Robert W. Lehrburger
How Judge Lehrburger rules, drawn from 8 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Lehrburger
Robert W. Lehrburger serves as a U.S. magistrate judge for the Southern District of New York. His chambers are in the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Manhattan.
Judge Lehrburger's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Lehrburger, 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.
- Individual Practices In Civil Cases ↗
- Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order (Fillable) ↗
- Joint Electronic Discovery Submission (pdf fillable) ↗
- Settlement Conference And Mediation Procedures ↗
- Electronic Devices Instructions ↗
Key rules
Contacting chambers
Letters may not exceed three single-spaced pages, excluding exhibits.
“3. Page Limit for Letters. Letters may not exceed 3 single-space pages in length (exclusive of exhibits).”
Motions
A pre-motion conference is generally required for non-discovery motions, subject to the listed exceptions.
“D. Pre-Motion Conferences. For motions concerning discovery disputes, see Section II.D above. A pre-motion conference with the Court is required for all other motions except for (i) motions by incarcerated pro se litigants, (ii) motions for reconsideration, (iii) motions for a new trial, (iv) motions in limine, and (v) motions required by the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure or the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to be made by a time certain.”
Discovery
After conferring in person, by phone, or by video, a discovery dispute may be raised by letter-motion of no more than three single-spaced pages.
“D. Discovery Disputes. Parties shall follow S.D.N.Y. Local Rule 37.2 with the following modifications. Any party wishing to raise a discovery dispute with the Court must first meet and confer in good faith with the opposing party, in person or by telephone or video conferencing, in an effort to resolve the dispute. If this meet-and-confer process does not resolve the dispute, the party may file a letter motion with the Court or, if applicable, to the Pro Se Intake Clerk, no longer than 3 single-space pages, explaining the nature of”
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 Lehrburger decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In an application for discovery for foreign proceedings, he found the statutory requirements met, weighed the Intel factors, and authorized subpoenas after narrowing one request.
“the Court further finds that the factors set forth in Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 542 U.S. 241, 264-65, 124 S.Ct. 2466, 2483 (2004) weigh in favor of permitting the discovery requested pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782”
Procedural preferences
In Perry’s employment suit, Lehrburger found the complaint lacked facts needed to plead its statutory claims. Because the plaintiff had not amended before and the defects might be cured, he dismissed the complaint without prejudice and granted leave to amend.
“Perry’s Complaint is DISMISSED without prejudice and with leave to amend.”
In Lee, he reviewed the requested Federal Reserve letter in camera and directed narrower redactions before disclosure.
“But the current blanket redaction applied to the Letter Request is far too overbroad.”
Cautions
In a Social Security appeal, he remanded after the agency judge rejected every medical opinion and assessed residual capacity without adequate medical support.
“an ALJ may not, as the ALJ did here, simply reject medical opinions of record and then substitute his or her own medical judgment in their place”
In a discovery dispute, he required PepsiCo to search for the bond custodian and payment agent and submit a sworn declaration about the results.
“PepsiCo shall provide a sworn declaration by a person with knowledge that a reasonable search was conducted”
In Herman, he found the motion to lift an arbitration stay premature; the defendants reported that the plaintiff had not initiated arbitration.
“Second, the motion is entirely premature. According to Defendants, Plaintiff has not even initiated arbitration.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Accordingly, pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), Soropoulos’s motion is GRANTED, and the Commissioner’s motion is DENIED. The Clerk of Court is directed to remand the case.”
“The Application for discovery pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 is GRANTED;”
“it shall conduct a reasonable search (not merely ‘inquire within’)”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants’ motion to dismiss is GRANTED, and Perry’s Complaint is DISMISSED without prejudice and with leave to amend.”
“Plaintiff's motion for default and default judgment at Dkt. 15 is denied.”
After inspecting a Federal Reserve letter in camera, Lehrburger directed production of a version with only targeted redactions for discrete confidential information. The order terminated a government summary judgment letter motion without expressly granting or denying that motion, so no motion outcome is classified.
“Accordingly, Plaintiff’s motion is DENIED.”
“Accordingly, Defendants’ motion to seal is granted in part and denied in part as follows:”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 233 days (N = 16).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 26 days (N = 19).
Sample of consent cases assigned to Lehrburger, filed 2021-2022. The mix below is from case-level metadata; all sampled cases were filed during his tenure (he took the bench in 2017), so none are inherited from a predecessor.
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 | 3 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 3 |
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 Lehrburger: 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 Lehrburger with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Lehrburger, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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