In poker, an effective move is to slow play a monster hand. I once got into a hand with low suited connectors for $2 and flopped a straight flush. I checked and another player raised $10. (Unfortunately, all the other players folded and the pot did not get any higher, but the house paid a $210 bonus.)

A federal district court judge named Lee P. Rudofsky just slow played me.

I was thrilled by Judge Rudofsky’s demeanor. He runs the proceedings well and is patient. He is listening, reads the documents and repeats back important points.

He did not always rule the way I wanted him to rule, but he was within his discretion and made only one misstatement of law. It was about an ancillary issue, whether pro se litigants may be given permission to file electronically.

Until his first substantive decision.

Judge Rudofsky decided a Motion for Summary Judgment in favor of a goliath debt buyer, Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, based on a grossly misstated fact set.

One of the early poor discretionary calls was allowing PRA to keep its filings, including the MSJ, under seal. For fear of being found in contempt of court, I filed my response under seal.

This made it easy for the sneaky judge to misstate what was in the response.

If Judge Lee P. Rudofsky is ever looked at for promotion, please contact me. If I have not been successful at unsealing the telling documents, I will cooperate fully with those who can.