Terence P. Kemp
How Judge Kemp decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a default-judgment motion he looks past the defendant's silence to whether the complaint actually states a valid cause of action against THAT defendant -- pleading specificity matters even when the defendant defaults.
“The primary problem with the motion for default judgment is that the complaint does not, on its face, allege any facts under which Timothy Blanton can be held liable.”
On an unopposed EAJA fee application he treats the government's silence as dispositive: the burden is the Commissioner's to show substantial justification, and failing to respond forfeits it.
“In the absence of an opposing memorandum, the Commissioner cannot satisfy that burden.”
Procedural preferences
Strict on Rule 33: a party may not serve more than 25 interrogatories (including subparts) without leave or stipulation, and a motion to compel must follow an actual served request for production.
“additional interrogatories, without stipulation or leave of court, are prohibited under Rule 33. Further, nowhere in the record is there any indication that Mr. Chiles previously requested document production prior to filing the motion to compel.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Plaintiff has filed an application for entry of default against defendant Timothy W. Blanton. For the following reasons, it will be recommended that the application for entry of default be denied.”
“Mr. Chiles' Motion to Compel (doc. #17) is DENIED.”
“Mr. Chiles' motion for appointment of counsel (doc. #16) is GRANTED conditioned upon the issuance of a final order by the District Judge overruling the motion for summary judgment.”
“the Court RECOMMENDS that the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss or For Partial Summary Judgment (doc. #20) be GRANTED”
“the Second Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. #24) be DENIED”
“It is therefore recommended that Plaintiff's application for attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (‘EAJA’) (Doc. 24) be granted and that Plaintiff be awarded the sum of $3,399.43 to be paid to counsel unless there is an offsetting debt owed to the United States.”
The district court adopted Kemp's screening recommendation in full and dismissed a pro se civil-rights complaint against a public defender for failure to state a claim. Because the matter arose from screening rather than a party motion, it is excluded from the motion statistics.
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The sampled recall-era cases, filed from 2019 through 2022, are predominantly Social Security disability appeals in which the parties consented to Kemp's final jurisdiction. Earlier cases from 1984 through 1991 show a broader mix including product liability, employment and prisoner civil rights, patent, motor-vehicle injury, and negotiable-instrument disputes.
Put Judge Kemp's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Kemp actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Kemp's own signed orders and cites them.