James M. Wicks
How Judge Wicks rules, drawn from 18 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Wicks
James M. Wicks became a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York in 2021. Based in Central Islip, he earned degrees from Wheeling College and St. John’s University School of Law.
Judge Wicks's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Wicks, 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.
- Practices and Rules ↗
- Confidentiality Stipulation and Order (Wicks) ↗
- Stipulation and Order Regarding the Format of Electronically Stored Information and Document Production (Wicks) ↗
- Stipulation and [Proposed] Order for Protocol on the Conduct of Remote Depositions (Wicks) ↗
Key rules
Conferences
Request conference adjournments, extensions, and remote appearances in writing at least two business days in advance absent an emergency.
“All requests for adjournments of a Court conference, extensions of time, or requests to appear remotely by either telephone or video, absent an emergency, shall be made in writing at least two (2) business days prior to the scheduled date or deadline.”
Conferences
File adjournment and extension requests on ECF as motions.
“Both requests for adjournments and for extensions of time must be filed through ECF as ‘MOTIONS.’”
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 Wicks decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Conte v. Tapps Supermarket, Inc., his report addressed the merits of the defendants’ dismissal arguments despite the plaintiff’s failure to oppose either motion; District Judge Gujarati adopted the recommendation.
“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
In Agricultural Logistics LLC v. Survival Transportation Inc., he recommended denying default judgment without prejudice because the movant omitted a required memorandum and affidavit and supplied incomplete fee documentation.
“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”
In C.K. v. McDonald, he compelled depositions of two agency commissioners who were named defendants and whose policies were challenged, finding circumstances that justified their testimony.
“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
In Chen v. Thai Greenleaf Restaurant Corp., he recommended monetary sanctions against counsel for conduct that needlessly prolonged an evidentiary hearing; the district judge adopted the recommendation.
“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”
“Plaintiffs’ Motions to Compel (ECF Nos. 392, 418) are GRANTED”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel (ECF No. 398) is DENIED.”
“Defendants’ Motion (ECF No. 103) is GRANTED, and the PrepMod source code shall be produced on the GitHub platform using the ‘read-only’ feature.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement (ECF No. 17) is GRANTED”
“Motion to Withdraw as counsel for Defendants (ECF No. 32) is GRANTED.”
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.
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 | 5 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 5 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 6 |
| Mar 2022 | 1 | 7 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 3 |
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 Wicks: 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 Wicks with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Wicks, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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