Lara K. Eshkenazi
How Judge Eshkenazi rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Eshkenazi
Lara K. Eshkenazi joined the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York as a magistrate judge in 2024. She earned a bachelor's degree in English from Vassar College and a law degree from Boston University School of Law.
Judge Eshkenazi's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Eshkenazi, 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 ↗
- Protective Discovery Plan Scheduling Order (Eshkenazi) ↗
- Protective Order (Eshkenazi) ↗
Key rules
Motions
Request a pre-motion conference by letter motion before filing any dispositive motion.
“A letter motion requesting a pre-motion conference is required before any dispositive motion may be filed.”
Conferences
File adjournment and extension requests electronically as motions at least two business days in advance.
“All requests for adjournments or extensions of time must be in writing and filed electronically as motions 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 Eshkenazi decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Trustees of Plumbers Local Union No. 1 v. LG Elite Plumbing, Inc., she found a March 2024 contribution error that affected interest and liquidated damages, and recommended denying the funds’ damages request with leave to submit corrected calculations.
“As this error affects National Funds’ interest and liquidated damages calculations, this Court respectfully recommends that National Funds’ request for damages be denied, with leave to submit documentation amending the contribution calculations.”
Procedural preferences
In Smith v. Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, she denied a fee request as a condition of vacating default because the insurer coverage mistake caused no extended wasted time or disregard of court orders.
“The cases in this district in which courts have awarded attorneys' fees as a condition of vacating a default involved an extended period of wasted time or disregard of court orders.”
Cautions
In Trustees of Plumbers Local Union No. 1 v. LG Elite Plumbing, Inc., she recommended reducing two paralegals’ requested hourly rates to $125 in the default judgment fee award.
“this Court respectfully recommends discounting Ms. Keating and Ms. Frankel's hourly rates to $125.00.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“this Court respectfully recommends that (1) Plaintiff's motion for default judgment be granted as to liability ... (4) Plaintiff be denied attorneys' fees and costs.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs' motion for attorneys' fees and costs is denied.”
“I respectfully recommend that the District Court (1) grant Plaintiff's motion for default judgment; (2) award Plaintiff $135,000 in statutory damages from Defendant; (3) issue a permanent injunction enjoining Defendant from further infringement of Plaintiff's copyrighted works; and (4) award Plaintiff's counsel their attorney's fees of $8,055 and costs of $519.30.”
“I respectfully recommend that the District Court: (1) grant Plaintiffs' motion as to liability; (2) grant Local 1 Funds' request for damages ... (3) deny National Funds' request for damages, with leave to submit an amended declaration correcting the contribution calculations; (4) and grant Plaintiffs $582.09 in costs, but reduce Plaintiffs' award of attorneys' fees to $8,471.”
“the Court respectfully recommends (1) granting Plaintiffs' motion for default judgment, and (2) converting the terms of the preliminary injunction and supplemental preliminary injunctions into a permanent injunction ... thereby enjoining Defendants, their representatives and persons who are in active concert or participation with them, from engaging in any of the activity complained of in this action”
“In a report and recommendation dated January 6, 2026 (Order dated 1/06/2026 (the ‘R&R’)), Magistrate Judge Lara K. Eshkenazi recommended that the Court dismiss Plaintiff's claims for failure to prosecute; the district judge's adopting order states: 'the R&R is adopted in its entirety, and this action is dismissed with prejudice.'”
“In February 2026, Judge Eshkenazi issued an R&R recommending that plaintiff's claims be dismissed with prejudice and without leave to amend.”
“For the aforementioned reasons, it is recommended that Lewis's motion be DENIED.”
“In conclusion, the Court respectfully recommends granting the motion for a charging lien and fixing the amount of the charging lien against Plaintiff's judgment at $174,127.73 for attorneys' fees ... The Court further respectfully recommends including $21,193.19 of incurred costs in the charging lien.”
“Judge Eshkenazi issued the annexed R&R on February 3, 2025, recommending that the court grant Plaintiff's request to certify a class under Rule 23(b)(3) but deny Plaintiff's request to certify a class under Rule 23(b)(2). ... Judge Eshkenazi also recommends that the court appoint Plaintiff as Class Representative and appoint her counsel as Class Counsel under Rule 23(g).”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court respectfully recommends granting Defendant's motion to compel Plaintiffs to arbitrate their claims. ... The Court respectfully recommends staying this case pending arbitration.”
“For the reasons set forth below, Mr. Nolan's motion to withdraw is granted, but Mr. Nolan's request for a retaining lien is denied.”
“For the reasons set forth below, Mr. Nolan's motion to withdraw is granted, but Mr. Nolan's request for a retaining lien is denied. ... the Court finds that the further delay of this case, which would inevitably result from the issuance of a retaining lien to Mr. Nolan, would unjustly delay Plaintiffs' prosecution of their claims.”
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 | 1 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
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 Eshkenazi: 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).
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