Sidney H. Stein
How Judge Stein rules, drawn from 37 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Stein
Sidney H. Stein is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Stein received a commission on March 17, 1995. Judge Stein assumed senior status on September 1, 2010.
Judge Stein's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Stein, 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
The movant must furnish a complete marked courtesy set after a motion is fully briefed.
“E. Courtesy Copies. The moving party shall furnish a complete set of courtesy copies to chambers as soon as is practical after a motion has been fully briefed. Courtesy copies shall be marked as such and submitted in accordance with SDNY policies regarding mail deliveries.”
Motions
No civil pre-motion conference is required.
“B. Pre-Motion Conferences in Civil Cases. Pre-motion conferences are not required.”
Discovery
After conferring, raise a discovery dispute by an ECF letter of no more than three pages.
“G. Discovery Disputes. 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 if the attorneys practice in New York, in an effort to resolve the dispute. If this meet-and-confer process does not resolve the dispute, any party may submit a letter to the Court via ECF, no longer than three pages, explaining the nature of the dispute and requesting an informal conference. Such letter must include a representation that the meet-and-confer process”
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 Stein decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
An insurer's duty to defend extends to the whole action when any claim arguably arises from a covered event.
“if any of the claims against the insured arguably arise from covered events, the insurer is required to defend the entire action.”
Procedural preferences
Claims specifically challenged on summary judgment may be treated as abandoned when the opposition papers do not address them.
“The Court therefore deems those six claims abandoned and grants summary judgment on them.”
Cautions
A general policy favoring arbitration does not replace the need for an agreement covering the particular dispute.
“Even though federal policy favors arbitration, a court cannot require arbitration absent a valid agreement to arbitrate a particular dispute.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Accordingly, because plaintiff has failed to present evidence of a genuine dispute of material fact, this Court grants defendants’ motion for summary judgment.”
“Because defendants’ works on tree house design are not substantially similar to plaintiffs’ as a matter of law, defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint is granted.”
“Plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment in its favor is denied.”
“Accordingly, defendants’ motion is granted to the extent that the Court compels arbitration of Velez’s FLSA claims.”
“Because the Court concludes that the Knutson defendants knowingly and voluntarily contracted to waive their right to have this action tried by a jury, Lehman’s motion to strike the Knutson defendants’ jury demand is granted.”
“Constellation’s amended petition is granted insofar as this Court recognizes and enforces the arbitration awards against ER Cape;”
“Constellation’s motion for summary confirmation is granted insofar as the arbitration awards are confirmed against ER Cape;”
“ER Cape’s motion to dismiss the amended petition is granted insofar as Constellation has failed to state a claim for alter ego liability against ER Limited and that motion is otherwise denied.”
“For the reasons set forth above, Sanofi’s motion for summary judgment on its claim for $442,209,362 in damages is granted.”
“Reuters’ petitions to stay the arbitrations involving Anthony D’Antonio [Dkt. # 1, 10 Civ. 273] and the failure to collect union dues [Dkt. # 1, 10 Civ. 639] are both denied.”
“For the reasons set forth above, the Complaint is dismissed in its entirety and without prejudice. If they believe they have reason to do so in good faith, plaintiffs may file a second amended complaint within twenty-one days of the entry of this order.”
“Plaintiffs motion for a stay pending appeal of this determination made during oral argument today is denied.”
“For the reasons set forth above, defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint or, in the alternative, to stay the action pending arbitration, is denied.”
“For the foregoing reasons, it is hereby ordered that defendants’ motion to dismiss the First Amended Consolidated Derivative Action complaint is granted and the amended complaint is dismissed with prejudice.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 242 days (N = 8).
Among the eight reviewed 2018 cases, six involved employment, labor, or contract disputes. A separate 2023 contract case supplied two contested motion outcomes. This small, selected set does 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 | 3 |
| 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 | 3 | 3 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2025 | 1 | 3 |
| Sep 2024 | 1 | 3 |
| Mar 2024 | 1 | 5 |
| Sep 2023 | 1 | 5 |
| Mar 2023 | 8 | 6 |
| Sep 2022 | 16 | 8 |
| Mar 2022 | 7 | 10 |
| Sep 2021 | 7 | 13 |
| Mar 2021 | 15 | 13 |
| Sep 2020 | 8 | 12 |
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 Stein: 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 Stein, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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