Valerie Figueredo
How Judge Figueredo rules, drawn from 13 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Figueredo
Valerie Figueredo has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of New York since April 2022. She earned her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and previously worked in private practice and in New York state and local appellate offices.
Judge Figueredo's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Figueredo, 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.
- Electronic Device Form ↗
- Individual Practices in Civil Cases ↗
- Model Confidentiality Stipulation and Proposed Protective Order ↗
- Model Joint Electronic Discovery Submission and Proposed Order ↗
- Report of Rule 26(f) Conference and Proposed Case Management Plan ↗
- Standing Order Applicable to Settlement Conferences Before Magistrate Judge Figueredo and Attendance Acknowledgement Form ↗
Key rules
Discovery
A discovery dispute requires a good-faith conference; exchanging letters or email alone is insufficient.
“1. Requirement to Meet and Confer. The Court will not hear any discovery dispute unless the moving party (including a non-party seeking relief) has first conferred in good faith with any adverse party 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
If the dispute persists, request a discovery conference by letter-motion no longer than three pages.
“2. Letter-Motion for Discovery Conference. If the meet-and-confer process does not resolve the discovery dispute, the moving party must request a discovery conference with the Court, by Letter-Motion, as required by Local Civil Rule 37.2. Counsel should select the ‘Letter- Motion’ option when filing on ECF. Letter-Motions may not exceed three (3) pages in length, exclusive of attachments, which should be kept to a minimum. The Letter-Motion must clearly set forth the issues in”
Conferences
Absent an unforeseeable emergency, seek an adjournment of a court proceeding at least 72 hours in advance.
“Absent unforeseeable emergencies, all requests for an adjournment of a court conference or other court proceeding (including a telephonic conference) must be made at least 72 hours in advance of the proceeding to be adjourned and must include at least two (2) proposed dates, on which all counsel are available, for the adjourned proceeding.”
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 Figueredo decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In enforcing a forum-selection clause, Figueredo focused on its precise text and rejected a reading that extended a borrower-only restriction to the bank.
“Defendants’ interpretation of the forum-selection clause finds no support in the text of the clause.”
In Pedraza, the court allowed a late-disclosed trial witness after finding his testimony important and the resulting prejudice curable through a continuance and deposition.
“the importance of his testimony weighs against precluding it.”
In Edwards, comparator evidence did not defeat summary judgment where the plaintiff had not shown that the other employee was similarly situated.
“Plaintiff fails to demonstrate that she and Pope were treated similarly.”
Procedural preferences
When revised expert reports changed damages evidence, Figueredo allowed the reports but reopened depositions and shifted the resulting fees to the parties that supplied the revisions.
“Given the extensive changes, a reopening of the depositions is appropriate.”
After lengthy speaking objections consumed deposition time, Figueredo allowed three additional hours of testimony while declining a full second day.
“counsel for Plaintiff had numerous instances of lengthy speaking objections that unfairly used up defense counsel’s time.”
Cautions
In a fee dispute after sanctions litigation, she reduced the requested rates and hours yet awarded defense fees for work caused by opposing counsel’s conduct.
“counsel’s unreasonable behavior compounded the work that defense counsel was forced to perform.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons set forth, Defendants' motion to dismiss is denied.”
“summary judgment is GRANTED for Defendant as to both of Plaintiff’s claims.”
“Defendants’ motion to dismiss is GRANTED. Plaintiff is granted leave to file an amended complaint in conformance with this opinion and order.”
“and preclude Plaintiff from introducing Mr. Ricardo Rodriguez as a witness at trial is hereby DENIED.”
“Arch’s motion for judgment on the pleadings is DENIED and the determination of the Commissioner is AFFIRMED.”
“Plaintiff’s application for attorney’s fees in the amount of $25,000 is GRANTED.”
“KSNY’s motion is DENIED to the extent it seeks exclusion of the supplemental reports.”
“ACS’s motion to compel Chase to comply with the Chase Subpoena is GRANTED”
“Case-Mate’s motion to quash the Chase Subpoena, or, in the alternative, for a protective order is DENIED”
“Chase’s motion to compel payment of reasonable attorney’s fees from ACS is DENIED.”
“Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment is GRANTED only as it concerns the issue of Defendant’s liability for unpaid contributions to the Funds.”
“Defendants’ application for attorney’s fees is granted in the amount of $62,959.50.”
“Defendants request an additional 7 hours of time, for a total of 14 hours, but they have not shown good cause for a full second day of deposition testimony. Instead, given the substantial speaking objections, an additional 3 hours of time is appropriate to permit defense counsel to inquire into Plaintiff’s medical records and remaining allegations in the complaint. ... For the foregoing reasons, Defendants’ letter motion is GRANTED and Defendants may take an additional 3 hours of deposition testimony from Plaintiff.”
“For the reasons discussed herein, the motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The fixed nine-docket sample contains four Social Security appeals, three wage-and-hour cases, one foreclosure and loan-enforcement action, and one copyright matter. The sample was selected for complete outcome-bearing timelines and does not describe Figueredo's full referral, discovery, settlement, or civil caseload.
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 | 6 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 6 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 5 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 4 |
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 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, not for Judge Figueredo: 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 Figueredo with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Figueredo, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Figueredo's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace