Michael J. Roemer
How Judge Roemer decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Social Security appeals, Roemer treats an ALJ's duty to affirmatively develop the administrative record as independently reversible, separate from whether the ultimate disability finding was otherwise supported -- a gap in the medical record from a named treatment source is enough to require remand.
“Montes argues that the ALJ failed to adequately develop the record by not obtaining E.M.H.'s individual treatment notes from the Monsignor Carr Institute, where E.M.H. received treatment for her ADHD from 2012 through 2015... The Court agrees.”
On an as-applied constitutional challenge to an election-law deadline, Roemer weighs the state's asserted regulatory interest (here, preventing sore-loser candidacies and orderly ballot administration) against the practical burden on the challenger, and will grant summary judgment for the state once the record shows the burden is not severe.
“The record here demonstrates that New York has important state regulatory interests which are sufficient to justify the reasonable and nondiscriminatory burdens imposed by the filing deadline.”
Faced with competing pretrial expert-exclusion motions ahead of a bench trial, Roemer prefers to let both experts testify and resolve the dispute as the factfinder rather than gatekeeping a battle of the experts at the motion stage.
“For the following reasons, the Court denies both plaintiff's and defendant's motions to strike and exclude expert testimony.”
Procedural preferences
In a contested pretrial motion, Roemer will request supplemental briefing on an intervening legal development (here, a new Supreme Court decision narrowing wire-fraud liability) rather than deciding the motion on the existing record alone.
“The Court requested further briefing... and the Court will then consider the motions submitted for report and recommendation/decision.”
Cautions
On an EAJA fee application, Roemer holds the government to a real substantial-justification showing rather than accepting a recycled merits argument, but will still independently trim the requested fee amount rather than awarding it as billed.
“The Commissioner largely advances the same arguments that she presented to the Court at the merits stage of this action... Accordingly, the Court concludes that the Commissioner's position was not substantially justified.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the following reasons, Lansom's motion (Dkt. No. 12) is denied and the Commissioner's motion (Dkt. No. 21) is granted.”
“For the following reasons, Hamm's motion (Dkt. No. 10) is denied and the Commissioner's motion (Dkt. No. 11) is granted.”
“Montes' motion (Dkt. No. 14) is granted, the Commissioner's motion (Dkt. No. 15) is denied, and this case is remanded to the Commissioner for further administrative proceedings consistent with this Decision and Order.”
“Montes' motion is granted in part and denied in part.”
“Wagner's motion (Dkt. No. 11) is denied and the Commissioner's motion (Dkt. No. 13) is granted.”
“Straughter's motion (Dkt. No. 15) is granted, the Commissioner's motion (Dkt. No. 18) is denied.”
“DECISION AND ORDER granting [Dkt. No.] 26 Motion to Amend Complaint. Plaintiffs shall file an amended complaint on or before 10/11/2017. Defendant shall file an answer to the amended complaint on or before 10/27/2017.”
“For the foregoing reasons, defendants' motion for summary judgment is granted and plaintiffs' complaint is dismissed. (Dkt. No. 66) The Clerk of the Court shall take all necessary steps to close the case.”
“For the following reasons, the Court denies both plaintiff's and defendant's motions to strike and exclude expert testimony.”
“Plaintiff's motion (Dkt. No. 7) is granted, and defendant's motion (Dkt. No. 10) is denied.”
“Plaintiff's motion (Dkt. No. 6) is granted, and defendant's motion (Dkt. No. 7) is denied.”
“DECISION AND ORDER granting plaintiff's [Dkt. No.] 8 Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings and denying Commissioner's [Dkt. No.] 9 Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. This case is remanded for further administrative proceedings.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Roemer's enumerated docket includes a sustained run of consent-track Social Security disability appeals spanning his entire tenure, sampled from four separate filing-year cohorts (2016-2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022) that together decide between 2018 and 2024, alongside diversity contract and environmental-property suits, an election-law constitutional challenge, and felony criminal cases referred to him for pretrial supervision, guilty-plea allocutions, and Reports and Recommendations. He also presides over the district's high-volume magistrate 'mj' docket of initial appearances, detention hearings, and extradition matters in Buffalo, which generates a large number of case filings but few independently classifiable dispositive rulings.
Put Judge Roemer's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Roemer actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Roemer's own signed orders and cites them.