Peggy Kuo
How Judge Kuo rules, drawn from 17 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Kuo
Peggy Kuo has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York since 2015. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a law degree from Harvard Law School.
Judge Kuo's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Kuo, 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 ↗
- Proposed Discovery Plan (Kuo) ↗
- Order in FLSA Case: Initial Pretrial Discovery and Mediation Schedule (Kuo) ↗
- Standing Confidentiality Order (Kuo) ↗
Key rules
Discovery
Submit an unresolved discovery dispute in a joint letter.
“If, after conferring in accordance with VI(A)(1)(a) above, the parties are unable to resolve their discovery dispute, the parties are directed to file a joint letter briefly setting out the disputed issue.”
Conferences
File an adjournment or court date change by ECF letter motion, rather than as a letter.
“All requests for adjournment of a court date or other changes (such as a request to appear by telephone) must be made by letter and filed via ECF as a ‘Motion,’ not a Letter.”
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 Kuo decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
At the pleading stage she takes the plaintiff's jurisdictional and ownership allegations as true and resolves conflicting affidavits in the plaintiff's favor, deferring fact disputes (e.g. true state of incorporation, trademark assignment) to summary judgment.
“on a motion to dismiss, Plaintiff’s allegations of jurisdictional facts are taken as true ... If the parties present conflicting affidavits, all factual disputes are resolved in the plaintiff's favor”
In Condado v. P&C Pagels, Kuo recommended granting default judgment on wage and retaliation claims with itemized damages, including $5,238.10 in unpaid minimum wages and $1,507.50 in unpaid overtime premiums. The cited document records her recommendation, not a final district-judge award.
“I respectfully recommend that the Motion be granted and that damages be awarded under the NYLL as follows: $5,238.10 for unpaid minimum wage; $1,507.50 for unpaid overtime premium ...”
Procedural preferences
FLSA settlement-enforcement trap: a court that merely approves a Cheeks settlement (even reciting its terms) does NOT retain jurisdiction to later enforce it unless the dismissal order expressly retains jurisdiction or incorporates the settlement terms. Build that retention language into the dismissal or lose the federal forum.
“The Court did not expressly retain jurisdiction or incorporate the terms of the settlement ... this alone is not sufficient for the Court to retain jurisdiction ... I find ... that the Court lacks jurisdiction to enforce the Settlement Agreement”
Her published Individual Practice Rules require a pre-motion-conference letter (<=3 pp.) before ANY dispositive motion on consent, cap dispositive briefs at 25 pp., and route all non-dispositive/discovery motions to her by 3-page letter-motion with no reply. Discovery disputes need a Local Rule 37.3 meet-and-confer first; no pre-motion conference needed for a discovery motion.
“A motion requesting a pre-motion conference is required before any dispositive motion may be filed. The request must be accompanied by a summary of the proposed motion, not to exceed three (3) pages.”
Cautions
In Kang v. Perri, Kuo recommended an adverse-inference instruction as a sanction after the plaintiff underwent surgery following a preservation notice without allowing a defense medical examination. The district judge adopted that recommendation.
“recommending that the Court grant the motion for sanctions and impose an adverse inference instruction as a sanction”
Arbitration clauses in trust agreements / CBAs are enforced; LMRA Section 301 claims within the clause's scope are arbitrable and the movant resisting arbitration bears the burden. Don't expect to litigate around a governing arbitration clause.
“claims brought under the LMRA are arbitrable, and Plaintiffs have not met their burden of demonstrating otherwise”
In Francis v. Ideal Masonry, Inc., she recommended vacating a willful default only if the defendants first reimbursed the plaintiffs’ default-related fees and costs, given the defense shown and limited prejudice.
“Defendants acted willfully, but ... have presented a meritorious defense and there is insufficient prejudice to Plaintiffs ... the Default Judgment be vacated only on the condition that Defendants first pay Plaintiffs the fees and costs that Plaintiffs incurred as a result of the default”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The undersigned respectfully recommends that the funds in the TD Bank joint checking account ending in 3094 be turned over to Plaintiffs and that Plaintiffs be granted leave to seek attorneys’ fees after judgment is entered.”
“Magistrate Judge Kuo issued a thorough and well reasoned R & R recommending that the Court grant in part and deny in part Moving Defendants’ motion to dismiss. ... the parties’ objections are overruled and the R & R is adopted in its entirety.”
“the undersigned respectfully recommends that the Motion be granted, and that the Default Judgment be vacated, but that vacatur be contingent upon the requirement that Defendants first pay to Plaintiffs the costs and attorneys’ fees Plaintiffs incurred as a result of the default.”
“the May 13, 2022, Report and Recommendations of Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo (the ‘R&R’), which recommends that the Court grant in part and deny in part the Fund’s Motion for a Final Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale ... Magistrate Judge Kuo’s Report and Recommendation is adopted as the opinion of the Court, with the following modifications.”
“I find, therefore, that the Court lacks jurisdiction to enforce the Settlement Agreement, and I respectfully recommend that the Motion be denied.”
“the undersigned respectfully recommends that the Motion be GRANTED, that Defendants Creative Fiberglass and Colombo be found jointly and severally liable for breach of contract, and that judgment be entered against both defendants awarding Plaintiff (1) $96,369.23; (2) prejudgment interest of $23.76 per day ...”
“Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo sua sponte issued a report and recommendation, recommending that the Court grant the motion for sanctions and impose an adverse inference instruction as a sanction ... the Court adopts the R&R in its entirety and grants Defendants’ motion to for sanctions.”
“Judge Kuo recommended that I deny the plaintiff’s motion because she did not show commonality, typicality, or adequacy with respect to a proposed class. ... I adopt the report and recommendation in its entirety, and deny the plaintiff’s motion for class certification.”
“On July 26, 2021, Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo recommended sanctions against the defendants under Rule 37 for not cooperating in discovery or complying with court orders. The Court adopted Judge Kuo’s recommendation and directed the defendants to pay the plaintiff’s counsel $16,025.40 in attorneys’ fees.”
“The Court orders Dr. Alleyne to show cause in writing on or before August 2, 2024, why the Court should not hold him in contempt for failing to comply with Plaintiffs’ subpoena.”
“I respectfully recommend that the Motion be granted and that damages be awarded under the NYLL as follows: $5,238.10 for unpaid minimum wage; $1,507.50 for unpaid overtime premium; ... $71,221.83 in back pay damages on the retaliation claim ...”
“Report and Recommendation (‘R&R’) dated June 24, 2025 from the Honorable Peggy Kuo, United States Magistrate Judge, recommending that the Court grant the motion to dismiss filed by defendants ... (collectively, ‘Union Defendants’). ... the Court overrules plaintiff’s objections and adopts the R&R in its entirety.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 280 days (N = 7).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 19 days (N = 5).
Judge Kuo's consent civil docket is dominated by single-plaintiff FLSA and New York Labor Law wage cases, with additional ADA employment matters, Social Security appeals, railroad-injury claims, copyright suits, and contract disputes. These cases overwhelmingly settle rather than reaching a contested dispositive ruling. She also carries a steady criminal-duty calendar of warrants and complaints.
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 | 2 |
| 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 | 2 | 5 |
| Sep 2025 | 1 | 7 |
| Mar 2025 | 3 | 8 |
| Sep 2024 | 15 | 9 |
| Mar 2024 | 16 | 8 |
| Sep 2023 | 16 | 9 |
| Mar 2023 | 16 | 7 |
| Sep 2022 | 16 | 4 |
| Mar 2022 | 14 | 3 |
| Sep 2021 | 8 | 2 |
| Mar 2021 | 4 | 4 |
| Sep 2020 | 1 | 5 |
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 Kuo: 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 Kuo with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Kuo, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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