Ronnie Abrams
How Judge Abrams rules, drawn from 29 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Abrams
Ronnie Abrams is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Abrams received a commission on March 23, 2012.
Judge Abrams's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Abrams, 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.
- Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order ↗
- Individual Rules of Practice in Civil Cases ↗
- Individual Rules of Practice in Criminal Cases ↗
- Rules for Jury Selection: Struck Panel Method ↗
- Special Rules and Practices In Civil Pro Se Cases ↗
Key rules
Filing
Courtesy copies of motions are generally unnecessary unless the motion has numerous exhibits or a voluminous record.
“B. Courtesy Copies. Courtesy copies are not required unless the motion includes numerous exhibits and/or a voluminous record. Under such circumstances, one courtesy copy of all motion papers, marked as such, should be submitted to the Court by the movant at the time the reply is served, in accordance with the SDNY policies regarding mail deliveries.”
Motions
Within fourteen days of receiving a motion to dismiss, the nonmoving party must say whether it will amend or rely on the existing pleading.
“C. Motions to Dismiss. When a motion to dismiss is filed, the non-moving party must, within fourteen (14) days of receipt of the motion, notify the Court and its adversary in writing whether (i) it intends to file an amended pleading and when it shall do so, or (ii) it will rely on the pleading being attacked. This Rule does not alter the time to file a”
Discovery
After meeting and conferring, raise a discovery dispute with an ECF letter-motion of no more than three pages.
“modifications. Any party wishing to raise a discovery dispute with the Court must first confer in good faith with the opposing party, in person or by telephone, in an effort to resolve the dispute. If this meet-and-confer process does not resolve the dispute, the party may file on ECF a letter-motion to the Court, no longer than three (3) pages, explaining the nature of the dispute and requesting an informal conference. The letter-motion must include a”
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 Abrams decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Gas Natural, Inc. v. Iberdrola, S.A., Judge Abrams dismissed a good-faith-negotiation claim because the parties consciously omitted exclusivity from their letter of intent; good faith therefore did not require exclusive talks or disclosure of competing offers.
“In view of the parties' conscious decision not to include an exclusivity provision in the LOI, the duty of good faith did not require Defendants to negotiate exclusively with Plaintiff, disclose the existence of competing offers, or correct any mistaken belief that it was the only party interested in purchasing New Hampshire Gas. Accordingly, Defendants' motion is granted.”
Procedural preferences
In Katsoris v. WME IMG, LLC, Judge Abrams compelled arbitration of claims against the IMG defendants under the work-for-hire agreement and stayed the litigation against all defendants pending arbitration.
“Plaintiffs' motion to compel arbitration against WME IMG and IMG Productions, LLC (collectively, ‘IMG’) is granted, and Plaintiffs' claims against all Defendants are stayed pending arbitration.”
In one disability-benefits case, the court rejected an administrative-exhaustion objection after finding the insurer’s notice extending its appeal deadline did not meet procedural requirements.
“First Unum’s motion to dismiss her complaint for failure to exhaust her administrative remedies is denied.”
In one challenge to vaccination orders, dismissal of the constitutional claims also defeated a request for preliminary relief because the plaintiff could not show likely success on the merits.
“Because Plaintiff has failed to state a plausible claim for relief, his motion for a preliminary injunction is denied.”
In Morley v. Oliver, she denied an attorney fee request under New York’s anti-SLAPP statute because the defendants appended the request to their dismissal motion instead of pleading an action, claim, cross-claim, or counterclaim for fees.
“They have instead solely appended a motion for fees to their motion to dismiss.”
Cautions
In Roberts v. Bliss, Judge Abrams dismissed the Lanham Act false-endorsement claim because the complaint did not plausibly allege a misleading endorsement representation or likely consumer confusion, and declined jurisdiction over the remaining state claims.
“The Court agrees with Defendants that Plaintiff has failed to state a claim for false endorsement under the Lanham Act because she has not plausibly alleged that the advertisement contains a misleading representation that she endorsed a product, or that the ad is likely to cause consumer confusion as to her sponsorship of it.”
In Louis v. City of New York, Judge Abrams held that alleged failure to implement protective inmate housing measures amounted to inaction rather than the affirmative conduct required for a state-created-danger claim.
“that would still constitute inaction by the City for purposes of the state-created danger exception—not an affirmative, conscience- shocking act giving rise to a claim.”
In Real Estate Board of New York v. City of New York, Judge Abrams allowed a Contracts Clause claim to proceed at the pleading stage but denied a preliminary injunction because the plaintiffs had not met the higher standard for that relief.
“Although Plaintiffs’ complaint pleads sufficient facts to plausibly allege a violation of the Contracts Clause, they have failed to satisfy the ‘heavier burden’ applicable to their motion for a preliminary injunction.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Now before the Court is Hagan's petition to vacate that award (the ‘Petition’) and Respondent's cross-petition to confirm it (the ‘Cross-Petition’). For the reasons that follow, the Petition to vacate the arbitration decision is denied, and Respondent's Cross-Petition is granted.”
“For the reasons that follow, the Petition to vacate the arbitration decision is denied, and Respondent's Cross-Petition is granted.”
“Before the Court is Defendants' motion to dismiss the Complaint for failure to state a claim. The Court concludes that Plaintiff has plausibly alleged that the LOI bound the parties to negotiate in good faith. The Complaint does not plausibly allege, however, that Defendants breached this duty. ... Accordingly, Defendants' motion is granted.”
“Before the Court is Hanover's motion to dismiss the Complaint for failure to state a claim and Hartford's cross motion for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, Hanover's motion is granted. Because the case is dismissed on Hanover's motion, Hartford's summary judgment motion is denied as moot.”
“Because the case is dismissed on Hanover's motion, Hartford's summary judgment motion is denied as moot.”
“Defendants have moved to dismiss the Amended Complaint for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The Court agrees with Defendants that Plaintiff has failed to state a claim for false endorsement under the Lanham Act because she has not plausibly alleged that the advertisement contains a misleading representation that she endorsed a product, or that the ad is likely to cause consumer confusion as to her sponsorship of it. Because the Court dismisses all claims over which it has original jurisdiction, it declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiffs remaining state law claims.”
“Before the Court are Defendants' motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint and Plaintiffs' motion to compel arbitration. For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs' motion to compel arbitration against WME IMG and IMG Productions, LLC (collectively, ‘IMG’) is granted, and Plaintiffs' claims against all Defendants are stayed pending arbitration.”
Before reaching two pending dismissal motions, the court required the self-represented attorney-plaintiff to supply evidence of her domicile when the action began. The pleadings and prior filings did not establish Michigan citizenship, and the court explained that residence alone does not establish domicile. The order deferred a final jurisdictional ruling and did not resolve either motion to dismiss.
“Defendants’ motion to dismiss is granted in part and denied in part”
“Defendants’ motion to dismiss the First Amended Complaint, Dkt. 41, is denied as moot.”
“Defendants’ motions for summary judgment are therefore granted”
“Sony’s motion to dismiss is denied in part and granted in part.”
“Defendant’s motion to dismiss is therefore granted without prejudice to Plaintiff to refile this lawsuit in another forum”
“First Unum’s motion is granted in part and denied in part.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The visible docket slice is current and 2026-heavy: insurance/contract, securities/other fraud, a RICO matter, alien-detainee habeas, and civil-rights/employment suits. Reflects current assignments, not a tenure-wide caseload; no terminated dockets appeared on the visible page, so no case durations were computed.
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 | 14 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 1 | 14 |
| Sep 2025 | 1 | 14 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 22 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 18 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 19 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 29 |
| Mar 2023 | 3 | 29 |
| Sep 2022 | 2 | 24 |
| Mar 2022 | 2 | 28 |
| Sep 2021 | 2 | 27 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 28 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 27 |
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 Abrams: 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 Abrams with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Abrams, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Abrams's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace