Anne Y. Shields
How Judge Shields rules, drawn from 18 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Shields
Anne Y. Shields has served as a U.S. magistrate judge for the Eastern District of New York since 2015, sitting in Central Islip. She earned a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a law degree from St. John's University School of Law.
Judge Shields's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Shields, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Conferences
Request adjournments by ECF motion at least 48 hours in advance absent extraordinary circumstances.
“In the absence of extraordinary circumstances, all requests for adjournments of any kind are to be made via an ECF motion, and are to be made no later than 48 hours prior to the scheduled appearance date or deadline.”
Conferences
File the Initial Joint Letter at least two days before the initial conference.
“In all cases this Court’s ‘Initial Joint Letter’ annexed as Exhibit G shall be submitted to the Court via ECF no later than two days prior to the Initial Conference.”
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 Shields decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Koral v. Saunders, she recommended summary judgment on limitations grounds after finding that the plaintiff was on inquiry notice of the alleged fraud; District Judge Feuerstein overruled the plaintiff’s objections and adopted that recommendation.
“plaintiff’s objections are overruled and those branches of the Report are accepted in their entirety.”
In Performing Arts Center of Suffolk County v. Actor’s Equity Association, her report applied a fact-specific materiality inquiry to the pleaded ERISA fiduciary-breach claim; District Judge Seybert adopted the recommendation to deny dismissal of that claim.
“Determining the materiality of misstatements is a fact-specific inquiry.”
In an ERISA default matter, she separately tested the Rule 55 factors, the statutory prerequisites for withdrawal liability, the damages calculation, and the supporting fee records before recommending judgment; the defendant's silence did not eliminate that review.
“A consideration of these factors in the instant case counsels in favor of entering a default judgment against Defendant.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Judge Shields' R&R (Docket Entry 16) is ADOPTED in its entirety and this case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“The Court has reviewed the record and, finding no clear error, adopts the R & R as the opinion of the Court. The Court grants defendants' motion to dismiss.”
“defendants' motion for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is granted; defendants are granted judgment as a matter of law dismissing plaintiff's claims against them in their entirety with prejudice”
“plaintiff's cross motion for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is denied”
“Blue Castle's Motion for Default Judgment (ECF No. 9) is granted, with rates and hours for attorney's fees as set forth in the R&R. The Court awards Blue Castle $1,608,499.93”
“United States Magistrate Judge Anne Y. Shields issued a Report and Recommendation in which she recommended that the defendant's motion to dismiss be granted in part and denied in part.”
“the Equity Dismissal Motion (ECF No. 30) is GRANTED”
“the Funds Defendants Dismissal Motion (ECF No. 31) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part in accordance with Magistrate Judge Shields' recommendation”
“For the reasons set forth above, Plaintiff's motion set forth in Docket Entry No. 116 is denied in its entirety.”
“Upon such construction, and for the reasons set forth below, the Reylings' motions are deemed made and are denied.”
“the Court finds that Defendant Sachem Central School District offered Plaintiff C.B. a free and appropriate education for the 2022-2023 school year. Accordingly, Defendant's motion for summary judgment is granted in its entirety.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendant's for summary judgment is granted in its entirety. The Clerk of the Court is directed to enter judgment accordingly and to close this case.”
“For the foregoing reasons, this Court respectfully recommends that Plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment be granted.”
“Upon review of the parties’ motions and the JPTO. the Court grants in part and denies in part the motions and objections and will allow for limited additional briefing only as set forth herein.”
“As to Plaintiff’s motion in limine (DE [104]), that motion is granted as unopposed.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 66 days (N = 1).
- Three strands. (1) Referral civil docket: a current-assignment sample is dominated by single-plaintiff FLSA/NYLL wage cases, plus ADA-employment, consumer/product-liability, contract, and immigration (USCIS mandamus) matters, on which she handles pretrial, discovery, and reports & recommendations. (2) Consent docket: she occasionally presides through trial where the parties consent (e.g. a FELA case tried in 2020). (3) A steady magistrate-duty criminal calendar (complaints/removals).
- FLSA dominance is consistent with her published FLSA-protocol reputation.
- Case durations are not attributed: the older cases sampled reached her by referral or by late reassignment for trial, not from filing.
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 | 3 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 3 | 8 |
| Sep 2025 | 3 | 8 |
| Mar 2025 | 2 | 8 |
| Sep 2024 | 3 | 7 |
| Mar 2024 | 2 | 6 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 7 |
| Mar 2023 | 2 | 7 |
| Sep 2022 | 4 | 9 |
| Mar 2022 | 4 | 14 |
| Sep 2021 | 1 | 8 |
| Mar 2021 | 1 | 9 |
| Sep 2020 | 2 | 11 |
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 United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, not for Judge Shields: 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 | 7,392 | 6.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,485 | 3 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 5,022 | 6.9 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 835 | 13.9 months |
| Closed during trial | 50 | 49.6 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 7,392 | 6.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 7,879 | 5.8 months |
| Sep 2023 | 7,746 | 5.1 months |
| Sep 2022 | 7,588 | 6.2 months |
| Sep 2021 | 6,709 | 7.9 months |
| Sep 2020 | 6,062 | 8.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 6,858 | 8.1 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 Shields with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Shields, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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