Jessica G. L. Clarke
How Judge Clarke rules, drawn from 27 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Clarke
Jessica Gloria Lynn Clarke is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Judge Clarke received a commission on April 20, 2023.
Judge Clarke's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Clarke, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- Civil Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order ↗
- Individual Rules and Practices in Civil Cases ↗
- Individual Rules and Practices in Civil Pro Se Cases ↗
- Individual Rules and Practices in Criminal Cases ↗
- Individual Trial Rules and Procedures ↗
Key rules
Filing
Do not submit courtesy copies unless the court orders them.
“d. No Courtesy Copies. Unless the Court orders otherwise, parties should not submit courtesy copies of any submissions.”
Motions
Civil pre-motion letters and conferences are required only for discovery disputes.
“a. Pre-Motion Letters and Conferences in Civil Cases. Pre-motion letters and conferences are not required, except for disputes concerning discovery, which are governed by Section 4(k) of these Rules.”
Discovery
After conferring, counsel must file one jointly composed discovery-dispute letter-motion of at most 1,750 words.
“first confer in good faith with the opposing party, in person, virtually or by telephone, in an effort to resolve the dispute. If this meet-and-confer process does not resolve the dispute, counsel shall promptly file on ECF a single letter-motion, jointly composed, no longer than 1,750 words, explaining the nature of the dispute and, if applicable, requesting an informal conference. Separate and”
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 Clarke decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In approving a class and collective settlement, weighed the monetary relief and distribution method against litigation risk after reviewing the agreement and hearing from the parties.
“is procedurally and substantively fair, reasonable, and adequate, and is not the product of collusion.”
In Warren v. Cox, the court set aside an entry of default after finding the defendants’ failure to respond was negligent rather than willful and the plaintiffs had not shown prejudice from reopening the case. Weak proposed defenses did not alone keep the default in place.
“default will not prejudice Plaintiffs.”
Procedural preferences
In Tounkara v. Republic of Senegal, she reviewed an unopposed magistrate judge recommendation, found it grounded in fact and law, and adopted it in full.
“ADOPTED in its entirety.”
In Rapaport v. Beryl Finkelman, the court denied an early summary-judgment motion without prejudice because neither side had developed the record. The order allowed the plaintiff to refile later.
“opportunity to develop the record.”
Cautions
In Flaherty v. Dixon, she remanded the action after finding no federal claim and incomplete diversity, then denied the pending motion to dismiss as moot.
“Defendants’ motion to dismiss is DENIED as moot.”
In Mave Hotel Investors LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, she denied reconsideration of her expert-fee order after finding that the movant identified no overlooked controlling authority or data and sought to relitigate decided issues.
“Instead, Plaintiff seeks to relitigate old issues the Court already decided.”
In Dempsey, she required objective proof of timely mailing for a tax-refund claim and found an affidavit and a dated return insufficient without a postmark or registered or certified mailing receipt.
“neither of these show proof of a timely mailing by a postmarked envelope, or the postmarked registered or certified mailing receipt.”
In Virtue v. HB1 Alternative Holdings, the court dismissed foreclosure-related claims with prejudice where resolving them would require federal review of the state foreclosure judgment. It declined supplemental jurisdiction over separate state tort claims, leaving those claims for state court.
“prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendants' motion for summary judgment is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. ... Plaintiff's due process claims are DISMISSED. ... the motion is DENIED with respect to Plaintiff's conditions of confinement and excessive force claims.”
“Judge Aaron's Report and Recommendation is ADOPTED in its entirety. The Court enters a declaration that Burlington (1) has no duty to defend and/or indemnify PCGNY and/or Skyline under its Policies in connection with the claims in the Underlying Action, (2) is permitted to withdraw from the defense it is currently providing PCGNY in the Underlying Action under one of its policies, and (3) has no duty to reimburse Affiliated for the sums incurred by it”
Final judgment after a 7-day jury trial before Clarke (Mar 17-25, 2025) on the Eighth Amendment conditions-of-confinement and excessive-force claims that survived summary judgment. The jury returned a verdict for defendants; judgment entered dismissing the complaint. The Second Circuit later affirmed (mandate received 2026-02-11).
“The R&R is ADOPTED in its entirety and Defendant's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is directed to close the case and to mail a copy of this Order to Plaintiff.”
“Despite the waiver, the Court has reviewed the petition and the Report and Recommendation, unguided by objections, and finds the Report and Recommendation to be well reasoned and grounded in fact and law. Accordingly, the Report and Recommendation is ADOPTED in its entirety. The Clerk of Court is directed to close the case.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' motion to dismiss is DENIED as moot. The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to terminate ECF No. 147 and remand this case to the Supreme Court of New York, County of New York, and to close this case.”
“For the reasons set forth herein, Scottsdale's motion for summary judgment is DENIED and Zurich's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“Scottsdale's motion for summary judgment is DENIED and Zurich's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Declaratory judgment is entered in favor of Zurich with respect to whether LM and 412 qualify as additional insureds and whether the Wrap-Up Exclusion applies.”
“For the reasons stated above, Judge Aaron's Report and Recommendation is ADOPTED in its entirety. Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED and Defendant's motion to amend is DENIED. The Clerk of Court is directed to enter judgment in favor of Plaintiff”
“Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED and Defendant's motion to amend is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, USFA's discovery objections to Judge Cott's August 3, 2022 is sustained and Judge Cott's order, ECF No. 65, is set aside. USFA is ordered to compensate USFA at a rate of $395 per hour for all time spent preparing for and providing testimony in this matter.”
“As such, and for the reasons set forth in the Order, the Motion for Reconsideration is DENIED. The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate ECF No. 258.”
“Defendants’ motion for judgment notwithstanding the jury’s verdict is DENIED.”
“With a total reduction of 75%, Plaintiffs are awarded $43,247.34 in attorney’s fees and $4,033.10 in costs.”
“Defendants’ application for fees is denied.”
“Court DENIES Petitioner’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- The sampled docket is heavily reassigned, with cases filed from 2015 through 2021 transferred to Clarke in 2023.
- It includes wage-and-hour, prisoner-conditions, securities and commodities enforcement, insurance coverage, copyright, trademark, personal-injury, and civil-rights cases.
- Many inherited cases settled in 2024 and 2025.
- In Colson v. Mingo, Clarke carried the case from a partly denied summary-judgment motion through a full jury trial. The selected outcomes also include a final class and collective settlement approval in an employment action.
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 | 16 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 16 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 15 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 15 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 15 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 12 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 6 |
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 Clarke: 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 Clarke with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Clarke, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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- Grounded in Judge Clarke's own signed orders
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