Hon. David G. Larimer
1987 – present
Federal Judicial Service:
- Judge, U.S. District Court, Western District of New York
- Nominated by President Ronald Reagan on May 5, 1987, to a new seat created by Congress. Confirmed by the Senate on November 5, 1987, and received commission on November 6, 1987. Served as Chief Judge, 1996-2002. Assumed senior status on March 3, 2009.
- U.S. Magistrate Judge, Western District of New York, 1983-1987
Education:
- Notre Dame Law School, J.D., 1969
- St. John Fisher College, B.A., magna cum laude, 1966
Professional Career:
- Private Practice, Rochester, New York, 1975-1979, 1982-1987
- Chief Law Assistant, Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department, 1979-1981
- Adjunct Instructor of Law, St. John Fisher College, 1978-1981
- Assistant U.S. Attorney, Western District of New York, 1973-1975
- Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia, 1970-1973
- Law Clerk, Hon. Joseph C. McGarraghy, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 1969-1970
Noteworthy Cases:
Datskow v. Teledyne Cont’l Motors Aircraft Prods., No. 6:88-CV-01299:
After a single-engine plane crash in 1986 claimed the lives of a family of four, the executor of the decedents’ estates sued the manufacturer of the airplane’s engine, alleging that the crash was due to an engine defect that caused an engine fire, which spread to the passenger compartment. The case went to a five-week jury trial in January 1993. During jury deliberations, the Court got an inkling that a sizeable damages award for the plaintiffs might be in the offing when the jury sent a note to the Judge asking for a CALCULATOR, because the one they had only went up to seven digits. Yet even that didn’t prepare anyone for the jury’s damages award of $107.3 million, the most ever for an aviation case. Based on New York law, Judge Larimer granted remittitur and reduced the award for pain and suffering to one million dollars.
Of particular note is Judge Larimer’s discussion of the plaintiffs’ use of a computer-generated imagery animation that illustrated their expert’s theory of where the fire began inside the plane’s engine and how it spread. Judge Larimer’s decision was one of the first reported cases addressing the admissibility of CGI and continues to be cited today.
Datskow v. Teledyne Cont’l Motors Aircraft Prods., 826 F. Supp. 677 (W.D.N.Y. 1993)
https://casetext.com/case/datskow-v-teledyne-continental-motors-2
United States v. Millar, Moloney, et al., No. 6:93-CR-00292:
One of the largest armored car robberies in U.S. history occurred in January 1993, when masked gunmen entered a Brinks depot in Rochester, NY and walked off with $7.4 million in cash. Four defendants, including a Catholic priest, a former member of the Irish Republican Army, and an exRochester police officer, were charged in connection with the crime. The case proceeded to a jury trial in 1994. Two of the defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to possess stolen money. Many questions about the crime remain unanswered. The identity of the actual robbers has never been established. Although some of the cash was found in the apartment of one of the defendants, the remaining $5.2 million remains unaccounted for. A connection to the IRA was widely theorized but never proven. And an individual who may have had some connection to the crime disappeared in 1995. Parts of his remains washed up on the Lake Ontario shore in 1999, but no one has ever been charged in connection with his death. The case later became the subject of a best-selling book, Seven Million, by author Gary Craig.
U.S. v. Millar, 79 F.3d 338 (2d Cir. 1996); U.S. v. Moloney, 985 F. Supp. 358 (W.D.N.Y. 1996)
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/985/358/1569729/
BonTon Stores, Inc. v. May Dep’t Stores Co., Nos. 6:94-CV-06454, 6:94-CV-06479:
In 1994, one of Rochester’s oldest department stores, McCurdy’s, decided to close its twelve stores and sell them to May Department Stores, a holding company that already owned several department stores in the Rochester area. An antitrust suit was brought by New York State and BonTon Stores, a Pennsylvania-based department store company that sought to purchase McCurdy’s former locations. The plaintiffs alleged that the sale to May was anticompetitive and would prevent BonTon from entering the Rochester-area market.
Judge Larimer granted a preliminary injunction for the plaintiffs, and forced May to divest itself of McCurdy’s assets. Key to the decision was the determination of the relevant product market, in particular Judge Larimer’s conclusion that traditional department stores constituted a submarket within the broader market of stores selling a general range of goods. The decision was a landmark in granting injunctive relief to a private antitrust plaintiff to undo an asset sale.
BonTon Stores, Inc. v. May Dep’t Stores Co., 881 F. Supp. 860 (W.D.N.Y. 1994)
https://casetext.com/case/bon-ton-stores-inc-v-may-dept-stores
Wagner v. County of Cattaraugus, No. 6:93-CV-06177:
On the lighter side, on April 23, 1992, sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a call that someone had seen a man wearing a large Easter Bunny mask over his head outside a bank in Cattaraugus County, apparently casing the bank for a robbery. The wearer of the mask was found and arrested on suspicion of attempted bank robbery, but later released after it was determined that he was on a road trip with a friend, which involved taking humorous photos of the man wearing the mask at various locations. On cross-motions for summary judgment, Judge Larimer granted judgment for the plaintiff on liability for false arrest. The judge observed that when a wouldbe robber is casing a bank, “Generally, stealth is preferred.” The damages portion of the suit was later settled, but not before Judge Larimer’s decision had been picked up by syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry as the subject of a column, “The Easter Bunny Caper,” Miami Herald, Dec. 25, 1994.
Wagner v. County of Cattaraugus, 866 F. Supp. 709 (W.D.N.Y. 1994)
https://casetext.com/case/wagner-v-county-of-cattaraugus
