Stewart D. Aaron
How Judge Aaron rules, drawn from 18 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Aaron
Stewart D. Aaron became a U.S. magistrate judge for the Southern District of New York in December 2017. He previously practiced at Dorsey & Whitney and Arnold & Porter. He graduated from Syracuse University College of Law in 1983.
Judge Aaron's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Aaron, 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 ↗
- Model Protective Order ↗
- Proposed Case Management Plan For Pro Se Cases ↗
- Report of Rule 26(f) Conference and Proposed Case Management Plan ↗
- Rule 502(d) Order ↗
- Settlement Conference Procedures ↗
Key rules
Motions
For motions other than discovery motions before the magistrate judge, no pre-motion conference is required.
“For motions other than discovery motions, a pre-motion conference is not required. A pre-motion conference may be requested by Letter-Motion where counsel believes that an informal conference with the Court may obviate the need for the motion or reduce the issues in dispute.”
Discovery
A discovery dispute requires an in-person or telephone meet-and-confer; letters or emails alone do not suffice.
“A. Requirement To Meet And Confer. No discovery dispute shall be heard unless the moving party (including a non-party seeking relief) has first conferred in good faith with the adverse party or parties by telephone or in person in an effort to resolve the dispute. An exchange of letters or emails alone does not satisfy this requirement. Counsel must respond promptly and in good faith to any request from another party to confer in accordance with this paragraph.”
Discovery
After conferring, request a discovery conference by letter-motion of no more than three pages.
“B. Letter-Motion For Discovery Conference. If the parties have met and conferred but cannot resolve their dispute, the moving party must request a discovery conference with the Court, by Letter-Motion, as required by Local Civil Rule 37.2. Letter-Motions may not exceed 3 pages in length, exclusive of attachments, which should be kept to a minimum, and must clearly set forth the issues in dispute and”
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 ↗
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the foregoing reasons, RGS's Letter-Motion for a protective order (ECF No. 49) is granted.”
“the Commissioner's motion for judgment on the pleadings is DENIED and this matter is remanded to the Commissioner pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g)”
“the Court DENIES Hill’s motion and GRANTS the Commissioner’s motion.”
“Plaintiff's motion for judgment on the pleadings is DENIED and Defendants cross-motion for judgment on the pleadings is GRANTED.”
“I approve the proposed settlement and award of attorneys fees and costs as fair, reasonable and adequate.”
“I approve the settlement in this case and award Plaintiffs' counsel $8,123.50 in attorneys' fees and costs.”
“Defendant’s motion to dismiss be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”
“Plaintiff’s motion is GRANTED.”
“For the reasons stated above, Plaintiff's motion is GRANTED, the Commissioner’s decision is reversed and this action is remanded, pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), for further administrative proceedings.”
“In view of the foregoing, Plaintiff’s Letter Motion filed at ECF No. 47 is DENIED AS MOOT.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Cava Defendants’ motion (ECF No. 45) is GRANTED, and this case is stayed in its entirety.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The historical sample contains 20 terminated matters filed from January 2017 through February 2018. It is concentrated in Social Security appeals and wage-and-hour cases, with additional personal-injury, employment and civil-rights, securities, and misdemeanor matters.
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 | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 1 | 2 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 0 |
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 Aaron: 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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