Owen McIntosh Burns
Judge Burns no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
After a jury found both sides negligent and awarded neither party relief, Burns directed each side to bear its own costs. The writing is excluded because it addresses court-initiated cost allocation rather than a party motion.
“The instant case appears to present one of the unusual situations where the motion should receive favorable consideration.”
“Consequently, his beneficiaries have no legal basis for recovery.”
“the above-entitled case will be, and hereby is, remanded to the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, with costs”
“the counter-motions by defendant for a stay and for a transfer must be, and hereby are, denied.”
“The motion of defendant to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction must he granted.”
“no useful purpose could be served by taking testimony concerning jury investigations or hearing oral argument in a case where I believe justice was done.”
Burns explained that interrogatories serve pretrial disclosure and that potentially relevant questions should be answered. The writing is retained for reasoning but excluded because the reported text does not state the formal disposition of the objections.
“the prolonged failure of libellant to meet the challenge posed by the motion warrants dismissal of the libel.”
“Plaintiff has shown no adequate reason for imposing the additional burden of a distant forum on the individual defendants whom, after all, he elected to sue in this Court.”
“the motion to require plaintiff to reply to the answer of defendant is denied.”
“This argument was rejected by Judge Follmer in ruling upon a prior motion to dismiss in this case.”
“Defendant, however, can file an answer which denies any allegations as to which it requires proof, and then make full use of the pre-trial discovery proceedings permitted 'by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A.”
“The motion of plaintiff for default judgment is totally without merit.”
“the motions of defendants to dismiss the complaint for want of jurisdiction be, and hereby are, granted. The complaint is dismissed.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
No surviving assigned-case index was located for Burns's tenure. The profile therefore makes no claim about his caseload, case duration, motion base rates, or ruling speed.
A historical record
Judge Burns 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.