Richard M. Berman
How Judge Berman rules, drawn from 37 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Berman
Richard M. Berman is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Berman received a commission on October 22, 1998. Judge Berman assumed senior status on September 11, 2011.
Judge Berman's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Berman, 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.
- Emergency Individual Rules and Practices in Light of COVID-19 ↗
- Individual Practices ↗
- Media and Public Access to Proceedings ↗
- Sentencing Submissions ↗
Key rules
Contacting chambers
Do not email chambers without specific authorization.
“D. Emails. Emails to Chambers are not permitted unless specifically authorized.”
Motions
A pre-motion conference is required for civil motions except the two specified categories.
“A. Pre-Motion Conferences in Civil Cases. A pre-motion conference with the Court is required before making any motion, except: (1) motions that are required by Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(4)(A) to be made by a date certain; and (2) pro hac vice motions. To arrange a pre-motion conference, the moving party shall submit a letter not”
Conferences
Request an adjournment or extension by letter at least 48 hours before the scheduled date.
“E. Requests for Adjournments or Extensions of Time. Requests for adjournments or extensions of time shall be by letter and shall be made at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled date. Requests shall state (1) the original date, (2) the number of previous requests for adjournment or extension, (3) whether previous requests were granted or denied, and (4) whether the adversary consents and, if not, the reasons given by the”
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 Berman decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Duka v. U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, he found that the challenged proceeding threatened irreparable constitutional injury because the plaintiff could not recover monetary damages from the agency.
“Without an injunction, Plaintiff would not only be forced into an unconstitutional proceeding, but would be unable to recover monetary damages from this harm as the SEC possesses sovereign immunity.”
Procedural preferences
In American Civil Liberties Union v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, he directed the government to comply with his prior disclosure order.
“The Government needs to come into compliance with the Court's directive.”
In SEC v. Waldman, he rejected a general request to seal deposition material and required the nonparties to identify specific lines and reasons for any redaction.
“The Court was unpersuaded at the hearing, in part because of the generality of counsels' arguments.”
Cautions
In Mister Sprout, Inc. v. Williams Farms Produce Sales, Inc., he rejected a proposed fee rate that was not tied to this district, federal litigation, or counsel’s experience.
“There is no indication of how this rate was derived, it is not specific to this district, it is not limited to federal litigation, and it does not take into account attorney experience.”
In Rahimi’s Section 2255 proceeding, the court declined to review challenges to two counts under the concurrent-sentence doctrine because success on those counts would not shorten incarceration under unchallenged life sentences.
“because any favorable decision on these counts would not shorten the amount of time he will spend incarcerated.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“It is hereby ORDERED that Defendant, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is preliminarily enjoined from in any way further pursuing the pending administrative proceeding against Plaintiff”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants’ motion for reconsideration [# 59] is denied.”
“Defendants’ motion for summary judgment [# 98] is denied”
“USF & G’s cross-motion for summary judgment [# 108] is granted.”
“Plaintiffs Motion for Class Certification [# 48] is granted”
“Defendant’s Motion for Entry of Judgment [# 39] is denied.”
“Plaintiffs motion to direct Defendant to deliver trust assets to the Court [# 12] is denied”
“Defendant’s motion to compel arbitration as to Syncora’s breach of fiduciary duty, breach of duty of good faith, indemnification, and promissory estoppel claims is granted, (ii) Defendant’s motion to compel arbitration as to Syncora’s declaratory judgment claim is denied”
“Defendant’s motion to stay is granted”
“Defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of proper service is denied”
“Plaintiffs motion for judgment on the pleadings and to dismiss Defendant’s counterclaims [# 26] is denied without prejudice.”
“the Court adopts the Report [# 41] and also authorizes an award for $862.50 (attorney travel time) and $847,71 (travel costs). The Clerk of the Court is respectfully requested to enter a supplemental judgment in favor of Respondent in the amount of $24,322.50 in attorney’s fees and $1,197,09 in costs.”
“the Report is adopted in its entirety. Victoria Chen is ordered to disgorge $40,284 and to pay $16,453 in prejudgment interest, Vincent Verdiramo is ordered to disgorge $42,938 and to pay $15,827 in prejudgment interest, and Richard Verdiramo is jointly and severally liable with Chen, Meyer, and Vincent Verdiramo for $307,769 in disgorgement and $120,356 in prejudgment interest.”
“For the reasons stated above, the Court grants Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification [Dkt. No. 90] and appointment of class representatives and class counsel.”
“Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment [#23] is granted”
“Defendants’ cross-motion for summary judgment [# 32] is denied.”
“For the reasons stated herein, Plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order [# 9] is denied.”
“For the foregoing reasons, PwC’s motion for summary judgment [# 56, 65] is granted.”
“Defendants’ motion for summary judgment [# 77] is granted in part and denied in part”
“Plaintiffs cross-motion for summary judgment on his DPPA claims against Leifer and the Reseller Defendants [# 83] is denied”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 310.5 days (N = 6).
The six fixed 2018 matters were predominantly post-conviction petitions, with one Social Security appeal and one arbitration dispute. Two later post-conviction cases and a pending employment case were selected for their readable orders. These cases do not establish the judge’s overall case mix.
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 | 1 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2022 | 1 | 2 |
| Mar 2022 | 1 | 4 |
| Sep 2021 | 1 | 3 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 6 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 7 |
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 Berman: 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).
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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Berman, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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