Eric Nicholas Vitaliano
How Judge Vitaliano rules, drawn from 18 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Vitaliano
Eric Nicholas Vitaliano is a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Vitaliano received a commission on January 19, 2006. Judge Vitaliano assumed senior status on February 28, 2017.
Judge Vitaliano's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Vitaliano, 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
Filing
Do not send courtesy copies unless specifically advised through the docket.
“Courtesy copies are not desired and should not be sent to Chambers.”
Motions
In represented cases, request a pre-motion conference before Rule 12, Rule 56, or venue motions.
“In cases where all parties are represented by counsel, a pre-motion conference with the Court must be requested before making any motion: (i) pursuant to FRCP 12 or 56; or (ii) for a change of venue.”
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 Vitaliano decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Kim v. Son, he rejected the recalcitrant-worker defense to a scaffold-law claim because the defendant’s own evidence did not show that the worker’s conduct was the sole proximate cause of the injury.
“Ms. Son fails, however, to offer any evidence tending to show that Kim's recalcitrance was the sole proximate cause of the incident. ... Accordingly, on her own proffered proof, Ms. Son's recalcitrant worker defense fails as a matter of law.”
In Hi Bar, a direct accounting claim survived dismissal because the pleaded close relationship and control of company accounts supported an obligation to account. Specific objections led the court to modify the recommended dismissal.
“Thus, given the close, potentially fiduciary relationship between the parties, Getter has sufficiently pled that he entrusted his share of Hi Bar’s profits to Herbst via Herbst’s exclusive control over Hi Bar’s accounts, imposing on Herbst a burden to account. Getter’s objection to the R&R’s contrary conclusion is sustained. As a result, Getter’s accounting claim survives the motion to dismiss it, and the R&R is modified accordingly.”
Procedural preferences
In De Oliveira v. Barr, he rejected a due-process claim based on asylum-interview delay because the cited statute expressly created no enforceable right or benefit.
“Section 1158(d)(7) explicitly bars the creation of any enforceable ‘substantive or procedural right or benefit.’”
In Sanchez v. James Gainfort AIA Consulting Architects, he denied leave to appeal a nonfinal bankruptcy order because the decision turned on case-specific facts rather than a controlling pure question of law.
“On this framework, the interlocutory appeal Sanchez seeks is not warranted. First, the bankruptcy court’s action did not involve a controlling question of law.”
In Rejhon v. City of New York, after dismissing the federal claims, he declined supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state-law claims and dismissed them without prejudice to refiling in state court.
“Having declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction, all of plaintiff’s pendant state law claims are dismissed without prejudice to their refiling in a state court of appropriate jurisdiction.”
Cautions
In Davis v. Klein, he granted the defendants’ unopposed summary judgment motion after finding that the record established probable cause for the arrest and reasonable suspicion for the strip search.
“upon their motion, summary judgment is granted in favor of all defendants. This action is dismissed.”
In Suriel v. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, he denied a trial request to use surveillance video for impeachment because the footage did not contradict testimony that the plaintiff worked while experiencing pain.
“The surveillance video does not impeach that testimony; nor does it impeach the opinion of Dr. DiGiacinto that is derivative from it.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“plaintiff Jang Uk Kim's motion for summary judgment on his fifth cause of action, brought under New York Labor Law § 240(1), is granted as to liability, and defendant Ho Jeo Son's cross-motion is denied.”
“defendant Ho Jeo Son's cross-motion is denied.”
“For all of the above reasons, upon their motion, summary judgment is granted in favor of all defendants. This action is dismissed.”
“For the reasons set forth above, the appellee's motion to dismiss is granted in its entirety.”
“Appellant's motion seeking leave to appeal to this Court is denied.”
“defendants' motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) is denied but dismissal is granted under Rule 12(b)(6). ... Leave to amend is denied. The complaint is dismissed with prejudice.”
“defendants' motion to dismiss all federal claims is granted and these claims are dismissed with prejudice. Having declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction, all of plaintiff's pendant state law claims are dismissed without prejudice to their refiling in a state court of appropriate jurisdiction.”
“denies his request for a temporary restraining order.”
“For the reasons set forth above, the bankruptcy court's order from which TLB has appealed is affirmed in its entirety.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Commissioner’s summary judgment motion is granted in full.”
“Wang’s Rule 50 motion for judgment as a matter of law is denied.”
“Her motion to reconsider the Court’s March 26, 2026 order directing the parties to file the trial transcript on the docket, Dkt. No. 127, is granted, and upon reconsideration in light of the resolution of the Rule 50 motion, the order directing the filing of the transcript is vacated.”
After a bench trial on cleanup costs following a marina fire, the court entered judgment for the estate executrix and the marina on the remaining claims. It dismissed the marina’s cross-claim as moot and the plaintiff’s claim against another defendant as withdrawn.
“Kim’s motion to suppress statements he made to law enforcement officers on September 14, 2023, during his interrogation at the FBI field office located at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan and after valid Miranda warnings had been administered and the right to counsel lawfully waived, is denied in its entirety.”
“This request is denied as academic.”
“The government’s motion to preclude expert testimony is granted for deficient disclosures.”
“The defense’s motion is granted on that basis, and in any event has not been opposed by the government. See generally Dkt. 376.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 444 days (N = 5).
- A senior Eastern District of New York judge sitting in Brooklyn, still actively assigned despite taking senior status in 2017.
- His most recent assigned cases (spring 2026) are dominated by FLSA wage suits, federal criminal matters, and consumer and contract collections; an older terminated sample mixes a habeas motion, insurance, copyright, and other civil matters.
- The mix is qualitative, drawn from case-level records.
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 | 49 |
| 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 | 60 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 49 | 60 |
| Sep 2025 | 80 | 65 |
| Mar 2025 | 90 | 69 |
| Sep 2024 | 115 | 73 |
| Mar 2024 | 86 | 54 |
| Sep 2023 | 103 | 52 |
| Mar 2023 | 99 | 53 |
| Sep 2022 | 93 | 60 |
| Mar 2022 | 87 | 58 |
| Sep 2021 | 46 | 47 |
| Mar 2021 | 42 | 34 |
| Sep 2020 | 33 | 32 |
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 Eastern District of New York, not for Judge Vitaliano: 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 Vitaliano with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Vitaliano, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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