Christian F. Hummel
Judge Hummel no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Hummel decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
Hummel's Report-Recommendations are detailed and were uniformly adopted by the N.D.N.Y. district judges on clear-error review (no objections filed in the sampled cases); the district judges repeatedly note he 'employed the proper standards, accurately recited the facts, and reasonably applied the law to those facts.'
“Magistrate Judge Hummel employed the proper standards, accurately recited the facts, and reasonably applied the law to those facts. As a result, the Report-Recommendation is accepted and adopted in its entirety”
On pro se complaints he favors dismissal WITHOUT prejudice and WITH leave to amend, identifying the specific pleading defect and advising the plaintiff how to cure it, rather than dismissing outright (Wilson v. New Choices Recovery Center).
“Plaintiff's Complaint be sua sponte dismissed without prejudice and with leave to amend”
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”
Sua sponte screening of a pro se employment civil-rights complaint. Magistrate Judge Hummel recommended that the complaint be dismissed without prejudice and with leave to amend because it did not allege how the supervisor treated non-African-American employees differently. Chief U.S. District Judge Suddaby adopted the recommendation in full; the complaint would be dismissed unless the plaintiff filed an amended complaint within 30 days correcting the defect. Grounding quote: 'Report-Recommendation recommending that Plaintiff's Complaint be sua sponte dismissed without prejudice and with leave to amend... ACCEPTED and ADOPTED in its entirety.' This screening disposition did not resolve 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.
A historical record
Judge Hummel no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.