J. Brendan Day
How Judge Day rules, drawn from 32 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Day
J. Brendan Day has served as a United States magistrate judge for the District of New Jersey in Trenton since April 3, 2023. He previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New Jersey and clerked for U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden and Third Circuit Judge Michael A. Chagares.
Judge Day's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Day, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Filing
Do not send courtesy copies unless requested or otherwise required by the case-management order.
“courtesy copies of filed or submitted papers should not be mailed, emailed, or faxed to chambers.”
Discovery
Confer in good faith before bringing a discovery dispute to the court; email exchanges alone are insufficient.
“Email exchanges are not sufficient to satisfy the meet-and-confer requirement:”
Conferences
Submit adjournment and extension requests at least two business days before the scheduled conference or deadline, absent exigent circumstances.
“the Court will consider adjournment and extension requests only if made at least two (2) business days before a scheduled conference or deadline.”
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 9, 2026).
- Second Amended Standing Order 2026-02: In Re Increase in Immigration-Related Habeas Corpus Petitions seeking Emergent Relief ↗
- Standing Order 2025-05: IN RE Procedures for Access to and Service of Sealed Documents ↗
- Standing Order 2025-04: IN RE "Schedule A" Cases ↗
- Standing Order 2024-03: In re: Amendment to Procedures for Requesting, Filing, and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents and Guidance for Same ↗
- Standing Order 2024-02: Electronic Signatures ↗
How Judge Day decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Kille v. Newsom, Day appointed pro bono counsel for the limited purpose of completing discovery after an earlier counsel request had been denied as premature.
“ORDERED that the Court requests an attorney pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1915(e)(1) to represent Kille pro bono for the limited purpose of assisting Kille with completing discovery”
In Johnson v. Feigley, Day reopened discovery to require production of five recordings after finding good cause despite the late request, while denying production of a cumulative physical exhibit.
“considering the relevant nature of the requested recordings, the slight burden of production and lack of prejudice to the NJOAG Defendants, and Johnson's pro se status, the Court finds good cause to reopen discovery”
Procedural preferences
In Veterans Guardian v. Davenport, Day ordered production of documents withheld under an asserted First Amendment associational privilege after finding no facts supporting the claimed chilling effect; he rejected the argument that such a privilege could never cover internal advocacy materials.
“Plaintiffs have not demonstrated that the First Amendment privilege applies to the documents described in rows 1, 2, 4–7, 9–10, 19–25, 27–32 of their privilege log. Those documents shall be produced forthwith.”
In First National Realty Partners v. May, Day denied consolidation without prejudice despite overlapping issues because a pending arbitration motion could change whether both cases remained in court.
“the mere existence of common issues does not require consolidation ... Given the present procedural posture of the cases, the Court concludes that consolidation is not appropriate at this time.”
In Lin v. Hudson City Savings Bank, Day granted a renewed Rule 11 fee petition in full and awarded the defendants $110,643.86 in fees and costs.
“ORDERED that defendants' renewed fee petition [Dkt. 80] is GRANTED in its entirety”
Cautions
In M.C. v. Harnad, Day recommended denying a proposed second amended complaint as futile and closing the claims against Princeton with prejudice; his recommendation drew on reasoning from a related case.
“the undersigned recommends that M.C.'s motion for leave to file a second amended complaint ... be denied as futile ... and that the case against Princeton now be closed with prejudice”
In Allenwood Circle Exxon v. BMG Exterior Renovations, Day recommended a civil-contempt finding, a coercive daily fine, and $5,000 in attorney fees after BMG disobeyed a subpoena and court orders; the district judge later adopted the contempt finding and fee award.
“RECOMMENDED that the Court hold defendant BMG Exterior Renovations LLC (‘BMG’) in civil contempt; ... RECOMMENDED that the Court also order BMG to pay to plaintiff attorneys' fees in the amount of $5,000.00.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ORDERED that Elfar's motion to amend [Dkt. 44] is GRANTED; and it is further ORDERED that Elfar shall file his second amended complaint within five (5) business days of the date of this Order.”
“ORDERED that defendants' renewed fee petition [Dkt. 80] is GRANTED in its entirety; and it is further ORDERED that plaintiffs shall pay, jointly and severally, defendants' attorneys' fees and costs in the amount of $110,643.86.”
“ORDERED that Johnson's motions for the appointment of pro bono counsel [Dkts. 27, 35] are DENIED without prejudice and may be refiled if any of his claims remain after the Court decides the pending motion to dismiss [Dkt. 45].”
“ORDERED that the Court requests an attorney pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1915(e)(1) to represent Kille pro bono for the limited purpose of assisting Kille with completing discovery”
“ORDERED that Newsom's request for permission to file a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 37 is DENIED as moot.”
“the undersigned recommends that M.C.'s motion for leave to file a second amended complaint, [Dkts. 62, 74], be denied as futile ... and that the case against Princeton now be closed with prejudice.”
District Judge Robert Kirsch's order adopting Magistrate Judge Day's Report and Recommendation on the motion for leave to amend: all claims against Princeton University dismissed with prejudice. Recorded here for the adoption record; not double-counted in the published-opinion stats above.
“RECOMMENDED that the Court hold defendant BMG Exterior Renovations LLC (‘BMG’) in civil contempt; ... RECOMMENDED that the Court also order BMG to pay to plaintiff attorneys' fees in the amount of $5,000.00.”
District Judge Robert Kirsch's order adopting, in part, the civil-contempt Report and Recommendation: sustaining the contempt finding and the $5,000 attorney's-fee sanction. Recorded here for the adoption record; not double-counted in the published-opinion stats above.
Consolidated three related consumer class actions under Rule 42(a) and appointed interim co-lead class counsel under Rule 23(g)(3), weighing the Rule 23(g)(1) factors. Not a ruling on a contested party motion in the ordinary sense (an uncontested procedural/organizational order), so excluded from the motion-outcome stats.
“ORDERED that Johnson's motion to compel, [Dkt. 82], is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part as follows: No later than November 14, 2025, the NJOAG Defendants shall produce to Johnson copies of the five audio/video recordings ... Johnson's motion is otherwise denied.”
“Exercising the Court's broad discretion and for the foregoing reasons, the motion to consolidate the May and McGrath cases [Dkt. 66] is DENIED without prejudice.”
“Before the Court is plaintiffs' unopposed motion for leave to file an amended complaint. (Dkt. #37.) The Court having carefully considered plaintiffs' motion, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15, Local Civil Rule 15.1, and other applicable law; and defendant having consented to plaintiff's request to file an amended complaint; and for good cause shown, plaintiffs' motion for leave to amend is GRANTED. Plaintiffs shall file their amended complaint on or before 3/14/26.”
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, not for Judge Day: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 8,970 | 8.1 months |
| Closed with no court action | 370 | 4.6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 6,266 | 5.3 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 2,317 | 14.4 months |
| Closed during trial | 17 | 36.6 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 8,970 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2024 | 7,921 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2023 | 8,378 | 10.3 months |
| Sep 2022 | 7,053 | 7.9 months |
| Sep 2021 | 9,064 | 9.2 months |
| Sep 2020 | 9,031 | 9.9 months |
| Sep 2019 | 10,590 | 9 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
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