Steven I. Locke
How Judge Locke decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a referred Rule 12(b)(6) motion he applies black-letter New York contract law strictly: post-termination sales commissions are recoverable only if the employment agreement expressly provides for them, so a complaint that omits that allegation fails to state a breach -- a recommendation upheld on de novo review over the plaintiff's objection.
“[Tal] neglects to allege that post-employment commissions were expressly provided for in the parties’ agreement, which is legally required under New York law, and thus fails to establish Defendant’s breach of contract.”
On default-judgment inquests he does not rubber-stamp the requested relief: he grants the claims the well-pleaded complaint supports and recommends DENYING the rest, fixing damages claim-by-claim (e.g. granting only the breach-of-contract claim and denying all others in Nedspice).
“I grant plaintiff’s motion as to the breach of contract claim and award plaintiff: (i) $189,393 in damages ... I deny plaintiff’s motion as to all other claims.”
Procedural preferences
He is the Long Island district judges' go-to magistrate for dispositive and default referrals: across these orders his R&Rs were referred by and adopted by Hurley, Seybert, Spatt, Ross, and Azrack. Where no party objects within 14 days, the district judge reviews only for clear error -- so an unobjected Locke R&R is, in practice, the ruling.
“Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 72, this Court has reviewed the Report and Recommendation for clear error, and finding none, now concurs in both its reasoning and its result.”
Cautions
When service is defective he recommends quashing it but ordinarily gives the plaintiff a short window (here 30 days) to cure by re-serving, rather than dismissing outright -- so a 12(b)(5) loss in front of him is usually fixable.
“the Motion to Quash Service of Process pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(5) is granted as to Defendants Bruce Klein, Matthew Olugbenga Aworeni, and Honeyfield Investments Ltd.; and (3) Plaintiff shall have 30 days from the date of this Order to properly serve”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED (1) the government’s motion for a default judgment be granted in its entirety; (2) a judgment be entered in favor of the Government against defendant Steven D. Silverman for unpaid Internal Revenue taxes, penalties and interest in the amount of $51, 251.88”
“the Court ADOPTS Judge Locke’s R&R (Docket Entry 24) in its entirety. Plaintiff’s motion (Docket Entry 19) is GRANTED and Plaintiff is awarded $858,172.00 in monetary damages, $14,444.50 in attorneys’ fees, and $660.00 in costs.”
“the R&R is adopted in its entirety. The Plaintiff may move for attorneys’ fees within thirty days of the date of this Order.”
“Accordingly, I grant plaintiff’s motion for default judgment in part and deny it in part. I grant plaintiff’s motion as to the breach of contract claim and award plaintiff: (i) $189,393 in damages ... I deny plaintiff’s motion as to all other claims.”
“Accordingly, Computech’s motion to dismiss is granted in its entirety, and Tal is granted leave to amend his complaint.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that (1) the Motion to Quash Service of Process pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(5) is denied as to Defendant John Tidrow; (2) the Motion to Quash Service of Process pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(5) is granted as to Defendants Bruce Klein, Matthew Olugbenga Aworeni, and Honeyfield Investments Ltd.”
“For the reasons set forth herein, the Court respectfully recommends that the Moving Defendants' Motions be granted without prejudice as to Plaintiffs' claims under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment, and with prejudice as to their Second Amendment cause of action, and the Complaint dismissed as to the Moving Defendants.”
“Having reviewed the motion papers, the applicable law, and the R&R, I adopt the thorough and well-reasoned R&R's recommendation that the Court grant Plaintiffs' Motion for Default Judgment and award the recommended damages and injunctive relief and grant Plaintiffs leave to file an updated application for additional accrued interest, attorneys' fees, and costs.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
An Eastern District of New York referral magistrate in Central Islip on Long Island. A sample of his currently assigned (pending) dockets shows a Long Island civil mix: employment and civil-rights cases, FLSA labor suits, out-of-network medical-provider reimbursement and insurance disputes, copyright, prisoner conditions, commercial and trade-secret, and general civil matters. Consistent with the sampled recommendations, his referral diet runs heavily to default judgments, service and jurisdiction motions, and discovery supervision. The mix is qualitative, drawn from case-level records.
Put Judge Locke's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Locke actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Locke's own signed orders and cites them.