H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr.
How Judge Schroeder rules, drawn from 9 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Schroeder
H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr. has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of New York since June 2000. He earned a law degree from the University at Buffalo School of Law and was reappointed to another eight-year term in 2024.
Judge Schroeder's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Schroeder, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Motions
Oral argument is not required for every motion, and courtesy copies are required for criminal pretrial motions and civil dispositive motions.
“Oral argument is not required for every motion. When it is requested or the Court desires oral argument, the Court will set return dates and schedule oral argument.”
Motions
Judge Schroeder requires courtesy copies of all criminal pretrial motions and civil dispositive motions.
“Judge Schroeder requires courtesy copies of all pretrial motions in criminal cases and dispositive motions in civil cases.”
Motions
A consensual extension should be requested by letter rather than formal motion and must list prior extensions or adjournments.
“When parties agree on a request for an extension, they should send a letter request to Judge Schroeder instead of filing a formal motion.”
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 9, 2026).
- Procedures for the Filing, Service, and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents (Amended General Order 167) ↗
- General Order 157: Disclosure of Members, Shareholders, Partners, and Leaders of Business Organization Parties ↗
- General Order 166: Identification Procedures in Courthouses ↗
- General Order 168: Dispositive Referrals of Social Security Appeals to United States Magistrate Judge ↗
How Judge Schroeder decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a due-process dispute over a disciplinary hearing officer's reliance on staff misconduct reports, Schroeder found qualified immunity applied because the reports were not obviously falsified: reasonable reliance on a subordinate's account defeats a later bias challenge unless the falsification was apparent at the time.
“This reliance, in and of itself, was not unreasonable as it was not apparent that the reports were falsified.”
Procedural preferences
In Schmigiel's Social Security appeal, Schroeder granted the claimant's motion, denied the Commissioner's cross-motion, and remanded because the administrative law judge did not explain why she rejected several providers' lifting restrictions.
“Where, as here, an ALJ fails to provide a basis for rejecting the limitations”
Cautions
In a prisoner medical-care claim, Schroeder held that documented but modest injuries (lacerations, an abrasion) did not meet the Eighth Amendment's objective 'serious medical need' threshold as a matter of law: a caution for civil-rights plaintiffs to develop the medical record on injury severity before relying on a use-of-force incident alone.
“Such injuries do not, as a matter of law, rise to the level of a ‘serious medical condition’ warranting Eighth Amendment protection.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“GRANTS Lonsdale Schofield's motion (Dkt.# 162), to dismiss the first cause of action (CERCLA), without prejudice”
“DENIES Booth Oil's motion (Dkt.# 165), for partial summary judgment dismissing the fifth cause of action (accounting)”
“DENIES Joseph Chalhoub’s motion ... on the first cause of action (CERCLA);”
“GRANTS plaintiff's motion (Dkt.# 175), for summary judgment against Booth Oil on the first cause of action (CERCLA liability)”
“grants plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on defendants' affirmative defense and counterclaim for breach of contract”
“grants defendants' motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs' AWPA claim”
“denies defendants' motion for summary judgment with regard to plaintiffs' remaining claims”
“Respondent's motion for summary judgment (Dkt. #44), is GRANTED”
“Petitioner's motion for summary judgment (Dkt. #52), is DENIED”
“this Court accepted Magistrate Judge Kenneth Schroeder's Report, Recommendation, and Order (Docket No. 268) which, noting Jeri Giwa's death, dismissed Giwa from the lawsuit and denied Britt leave to substitute a party.”
“defendants' motion for summary judgment (Dkt. # 27) is granted in part and denied in part.”
“defendants' motion for summary judgment is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”
“plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”
“The State of New York is precluded from commencing further proceedings against PVS Chemicals to develop, implement or fund an inactive hazardous waste disposal remediation program for PVS Chemicals' Buffalo facility relating to environmental conditions known to it at the time of the 2002 Order of Settlement. The remainder of PVS Chemicals' request for relief is denied.”
“plaintiff’s motion for judgment on the pleadings (Dkt. #5), is denied”
“the Commissioner’s motion for judgment on the pleadings (Dkt. #12), is granted.”
“plaintiff’s motion for judgment on the pleadings (Dkt. #9) is denied”
“the Commissioner’s motion for judgment on the pleadings (Dkt. #12) is granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 590 days (N = 10).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 276 days (N = 14).
- A criminal-duty docket of magistrate-number pretrial matters (initial appearances, detention hearings, guilty pleas taken on referral, largely immigration-related in the current era given Buffalo's border location) runs alongside a consent (28 U.S.C.
- Section 636(c)) civil docket that is now dominated by Social Security disability appeals, with a longer-running mix of prisoner civil-rights suits, employment and civil-rights cases, an insurance dispute, product-liability and CERCLA/environmental matters, a RICO case, and more recent consumer (FDCPA) and personal-injury matters from the 1990s to the present.
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 | 33 |
| 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 | 33 | 6 |
| Sep 2025 | 39 | 7 |
| Mar 2025 | 25 | 6 |
| Sep 2024 | 34 | 7 |
| Mar 2024 | 29 | 6 |
| Sep 2023 | 24 | 5 |
| Mar 2023 | 58 | 6 |
| Sep 2022 | 58 | 5 |
| Mar 2022 | 56 | 4 |
| Sep 2021 | 53 | 3 |
| Mar 2021 | 47 | 3 |
| Sep 2020 | 38 | 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 Western District of New York, not for Judge Schroeder: 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 | 1,499 | 9.1 months |
| Closed with no court action | 91 | 8.7 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 1,344 | 8.6 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 56 | 28.5 months |
| Closed during trial | 8 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,499 | 9.1 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,783 | 7.9 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,768 | 15.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,892 | 15.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,130 | 14.1 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,177 | 14.7 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,971 | 14.8 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 Schroeder with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Schroeder, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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