Stacey D. Adams
How Judge Adams rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Adams
Stacey D. Adams has served as a United States magistrate judge for the District of New Jersey in Newark since June 21, 2024. She previously served as a New Jersey Superior Court judge in Monmouth County and practiced at Littler Mendelson.
Judge Adams's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Adams, 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
Provide courtesy copies only when the court requests them.
“Courtesy Copies: By request of the Court only.”
Discovery
Obtain leave before filing discovery motions.
“Discovery motions may not be filed without leave of Court.”
Conferences
Request an adjournment at least three business days before the proceeding, absent exigent circumstances.
“adjournment requests shall only be considered if made at least three (3) business days before the scheduled court proceeding.”
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 Adams decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
A narrowly tailored request for early discovery can establish good cause when it seeks only identifying information from an internet service provider and preserves the distinction between an account holder and the alleged infringer.
“No other information shall be sought.”
A proposed FLSA settlement is persuasive when it resolves a genuine wage dispute, provides a fair recovery, and avoids terms such as restrictive confidentiality or an overbroad release.
“the Settlement Agreement and Release represents a fair and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute that does not frustrate the purposes of the FLSA”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Relator’s Motion is DENIED”
“GRANTED. The language in the Request has been slightly modified by the Court to remove”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s Motion for Spoliation Sanctions is DENIED.”
“Plaintiffs’ motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Harborview’s unopposed Motion to Amend is GRANTED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Motions are GRANTED.”
“motion to quash is GRANTED.”
“His request for attorneys’ fees is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s Motion is GRANTED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s Motion is GRANTED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants’ Motion to Disqualify (ECF No. 8) is DENIED.”
“Further, Plaintiff’s request for leave to file a Motion to Compel (ECF No. 25) is DENIED.”
“counsel is therefore DENIED without prejudice.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s Motion is GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Six identified civil matters filed from January 2023 through July 2024 included four terminated and two pending cases. The set includes inherited referrals and consent assignments and is descriptive rather than a complete caseload measure.
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 | 1 |
| Mar 2025 | 1 | 1 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
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 Adams: 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).
Draft for Judge Adams with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Adams, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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