Seth D. Eichenholtz
How Judge Eichenholtz rules, drawn from 7 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Eichenholtz
Seth D. Eichenholtz became a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York in July 2025. Based in Brooklyn, he previously represented the federal government and New York City in court.
Judge Eichenholtz's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Eichenholtz, 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 (Eichenholtz) ↗
- Discovery Plan (Eichenholtz) ↗
- Pro Se Practices (Eichenholtz) ↗
Key rules
Filing
Do not send courtesy copies of ECF filings unless directed.
“Unless specifically directed otherwise, parties should not provide courtesy copies of documents filed by ECF to Chambers.”
Discovery
File one jointly composed letter for discovery disputes requiring court intervention outside depositions.
“For all other discovery disputes requiring judicial intervention, the parties must file a single letter, jointly composed.”
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 Eichenholtz decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Brik, after the plaintiff ignored his December 2025 discovery orders and a January 2026 response order, Eichenholtz recommended dismissal for failure to prosecute. The district judge adopted the recommendation and made the dismissal with prejudice.
“delay and unresponsiveness are willful and in bad faith.”
In Restrepo (Joint Industry Board of the Electrical Industry) v. Rosciti Communications, LLC, Judge Eichenholtz recommended reducing one lawyer's hourly rate based on her title and experience, lowering the requested fee award from $2,682.75 to $1,735.
“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.”
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.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court respectfully recommends that the Award be confirmed and Petitioner's motion be granted in part.”
“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.”
“Plaintiff’s motion for discovery sanctions is denied.”
After a self-represented plaintiff stopped participating, failed to update her address, ignored repeated orders and warnings, and missed an initial conference and two show-cause deadlines, the magistrate judge recommended dismissal without prejudice under Rule 41(b). The district judge adopted the recommendation in full on May 22, 2026. This was a court-initiated recommendation rather than a ruling on a party motion.
“For the foregoing reasons, the undersigned respectfully recommends the Court grant Plaintiff’s motion for default judgment against Defendant WJP Builders and award Plaintiff the following relief, totaling $63,630.19, plus pre- and post-judgment interest:”
“Defendants’ motion and dismiss Plaintiff Nunez’s claims with prejudice.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- His enumerated docket is the classic Eastern District of New York consent and referral civil mix, dominated by (a) FLSA wage-and-hour cases (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 (e.g. Pike v. Court Diner, Juscinska v. BLT US Holdings), plus Section 1983 civil-rights referrals (Bazar v. City of New York) and criminal duty-magistrate matters.
- These resolve overwhelmingly through the court's mediation program and judicially reviewed settlement or stipulated dismissal rather than contested motion practice.
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 |
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 Eichenholtz: 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 Eichenholtz with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Eichenholtz, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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