Kiyo A. Matsumoto
How Judge Matsumoto rules, drawn from 30 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Matsumoto
Kiyo A. Matsumoto is a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Matsumoto received a commission on July 22, 2008. Judge Matsumoto assumed senior status on July 23, 2022.
Judge Matsumoto's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Matsumoto, 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
Send courtesy copies by FedEx or messenger; email and hard drive delivery do not suffice.
“Any courtesy copies to Chambers must be sent via FedEx or messenger, not by email or hard drive to the Court.”
Motions
A pre-motion conference request must include a letter of no more than three pages and a proposed briefing schedule.
“To arrange a pre-motion conference, the moving party shall submit a letter not exceeding three (3) pages setting forth the basis for the motion and a proposed briefing schedule.”
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 Matsumoto decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a challenge to New York City's education employee vaccination mandate, she denied a preliminary injunction after finding an urgent public-health justification for enforcement.
“Based on the evidence available, there remains an urgent, compelling justification for the enforcement of the state- and city-mandated restrictions and policies enacted and designed to protect the most vulnerable among us from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Procedural preferences
In a dispute over sealing summary-judgment materials, she applied the Lugosch presumption of public access and found no basis for specific, on-the-record findings that higher values required narrowly tailored sealing. She directed the parties to confer about any particular information that should be redacted for privacy.
“the court cannot make specific, on-the-record findings that any higher values necessitate a narrowly tailored sealing. Accordingly, the parties should confer and determine whether any particular information should be redacted for privacy purposes.”
In a securities case running alongside an indictment of one defendant, she declined to stay civil proceedings before pleading challenges were decided. She left defendants free to renew the stay request later, when the effect on discovery could be assessed.
“At this preliminary juncture, there is no judicial efficiency that is gained or lost from parties filing motions challenging the sufficiency of a pleading.”
In a default-judgment case, she granted liability but withheld damages when the plaintiff did not document payment history or explain its calculations. The ruling required additional evidence before damages, interest, or fees could be awarded.
“Flagstar has failed to provide the Court with sufficient supporting documentation and explanation regarding the damages sought.”
Cautions
In this case, she adopted the recommendation to grant sanctions and dismiss the action with prejudice. She warned the plaintiff that similar misconduct in another case before the court could lead to further sanctions, including a filing bar without prior court approval.
“the court ADOPTS the R&R, GRANTS Defendants' [101] motion for sanctions, and DISMISSES this action with prejudice. Plaintiff is HEREBY WARNED that similar misconduct in any other case before this court may result in additional sanctions, including ... an order barring Plaintiff from filing further actions without court approval.”
In a wage case resolved by an accepted offer of judgment, she reduced counsel’s requested hours by 20% after identifying duplicative work and delays in the litigation. She separately reduced the proposed hourly rates.
“Balancing the Plaintiff’s ultimately successful recovery against numerous examples of duplicative work by Plaintiff’s attorneys, the Court reduces the total hours billed by 20% ‘as a practical means of trimming fat.’”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Accordingly, Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the court ADOPTS the R&R, GRANTS Defendants' [101] motion for sanctions, and DISMISSES this action with prejudice.”
“For the foregoing reasons, petitioner's application to vacate his sentence is denied and dismissed with prejudice, and the application to remove petitioner from ‘refuse-to-pay’ status is denied and dismissed.”
“After reviewing the memorandum and CCRB report, the court can discern no reason to seal the documents, particularly because the CCRB's investigation appears to have concluded.”
“Clanton's pre-trial motion to suppress evidence and Clanton's request for a hearing pursuant to Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154 (1978) are DENIED.”
“Clanton's Daubert motion to exclude testimony by the Government's expert witness is also DENIED.”
“Defendants' motions to dismiss are GRANTED in their entirety.”
“For the foregoing reasons, defendant's motion to compel arbitration and stay this action is GRANTED.”
“For the reasons that follow, Value's motion for reconsideration is DENIED.”
“Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment as to Plaintiff's entitlement to a foreclosure and sale is granted.”
“grants defendants' motion to transfer this case to the United States District Court for the Central District of California.”
“denies defendants' motion to compel arbitration;”
“denies defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and improper venue;”
“The court concludes that defendants' motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. First, U.S. Grace Road Church is dismissed from this action without prejudice. Second, plaintiff's civil conspiracy claim is dismissed with prejudice. The balance of defendants' motion is denied.”
“Defendants' motions to preclude Dr. Pugh's testimony are DENIED as to his opinion on the design of the Subject Vehicle's SCAD, and as to his opinion on the adequacy of the warnings about the SCAD.”
“Defendants' motions for summary judgment are GRANTED as to Plaintiff's manufacturing defect, breach of express warranty, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, the Automobile Information Disclosure Act, and negligent infliction of emotional distress claims. Defendants' motions for summary judgment are DENIED as to Plaintiff's design defect and failure to warn claims, as well as the breach of implied warranty, Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and New York General Business Law claims.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 473 days (N = 2).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 70 days (N = 9).
The sampled dockets include Social Security review, an immigration challenge, a consumer-credit venue transfer, and a pending immigration matter. Earlier sampled cases include an emergency injunction, sanctions, and collateral review of a criminal sentence. This deliberately selected set describes the matters reviewed, not the judge's overall caseload mix.
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 | 15 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 15 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 19 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 24 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 21 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 26 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 37 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 35 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 40 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 42 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 43 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 34 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 25 |
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 Matsumoto: 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 Matsumoto with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Matsumoto, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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