actual amount of the overcharge, but neither can it be used for the purpose of penalizing- the de Cendant because it accepted it as correct, and in good faith acted upon it.”
Claims against the United States had to fall clearly within Congress's consent to suit, which Brown construed strictly.
“the suit may not be maintained against the United States if not clearly within the statute of consent and the statutes granting the right to sue the United States will be strictly construed”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“It is therefore ordered that the motion to remand this case be and the same hereby is granted, and the case is ordered remanded to the District Court of the First Judicial District of the State of Montana, in and for the County of Lewis and Clark from whence it came.”
“the cost of taking it cannot be lawfully taxed against the defendant and the Clerk was right in refusing to tax the item claimed”
“It follows that the plaintiff is entitled to recover a judgment against the defendant for the sum of $1105.45, and its costs and no further or additional sum.”
“From the foregoing it necessarily follows that no actual controversy of a justiciable nature does or can exist and the motion made by the respondent to dismiss the action should be and hereby is sustained upon each of the grounds set forth in the motion and the action is ordered dismissed.”
“Because of the law as established by the Supreme Court in the case herein referred to, it necessarily follows that the action must be dismissed.”
“From the foregoing the Court is of the opinion that the plaintiff is entitled to the judgment prayed for in his complaint and findings of fact, conclusions of law and decree to that end and in conformity herewith will be entered.”
“It Is Therefore Ordered that the motion of the plaintiff to retax costs be and the same hereby is sustained and the Clerk of this court is directed to disallow as costs the costs of preparing the maps hereinabove itemized and to tax as the defendant’s costs the amount claimed by it in its cost bill less such items.”
“It necessarily follows from what is said that the motion of the defendant to dismiss the action of the plaintiff Home Insurance Company, both individually and in its representative capacity should be sustained upon each of the grounds set out in the motion, and, therefore, it is ordered and this does order that the action of the Home Insurance Company against the defendant, both individually and in its representative capacity, be and the same hereby is dismissed.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The eight located decisions cover several civil subjects, but they do not establish the distribution of Brown's full caseload.
A historical record
Judge Brown 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.