Lorna Gail Tiangco Schofield
How Judge Schofield rules, drawn from 23 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Schofield
Lorna Gail Schofield is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Schofield received a commission on December 13, 2012. Judge Schofield assumed senior status on January 1, 2025.
Judge Schofield's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Schofield, 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 Pro Se Cases ↗
- Individual Rules and Procedures for Civil Cases ↗
- Individual Rules of Practice in Criminal Cases ↗
- Individual Trial Rules And Procedures ↗
- Patent Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order ↗
Key rules
Motions
For most motions, file an ECF letter-motion requesting a pre-motion conference at least ten business days before the proposed conference.
“2. Discovery Motions Parties shall follow Section III.C.3 below and Local Rule 37.2 before making any discovery motion. III. MOTION RULES AND PROCEDURES A. Pre-Motion Conference”
Motions
A dismissal motion needs a pre-motion letter even though no pre-motion conference is required.
“1. Pro Hac Vice Admission Counsel seeking a pro hac vice admission shall first seek consent from”
Discovery
After conferring, raise a discovery dispute by an ECF letter-motion requesting a pre-motion discovery conference.
“Parties shall follow Local Rule 37.2 with the following modifications: Any party wishing to raise a discovery dispute with the Court first shall confer in good faith with the opposing party, in-person or by telephone, in an effort to resolve the dispute. If this process does not resolve the dispute, the party shall file on ECF a letter motion for a pre-motion discovery conference with the Court, as provided in Section III.A.1 above. The Court will seek to”
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 Schofield decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Catlin's insurance coverage dispute, she denied QA3's request for a new trial after finding that the jury had been properly instructed.
“Because the jury was properly instructed, Defendant's motion for a new trial is denied.”
Procedural preferences
In Citibank's contract dispute with Barclays, she denied Barclays' partial summary-judgment motion and granted Citibank's cross-motion in part while denying it in part.
“For the reasons discussed below, Barclays' motion is denied, and Citibank's motion is granted in part and denied in part.”
In a terminal tariff contract dispute, she granted the plaintiff partial summary judgment only for services priced in a particular schedule and denied the defendant’s cross-motion as moot. The order left a fuller explanation and final judgment for later.
“The Agreement thus prevents Defendant from increasing tariff rates only for those services specifically listed in Schedule C.”
Cautions
In An's suit seeking an injunction against arrests for filming police, she granted the City's dismissal motion because the complaint did not show a real and immediate threat of future injury to him.
“The City moves to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). For the following reasons, the motion is granted.”
In one compensation suit against a foreign mission, she treated a deployed officer’s military status and security assignment as governmental conduct despite contractual descriptions of salary and reimbursement. The commercial activity exception therefore did not supply jurisdiction.
“Because the Mission’s actions were sovereign in nature, the commercial activity exception does not apply.”
In a publishing-contract dispute, conflicting industry expert testimony about whether platform costs counted as publishing expenses prevented summary judgment. A movant should address the opponent’s evidence about industry practice.
“Because a reasonable jury could credit Plaintiffs’ contrary expert testimony, summary judgment is denied.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The City moves to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). For the following reasons, the motion is granted.”
“Because the jury was properly instructed, Defendant's motion for a new trial is denied.”
“QA3 also moves the Court to amend the judgment pursuant to Rule 59(e). For the following reasons, that motion is also denied.”
“For the reasons discussed below, Barclays' motion is denied, and Citibank's motion is granted in part and denied in part.”
“The parties cross-move for summary judgment. For the following reasons, summary judgment is granted in Defendant's favor.”
“Defendant Enterprise moves for summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, the motion is GRANTED as to all counts, and the case is DISMISSED.”
“Plaintiff now seeks to enforce Judge Castel’s ruling and moves for partial summary judgment on Count II, its damages claim as to the duty to defend. ... Century is obligated to pay all defense costs incurred by Narragansett defending the Massachusetts action and the Stone & Webster Massachusetts action, but not the Stone & Webster bankruptcy.”
“Defendant Century cross-moves for Summary Judgment as to Plaintiffs First and Second Claims for relief. ... Century is obligated to pay all defense costs incurred by Narragansett defending the Massachusetts action and the Stone & Webster Massachusetts action, but not the Stone & Webster bankruptcy.”
“Defendants' motion is denied, and Plaintiffs motion is granted.”
“Plaintiffs now move to remand. For the reasons below, the motion is denied, and the case is transferred to the District of Minnesota.”
“Before the Court is Sabre's motion for summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, the motion is granted in part and denied in part.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendant’s motion for summary judgment is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment is GRANTED”
“Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is DENIED.”
“Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction is DENIED as moot.”
“TransPer-fect’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is DENIED. TransPer-feet’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is GRANTED -with respect to Plaintiffs’ express contract cause of action, and otherwise DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Sample of the judge's case assignments across two pages (a recent slice and an older, pre-2019 slice). She assumed senior status on 2025-01-01 and has a long terminated history (2013-2024), so the visible slices are partial and reflect sampled assignments, not a tenure-wide caseload census.
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 | 2 |
| 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 | 15 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 2 | 15 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 14 |
| Mar 2025 | 2 | 11 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 13 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 14 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 16 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 12 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 13 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 19 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 19 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 15 |
| Sep 2020 | 3 | 8 |
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 Schofield: 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 Schofield with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Schofield, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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