Joseph A. Marutollo
How Judge Marutollo rules, drawn from 22 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Marutollo
Joseph A. Marutollo has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York since September 2023. He sits in Brooklyn and handles matters referred by the district judges.
Judge Marutollo's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Marutollo, 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 Order (Marutollo) ↗
- Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order (Marutollo) ↗
Key rules
Discovery
Submit an unresolved discovery dispute in one jointly composed letter.
“In the event that the parties are unable to resolve a discovery dispute, the parties must write to the Court and describe their dispute in a single letter, jointly composed.”
Conferences
File conference adjournment and extension requests on ECF as motions at least two business days in advance.
“All requests for adjournments of a court conference or extensions of time shall be filed on ECF as a ‘Motion’ (not a ‘Letter’) at least two (2) business days prior to the scheduled appearance or deadline.”
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 Marutollo decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Commissioners of the State Insurance Fund v. Hainesport Transportation Group LLC, he recommended denying default judgment because the movant had omitted the memorandum of law required by Local Civil Rule 7.1.
“Hainesport's Motion for Default Judgment fails to include a memorandum of law as required by Local Civil Rule 7.1. The failure to comply with Local Civil Rule 7.1 is enough, on its own, for a court to deny the motion.”
In Colledge v. The Steelstone Group, LLC, he recommended denying a second default judgment motion without prejudice after finding that service on the purported registered agent had not been established, leaving personal jurisdiction unproven.
“there is no indication otherwise that 'Registered Agents Inc.' is, in fact the registered agent of Defendant ... the Court respectfully recommends that Plaintiff's motion be denied, without prejudice, for lack of personal jurisdiction over Defendant.”
In Government Employees Insurance Company v. Onyema, he issued an amended report recommending default judgment and $456,666.65 in liquidated damages plus interest; District Judge Chen adopted the recommendation after clear-error review.
“The Court has reviewed Judge Marutollo’s R. & R. for clear error and finds none. Accordingly, the Court adopts Judge Marutollo’s R. & R. in its entirety for the reasons stated therein.”
In Lynch v. Department of Education, Marutollo recommended granting the defendants' motion to dismiss in part and denying it in part, with specified leave for the self-represented plaintiff to amend. District Judge Gujarati adopted the recommendation after reviewing both sides' objections.
“the Court adopts the R&R's recommendations that the Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 37, be granted in part and denied in part as specified in the R&R and that Plaintiff be granted leave to amend the Complaint as specified in the R&R.”
In the In re Payment Card Interchange Fee litigation, Marutollo found that two claims-filing intermediaries acted in bad faith. He recommended corrective notice to affected class members, an option to leave their claims-filing agreements, reimbursement of administration costs, and attorneys' fees, while recommending denial of the remaining sanctions request without prejudice.
“Both have acted in bad faith.”
Procedural preferences
In Strike 3 Holdings v. Doe, Marutollo authorized an ISP subpoena for a subscriber's name and address, barred the plaintiff from seeking the subscriber's phone number or email address, allowed the subscriber 60 days to challenge the subpoena, and barred plaintiff-initiated settlement contact before service.
“Under no circumstances is Plaintiff permitted to seek or obtain Doe Defendant’s phone number or email address ... Plaintiff shall not initiate settlement discussions or attempt to contact the Defendant prior to service of the Complaint, without leave of Court.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court adopts the recommendations of Judge Marutollo's thorough R. & R. in full ... Plaintiffs' motion for default judgment is granted ... $456,666.65 in liquidated damages, for which Defendants are jointly and severally liable”
“plaintiff's motion for default judgment is granted with respect to his first, second, and third causes of action and denied with respect to his fourth and fifth causes of action. Judgment is to be entered against defendants, jointly and severally, in the amount of $102,099.31”
“the Court adopts the R&R's recommendations that the Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 37, be granted in part and denied in part as specified in the R&R and that Plaintiff be granted leave to amend the Complaint as specified in the R&R.”
“this Court respectfully recommends that Hainesport's Motion for Default Judgment be denied in its entirety for failure to comply with Local Civil Rules 7.1 and 55.2 without prejudice and with leave to renew once the deficiencies discussed above are addressed.”
“this Court respectfully recommends that Plaintiff's motion for default judgment be denied, without prejudice.”
“this Court grants Plaintiff's motion for leave to take discovery prior to holding a Rule 26(f) conference, subject to the protective measures set forth herein.”
“this Court respectfully recommends that the Court grant, in part, Defendants' motion dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b).”
“the undersigned respectfully recommends that the District Judge grant in part Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment ... for a total award of $49,769.92. Additionally, the undersigned respectfully recommends that Plaintiff's fifth, sixth, and seventh causes of action be dismissed.”
“the Court respectfully recommends that Plaintiff's motion for default judgment be denied without prejudice and with leave to renew”
“Having reviewed the record, the Court finds no clear error. Accordingly, Judge Marutollo's R&R is fully adopted ... Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment, ECF No. 43, is DENIED without prejudice.”
“This Court respectfully recommends that Plaintiff's motion for default judgment be denied and that the Clerk's entries of default against Defendant Weiss and Defendant NYC PVB be set aside under Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(c).”
“For the reasons explained above, the undersigned respectfully recommends that the Motion be denied.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Five FLSA wage-and-hour cases filed after Judge Marutollo took office and later terminated had a median duration of roughly 1.1 years.
- These Brooklyn and Long Island cases typically passed through an initial conference, mediation or a settlement conference, and a Cheeks settlement review.
- Many other FLSA matters were reassigned to him after they began, including Martinez, a 30-plaintiff collective transferred in late 2023; only orders he personally signed are attributed to him.
- The duration figure comes from a small five-case sample.
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 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
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 Marutollo: 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 Marutollo with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Marutollo, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Marutollo's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace