Gary Stein
How Judge Stein rules, drawn from 18 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Stein
Gary Stein serves as a U.S. magistrate judge for the Southern District of New York. He graduated from New York University and its law school. Before joining the bench, he practiced at Schulte Roth & Zabel and served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the district.
Judge Stein's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Stein, as published on the court's website (checked October 29, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Motions
A premotion conference is generally optional, except before a formally briefed discovery motion.
“A pre-motion conference is not required before a party may file a motion (other than a discovery motion with formal briefing).”
Discovery
Confer in good faith before raising a discovery dispute; exchanging letters or email alone does not suffice.
“Any party wishing to raise a discovery dispute with the Court must first confer in good faith with the opposing party in an effort to resolve the dispute. An exchange of letters or emails alone does not satisfy this requirement.”
Conferences
Request adjournments or extensions by letter motion on the docket.
“Requests for adjournments or extensions of time must be filed on ECF as letter motions.”
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 8, 2026).
- Amended Standing Order on Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- Second Amended Standing Order on Civil Case Opening ↗
- Amended Standing Order on Miscellaneous Civil Case Opening ↗
- Standing Order on Applications to File a Civil Case Under Seal ↗
- Standing Order on Emergency Relief and Section 2255 Filing Procedures ↗
- Notice on Immigration Custody Habeas Petitions and Emergency Relief ↗
How Judge Stein decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In the anonymous plaintiff's case, he recommended dismissal after the plaintiff continued to refuse to disclose his identity to the court under seal.
“For the reasons stated above, the undersigned respectfully recommends that, due to Plaintiff’s persistent and continuing refusal to disclose his identity under seal to the Court, as required, this action be DISMISSED.”
In the securities spoofing suit, he recommended dismissal because the pleaded loss causation was insufficient and allowed an opportunity to replead.
“recommends that Defendants’ motion be GRANTED due to Plaintiff’s failure to adequately plead loss causation, and that Plaintiff be given leave to replead.”
In a subpoena dispute over a non-testifying consultant, he granted protection with qualifications and required a categorical privilege log.
“Court hereby GRANTS the motion for a protective order to the extent indicated below.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons stated above, Plaintiff’s motion for alternative service (Dkt. No. 6) is DENIED, Plaintiff’s motion to proceed anonymously under a pseudonym (Dkt. No. 3) is DENIED without prejudice, and Plaintiff’s motion for ECF privileges (Dkt. No. 5) is DENIED with leave to renew.”
“For the reasons stated above, Plaintiff’s motion for the issuance of USM-94 Forms pursuant to the Hague Convention is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s Motion is DENIED in its entirety.”
“For the reasons stated above, Plaintiff’s request for the Court’s assistance in effecting service on Defendants under 28 U.S.C. § 1608(a)(3) is DENIED.”
“For the reasons stated above, the undersigned respectfully recommends that, due to Plaintiff’s persistent and continuing refusal to disclose his identity under seal to the Court, as required, this action be DISMISSED.”
“For the reasons set forth above, Plaintiff’s request that the Court withdraw its Report & Recommendation dated April 15, 2024 is DENIED.”
“For the reasons set forth above, Plaintiff’s motions at Docket Nos. 10, 11, 15, and 16 are DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, this Court recommends that the Brass Lion Defendants’ request for monetary sanctions be DENIED and their request for an anti-filing injunction against Grecia be DENIED. Separately, for the reasons given below, this Court also recommends that Grecia’s motion for Rule 11 sanctions be DENIED.”
“recommends that Defendants’ motion be GRANTED due to Plaintiff’s failure to adequately plead loss causation, and that Plaintiff be given leave to replead.”
“Court hereby GRANTS the motion for a protective order to the extent indicated below.”
“Accordingly, Mitts’s request is DENIED. To the extent that Mitts seeks reconsideration of the Court’s prior order to limit the subpoena to exclude Request No. 4 (see Dkt. No. 287 at 1), that request is also DENIED.”
“Application granted. In addition, Plaintiff may file a sur-reply no longer than three pages, single-spaced, within three business days of this order. SO ORDERED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 291 days (N = 1).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 32.0 days (N = 26).
The six referred matters include contract, securities, employment, insurance, and banking disputes. The sample is weighted toward cases with signed orders and does not estimate the judge's total caseload.
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 | 1 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2023 | 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 Southern District of New York, not for Judge Stein: 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 | 9,565 | 5.6 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,749 | 3.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 6,416 | 5.1 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 1,313 | 14.1 months |
| Closed during trial | 87 | 51.7 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 9,565 | 5.6 months |
| Sep 2024 | 10,695 | 6.4 months |
| Sep 2023 | 10,316 | 5.6 months |
| Sep 2022 | 11,818 | 6.1 months |
| Sep 2021 | 10,662 | 5.7 months |
| Sep 2020 | 10,118 | 6.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 11,357 | 6.6 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 Stein with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Stein, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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