Andrew B. Altenburg Jr.
How Judge Altenburg rules, drawn from 21 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Altenburg
Andrew B. Altenburg Jr. serves as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of New Jersey. He began service on that court in May 2014.
Judge Altenburg's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Altenburg, as published on the court's website (checked October 10, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Motions
Appear for contested matters; failure to appear can cause the motion or objection to be denied or overruled.
“IF A PARTY FAILS TO APPEAR TO BE HEARD ON A CONTESTED MATTER, THE MOTIONS/RELIEF SOUGHT WILL BE DENIED AND/OR THE OBJECTION/RESPONSE THERETO WILL BE OVERRULED FOR LACK OF PROSECUTION.”
Motions
Opposed summary judgment motions and motions to dismiss adversary proceedings require oral argument.
“Judge Altenburg requires oral argument for summary judgment motions and motions to dismiss adversary proceedings if opposition is filed.”
Motions
Notify the courtroom deputy when first-day matters in a complex Chapter 11 case need scheduling.
“Judge Altenburg directs the parties to notify the Courtroom Deputy, Heather Renye, by Chambers e-mail or by telephone of the need for scheduling of all first day matters.”
Conferences
Contested hearings, including trials and evidentiary hearings, are presumptively in person, except Chapter 13 confirmation and Friday dismissal hearings.
“ALL CONTESTED HEARINGS, INCLUDING TRIALS AND EVIDENTIARY HEARINGS, WILL BE PRESUMPTIVELY IN-PERSON (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF CHAPTER 13 CONFIRMATION HEARINGS AND FRIDAY DISMISSAL HEARINGS).”
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 10, 2026).
How Judge Altenburg decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Kirk, he denied summary judgment on nondischargeability because intent still required trial despite an established fiduciary relationship.
“Trial to be scheduled on the issues of Kirk’s intent.”
In Crest By The Sea, he dismissed the petition after finding that it served to delay state litigation and lacked a valid reorganization purpose.
“the court finds that the Debtor abused the provisions, purpose and spirit of bankruptcy law in filing its bankruptcy petition.”
Procedural preferences
In Global Protection, he temporarily stayed the adversary case to protect a party’s Fifth Amendment interests, with monthly status reports and a review date.
“the court will grant the stay until April 28, 2015. Until then, the court shall require Mr. Guarino to submit monthly status reports”
Cautions
In Osorio and Beck, he denied plan confirmation without prejudice because the proposed treatment favored municipal fines over other unsecured claims during the commitment period.
“confirmation of the Debtors’ plans is denied without prejudice.”
In DeMarco, he reduced counsel’s billed time by 25 percent after finding duplicate work and insufficient billing judgment.
“the failure by Kasen to exercise billing judgment, warrants a twenty-five percent (25%) reduction to time billed.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Thus, Jersey College’s Motion is granted.”
“judgment shall be and hereby is granted as to all five counts of the Vara Proceeding”
“all six counts of the Bogan Proceeding”
“all three counts of the Hill Proceeding”
“Accordingly, the motion for summary judgment is DENIED.”
“Accordingly, I will deny Mr. Avolio’s motion to dismiss the adversary proceeding based upon incomplete responses.”
“Accordingly, I will deny FRT’s cross-motion for sanctions also.”
“Based on the foregoing, the Motion to Dismiss is granted, the Association’s request for relief from the stay is denied as moot and the Motion to Extend is denied as moot.”
“Based on the foregoing, confirmation of the Debtors’ plans is denied without prejudice.”
“As a result of the foregoing, the court will grant the Motions in the Bank Adversary and the Guarino Adversary for a stay.”
“Accordingly, FCS’s Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED in its entirety. Summary judgment is GRANTED in favor of the Debtor as to all claims, and all debts owed to FCS are DISCHARGED.”
“Navajo Times’ Motion to Dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1) is granted.”
“It further finds the Debtor can modify its chapter 12 plan post-confirmation to permit retained professionals to seek compensation for post-confirmation services and to address the Difference Payment in this way.”
“As no counts remain, the court will dismiss this adversary proceeding in its entirety.”
“Because the court concludes that the Debtor has not satisfied his burden that Servicers acted in bad faith and the record reflects that Servicers in fact participated in the LMP process in good faith, the Debtor’s Motion for Sanctions will be denied.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
All ten sampled matters were terminated. Four express default-judgment outcomes were retained; a proposed-order-only judgment was not treated as a motion ruling.
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