Seth D. Eichenholtz
How Judge Eichenholtz decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
Gives pro se litigants repeated, documented notice (orders to show cause; successive compliance deadlines) before recommending a Rule 37 failure-to-prosecute dismissal -- Brik v. Lavanco.
“Judge Eichenholtz issued multiple orders in December 2025, all of which the plaintiff ignored ... Judge Eichenholtz gave the plaintiff another chance to comply with the December orders; on January 6, 2026, he ordered the plaintiff to file a consolidated response ... The plaintiff ignored that order, too.”
Scrutinizes fee applications independently; will trim an hourly rate he finds unsupported by the lawyer's title and experience even on an unopposed petition -- JIB v. Rosciti.
“Judge Eichenholtz concluded that the hourly rate for one of the petitioner's lawyers was high given her title and experience, and recommended $1,735 in attorney's fees instead of the $2,682.75 that the petitioner requested.”
Motion outcomes
Counted from classified signed orders only. Percentages are shown only where the sample is large enough to be meaningful; smaller samples are reported as raw counts.
| Motions to dismiss N = 1 |
Granted: 1 | counts only |
| Summary judgment N = 1 |
Granted in part: 1 | counts only |
| Motion for interpleader deposit N = 1 |
Granted: 1 | counts only |
A "1 of 1" is one ruling, not a tendency. Treat small samples as illustrative, not predictive.
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“In a March 5, 2026 Report and Recommendation, Judge Eichenholtz recommended that the Court dismiss the complaint pursuant for failure to prosecute. (ECF No. 96.) ... The Court has carefully reviewed Judge Eichenholtz's well-reasoned Report and Recommendation for clear error and finds none.”
“Judge Eichenholtz recommended that the Court uphold the arbitrator's decision and confirm the award. ... Because the petitioner did not request pre-judgment interest separate from confirmation of the award, Judge Eichenholtz recommended that the Court not award pre-judgment interest. ... Judge Eichenholtz also recommended that the Court award $1,735 in attorneys' fees and $405 in costs.”
“Judge Eichenholtz recommends that the Court grant The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company's ('Northwestern Mutual') motion for interpleader deposit and enter an order directing Northwestern Mutual to deposit the Insured's life insurance policy proceeds into the Court's registry within fourteen days.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
His enumerated docket is the classic EDNY consent/referral civil mix, dominated by (a) FLSA / wage-and-hour cases (NOS 710 Labor: Fair Standards, 29 U.S.C. 201) -- e.g. Kauser v. MHF 5th Ave., Skiathitis v. Star Natural Meats, Dorce v. Suleiman, Perez Meza v. Quality Food -- and (b) ADA public-accommodation access cases (NOS 446 Civil Rights: ADA) -- e.g. Pike v. Court Diner, Juscinska v. BLT US Holdings; plus 1983 civil-rights referrals (Bazar v. City of New York) and criminal duty-magistrate matters (United States v. Jafferakos / Consiglio / Bernstein, -mj dockets). These resolve overwhelmingly through the EDNY mediation program -> Cheeks-reviewed settlement / stipulated dismissal, not contested motion practice.