Mitchell J. Katz
How Judge Katz rules, drawn from 19 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Katz
Mitchell J. Katz is a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of New York. Before joining the bench, he led the commercial litigation practice group at Barclay Damon LLP and practiced at two other firms. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1983 and Boston University School of Law in 1986.
Judge Katz's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Katz's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
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 9, 2026).
- General Order 14: Civil RICO Statement ↗
- General Order 15: Uniform Procedure for Civil and Criminal Forfeiture Cases ↗
- General Order 18: Social Security Docket Assignment, Management, and Filing Requirements ↗
- General Order 22: Administrative Procedures for Electronic Case Filing ↗
- General Order 25: Civil Case Assignment and Filing Order ↗
- General Order 47: Mandatory Mediation Program ↗
- General Order 52: Letters Regarding Sentencings ↗
- General Order 62: Procedures for Filing, Service and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
How Judge Katz decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Pamela M. v. Commissioner, sitting by consent, he reversed and remanded the benefits denial because the ALJ failed to evaluate the supportability and consistency of one mental-health opinion and the consistency of another; those errors were not harmless.
“Because ALJ Greisler did not properly follow the regulations, and her errors were not harmless, the Court reverses and remands her decision.”
Procedural preferences
In Burrell v. Uhler, Judge Katz recommended granting defendants' partial summary-judgment motion and dismissing the prisoner's complaint for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, including claims against nonmoving defendants. The district court adopted his recommendation.
“Defendant's motion for partial summary judgment (Dkt. No. 127) is GRANTED; and 3. Plaintiff's complaint is DISMISSED.”
Cautions
In Jennifer M. M. v. Commissioner, Katz recommended affirming the Commissioner’s decision; the district court adopted the recommendation and affirmed.
“the Report and Recommendation is accepted and adopted in its entirety, the Commissioner's decision is affirmed, and Plaintiff's Complaint is dismissed”
In Dawson v. Reardon, Katz recommended dismissing the habeas petition and denying a certificate of appealability; the district court adopted his recommendation.
“ORDERED that Petitioner's Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus (Dkt. No. 1) is DISMISSED ... the Court declines to issue a Certificate of Appealability”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Magistrate Judge Katz's Report-Recommendation ... recommending that Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint be dismissed with prejudice and without leave to amend ... is ACCEPTED and ADOPTED; ... Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint (Dkt. No. 23) is DISMISSED with prejudice and without prior leave to amend”
“the Report and Recommendation is accepted and adopted in its entirety, the Commissioner's decision is affirmed, and Plaintiff's Complaint is dismissed”
“recommending that Plaintiff's motion for judgment on the pleadings be denied and that Defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings be granted ... ORDERED that the Commissioner's determination is AFFIRMED”
“Defendant's motion for partial summary judgment (Dkt. No. 127) is GRANTED; and 3. Plaintiff's complaint is DISMISSED.”
“ORDERED that Petitioner's Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus (Dkt. No. 1) is DISMISSED ... the Court declines to issue a Certificate of Appealability”
“The Court affirms ALJ Goodale for two reasons.”
“REVERSED AND REMANDED SOLELY FOR THE CALCULATION OF BENEFITS”
“GRANT Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Complaint (Dkt. 15) because the Complaint does not plausibly allege Monell liability”
“Emergency Supplemental Motion for Temporary Restraining Order to Enforce Removal of Stay and Declare Post-Removal Foreclosure Sale Void filed by Defendants Carmine P. Amelio, Paul A. Amelio, and Alfonso Amelio (Dkt. No. 19) be DENIED WITH PREJUDICE”
“RECOMMENDED, that Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand (Dkt. 18) be DENIED as moot”
“Motion to Enforce Removal of Stay and to Declare Post-Removal State Court Action Null and Void (Dkt. 7) is DENIED WITH PREJUDICE”
“ORDERED, that Polinski’s motion to seal (Dkt. 3) is DENIED”
Order and Report-Recommendation on initial screening of a pro se Section 1983 complaint after a grant of in forma pauperis status. The Court granted IFP and recommended dismissing the claims against the New York State Unified Court System and the Onondaga County Family Court without prejudice and without leave to amend on immunity grounds, dismissing the claims against the John Doe deputies and Onondaga County without prejudice and with leave to amend for failure to state a claim, and denying the motion to preserve evidence without prejudice. Verbatim disposition: "RECOMMENDED, that LaFave’s Complaint as to the New York State Unified Court System and the Onondaga Family Court be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE and WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND because those parties are immune ... RECOMMENDED, that LaFave’s Complaint as to John Does 1-5 and Onondaga County be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE and WITH LEAVE TO AMEND because the Complaint fails to state a claim as to those parties". Screening recommendation, excluded from decision statistics.
Order and Report-Recommendation on initial screening of a pro se complaint. The Court recommended dismissing the complaint without prejudice and with leave to amend for failure to comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8, and by its own order denied the plaintiff's motion for U.S. Marshal service and motion to appoint counsel. Verbatim disposition: "RECOMMENDED, the District Court dismiss Oliver’s Complaint WITHOUT PREJUDICE and WITH LEAVE TO AMEND because it fails to comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 8". Screening recommendation, excluded from decision statistics.
Order and Report-Recommendation on initial screening of a pro se complaint after a grant of in forma pauperis status. The Court granted IFP and recommended dismissing the complaint against the Town of Camillus Police Department with prejudice and without leave to amend, dismissing the complaint against the Town of Camillus without prejudice and without leave to amend, and dismissing the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8 without prejudice and with leave to amend. Verbatim disposition: "RECOMMENDED, that the District Court DISMISS the Complaint against the Town of Camillus Police Department WITH PREJUDICE AND WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND ... RECOMMENDED, that District Court DISMISS the Complaint under Fed. R. Civ. P. 8 WITHOUT PREJUDICE AND WITH LEAVE TO AMEND". Screening recommendation, excluded from decision statistics.
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Katz's docket caseload. Mix is Social-Security disability appeals (dominant) + prisoner 1983 civil rights + occasional civil matters (insurance/product-liability removal, Clean Water Act / environmental).
- IMPORTANT: many of these dockets were FILED 2020-2023, before Katz's January 2024 appointment, and were REASSIGNED to him when he filled Baxter's vacancy (e.g. Mills v. Colvin terminated 2022-12, before he was a judge).
- Their filing-to-termination durations therefore reflect predecessors' handling, NOT Katz's latency, so case_durations are intentionally NOT recorded here to avoid misattribution.
- Caseload nature-of-suit mix is reported; latency and durations await a fuller profile drawing on cases filed AND ruled under Katz.
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 | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 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 Northern District of New York, not for Judge Katz: 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 | 1,302 | 8.4 months |
| Closed with no court action | 227 | 4.2 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 796 | 7.4 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 267 | 17.2 months |
| Closed during trial | 12 | 53.8 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,302 | 8.4 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,393 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,249 | 7.9 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,444 | 12 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,120 | 10.2 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,195 | 8.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,187 | 9 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).
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