Louis Lee Stanton
How Judge Stanton rules, drawn from 36 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Stanton
Louis Lee Stanton is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Judge Stanton received a commission on July 18, 1985. Judge Stanton assumed senior status on October 1, 1996.
Judge Stanton's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Stanton, 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.
Key rules
Filing
Send chambers marked courtesy copies of all motion papers when the papers are served.
“B. Courtesy Copies. Courtesy copies of all motion papers, marked as such, should be submitted to chambers at the time papers are served.”
Filing
Separate attached exhibits with index tabs in submissions to the judge.
“G. In all submissions to Judge Stanton where exhibits are attached, the exhibits shall be separated by index tabs so that the particular exhibit may be readily located within the group of exhibits.”
Motions
Most non-discovery motions require a pre-motion conference, subject to the listed exceptions.
“conference with the court is required before making anymotion, except applications for temporary restraining orders or for injunctive relief, motions made by persons in custody, motions to dismiss in lieu of an answer, motions for reduction of sentence, motions for reargument, motions to affirm or vacate an arbitration award, Pro Hac Vice motions, and appeals from a magistrate judge’s rulings. To arrange a pre- motion conference, the moving party shall submit a letter not to exceed three pages in length setting forth the basis for the anticipated motion.”
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 Stanton decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a contract counterclaim over industrial materials, the court held that an 'as is' clause did not permit delivery of goods different from those contracted for.
“One may not ship something different, and claim it must be accepted as the original ‘as is.’”
Procedural preferences
A recusal request is assessed from the perspective of a reasonable person who knows and understands the relevant facts.
“No reasonable person, knowing and understanding all the relevant facts, would conclude that my impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
Cautions
His individual practices require a pre-motion conference before a class-certification motion; failure to follow that requirement can result in procedural dismissal without prejudice.
“First, Vadai’s motion for class certification failed to comply with Rule 2 of my Individual Practices, which require a premotion conference before the making of any such motion. Accordingly, it is dismissed without prejudice.”
In a consumer-label case, the court compared the complaint’s wording to the product label and dismissed when the pleading treated “works naturally with your body” as a claim that the product itself was “natural.” A label-based claim should quote the actual marketing language accurately.
“label uses the word ‘naturally’ as an adverb to describe how the Products work.”
In a music copyright case, the court held on reconsideration that the asserted combination of chord progression and harmonic rhythm was too commonplace to protect, then granted defendants summary judgment.
“As a matter of law, the combination of the chord progression and harmonic rhythm in ‘Let’s Get It On’ is too commonplace to merit copyright protection.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint (Dkt. No. 10) is granted, and plaintiffs request for leave to replead is granted.”
“Accordingly, the application for attachment is denied, and the complaint (Docket No. 1) is dismissed.”
“Respondent’s motion is granted and petitioner’s Notice of Voluntary Dismissal (Dkt. No. 40) is vacated.”
“For the reasons stated above, the parties’ motions for summary judgment are denied, except for that of the BWS Defendants which is granted.”
“The AFBL between BMI and DMX shall have an annual Blanket Fee of $18.91 per location and an annual Floor Fee of $8.66 per location. The Direct License Ratio shall be calculated using DMX’s off-premises performances as a proxy for all of its performances. So much of the petition as seeks inclusion of bowling centers in the AFBL is denied.”
“Defendants are granted summary judgment that they qualify for the protection of 17 U.S.C. § 512(c), as expounded above, against all of plaintiffs’ claims for direct and secondary copyright infringement.”
“Plaintiffs’ motions for judgment are denied.”
“Plaintiffs’ Copyright Act claims for statutory damages are dismissed with respect to all registered in the United States foreign works which were not (‘unregistered foreign works’), except those in suit under the ‘live broadcast exemption’ in Section 411(c) of the Act.”
“The Court directs the entry of judgment by default against defendant Ballow and relief defendants Wright Family Holdings, Wright Family Trust, and Orekoya:”
“The Court directs the entry of judgment against defendant Hall requiring him to pay (1) disgorgement in the amount of $448,615, plus prejudgment interest to be calculated by the SEC as directed above and (2) a third-tier civil penalty in the amount of $448,615.”
“Defendant’s motion for summary judgment on the presentment issue is denied.”
“Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to amend the complaint to assert a punitive damages claim is denied.”
“Plaintiffs motion for reconsideration is denied.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 268 days (N = 8).
Four of the eight sampled matters involved civil-rights or prisoner claims, and two involved copyright claims.
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 | 4 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 6 |
| Mar 2025 | 1 | 4 |
| Sep 2024 | 1 | 4 |
| Mar 2024 | 1 | 5 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2023 | 4 | 9 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 15 |
| Mar 2022 | 1 | 14 |
| Sep 2021 | 1 | 12 |
| Mar 2021 | 1 | 9 |
| Sep 2020 | 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 Stanton: 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 Stanton with the record in hand
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