James M. Wicks
How Judge Wicks decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
An unopposed dispositive motion is not a free win before Wicks: he independently and rigorously analyzes the merits before recommending dismissal, so a defendant should still brief the substance fully even when the plaintiff defaults on opposition.
“Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks issued a thorough, well-reasoned Report and Recommendation (‘R&R’) that, notwithstanding Plaintiff's failure to file an opposition to either motion to dismiss, rigorously analyzed the merits of Defendants' various arguments.”
Procedural preferences
On default-judgment motions Wicks enforces the EDNY's procedural checklist strictly: a movant who skips the Local Rule 7.1(a)(2) memorandum of law, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act affidavit, unredacted contemporaneous billing records, or attorney background info will get a denial without prejudice rather than a pass on the default. Get the paperwork exactly right before moving.
“Judge Wicks recommended that the Court deny Plaintiff's motion for default judgment without prejudice because: (1) Plaintiff did not file a memorandum of law in support of its motion as required by E.D.N.Y. Local Rule 7.1(a)(2); (2) Plaintiff did not file an affidavit pursuant to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act; (3) Plaintiff provided only redacted attorney billing records; and (4) Plaintiff did not provide autobiographical information for the attorneys”
As a discovery manager he applies the Second Circuit's Lederman 'exceptional circumstances' test pragmatically: he will compel the depositions of high-ranking government officials (here state agency Commissioners who are named defendants) where they have unique first-hand knowledge of the challenged policies and lower-level officials could not answer key questions -- and the district judge affirmed under the deferential clear-error standard.
“Unlike the Mayor and Deputy in Lederman, the Commissioners here are not only named defendants in the lawsuit, but they are Commissioners of the respective agencies whose very policies are being challenged.”
Cautions
He will recommend real consequences for abuse of process: dismissal-with-prejudice as a sanction for a litigant's threatening/abusive conduct after warnings (James), and monetary sanctions against COUNSEL (not the client) for vexatiously multiplying proceedings -- e.g. agreeing to an evidentiary hearing and then withdrawing consent mid-hearing (Chen). Reflects his attorney-ethics/professionalism background.
“Judge Wicks concluded that he was ‘unable to glean from the record any plausible legal reason or intention of serving his client behind [Plaintiff's counsel's] actions’ and that it ‘appears that he pursued these actions with no other purpose than to attempt to vexatiously multiply the proceedings.’”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendants' Motions to Dismiss, ECF Nos. 79 and 85, are GRANTED and Plaintiff's Amended Complaint, ECF No. 19, is DISMISSED with prejudice.”
“Plaintiff's request for appointment of an attorney - which request Plaintiff ‘repeats’ in his objections briefing ... - is denied. See R&R at 12 (noting, inter alia, that civil litigants do not have a constitutional right to counsel).”
“the court ADOPTS the R&R, GRANTS Defendants' motion for sanctions, and DISMISSES this action with prejudice.”
“the Court adopts the R&R in its entirety and grants in part Defendants' motion for sanctions. ... the Court imposes a sanction of $9,941.32 on Plaintiff's counsel to compensate Defendants for costs incurred in preparing for the evidentiary hearing.”
“the Court adopts the R&R and denies without prejudice Plaintiff's motion for a default judgment.”
“The Court therefore ADOPTS Judge Wick's Report ... in its entirety; and DENIES Appellant's briefs ... Accordingly, the Court also DISMISSES the cases captioned Bernardin v. EXR LLC, et al.”
“On December 13, 2023, Judge Wicks issued an Order granting Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel the depositions of the Commissioners and denying the Defendants' Motion for a Protective Order to preclude the depositions. ... Defendants' objections are denied and Magistrate Judge Wicks' Order is affirmed.”
“denying the Defendants' Motion for a Protective Order to preclude the depositions. ... Magistrate Judge Wicks' Order is affirmed.”
“The court ADOPTS IN PART and REJECTS IN PART the R&R, accepting all conclusions and recommendations except for its finding that the court cannot order an accounting for the value the painting received upon its sale.”
“Plaintiff's motion to enforce the judgment (ECF No. 31) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Nine FLSA wage-and-hour cases that terminated after Wicks took the bench (filed 2021-2024, excludes the one 2018-filed case that predates his commission). These Long Island wage-hour suits run long for their size -- a median of roughly 1.8 years from filing to termination -- because they pass through an initial conference, a referral to the EDNY mediation panel, and a Cheeks fairness review before they can settle. Durations are computed from docket filing/termination dates.
Put Judge Wicks's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Wicks actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Wicks's own signed orders and cites them.