Christian F. Hummel
How Judge Hummel rules, drawn from 5 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Hummel no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Hummel
Christian F. Hummel served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of New York from 2012 through 2024. Before his federal appointment, he served as a Rensselaer County Surrogate, Family Court judge, and East Greenbush town justice. He joined Conway, Donovan & Manley as senior counsel after retiring from the bench.
How Judge Hummel decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Wilson, Hummel recommended dismissing a pro se Title VII complaint without prejudice and allowing amendment because the complaint sought only damages he found unavailable under that statute. The district judge adopted the recommendation and gave the plaintiff 30 days to amend.
“RECOMMENDED, that plaintiff’s complaint be DISMISSED, without prejudice, and with opportunity to amend should plaintiff wish to attempt to cure the defects identified herein”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“United States Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel's Report-Recommendation recommending that Defendant McGrath's motion be granted in its entirety ... the Report-Recommendation is accepted and adopted in its entirety ... Defendant McGrath's motion for summary judgment is granted in its entirety”
“United States Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel's Report-Recommendation recommending that Defendants' motion be denied ... the Report-Recommendation is accepted and adopted in its entirety ... Defendants' motion to compel arbitration and for a stay (Dkt. No. 17) is DENIED.”
“Judge Hummel recommended that the Petition be dismissed in its entirety ... the Court adopts the Report and Recommendation in its entirety. The Petition is dismissed ... ORDERED, that the Petition, Dkt. No. 1, is DENIED in its entirety; and it is further ORDERED, that no certificate of appealability be issued”
In Wilson, Hummel recommended dismissing the pro se plaintiff's Title VII complaint without prejudice and allowing amendment because she requested only pain-and-suffering damages that he found unavailable. District Judge Suddaby adopted the recommendation and allowed 30 days for an amended complaint. Suddaby separately advised the plaintiff to allege facts showing how her supervisor treated employees of other races. This was a screening recommendation, not a party motion.
Initial-review Report-Recommendation and Order on a non-prisoner in forma pauperis complaint (28 U.S.C. § 1915). The magistrate judge granted the plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis and recommended that the pro se plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Fair Housing Act, and liberally-construed state-law breach-of-warranty-of-habitability claims against all defendants be dismissed without prejudice with leave to amend within thirty days. This is a sua sponte screening recommendation (recommendation only; no adversary motion), and should be treated as a recorded ruling excluded from the substantive motion statistics, consistent with the record's existing treatment of screening/sua sponte dismissals. Adoption by the district judge not confirmed from the recommendation itself. Grounding: "warranty of habitability, as against all defendants, be DISMISSED without prejudice".
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- The reviewed cases from Judge Hummel's final year include criminal magistrate-duty matters, such as search-warrant applications and complaints, and Social Security appeals decided with the parties' consent.
- Much of his substantive civil work took the form of reports and recommendations in cases assigned to district judges.
- Several 2024 Social Security matters lacked usable ruling text, while an older 2018 cohort preserved full briefing and merits decisions; the resulting sample therefore reflects only the decisions that could be verified from the available record.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Hummel was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2024.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 2 |
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.
A historical record
Judge Hummel no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.