NYLJ Eastern District Roundup

In Molina v. DeLeon (EDNY, Dec. 23, 2025), Judge Azrack granted a petition for habeas corpus, ordering that petitioner be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. On Nov. 23, 2025, ICE agents stopped petitioner’s vehicle, arrested him, and transported him to the Central Islip Processing Center. The next day, petitioner filed a petition for habeas corpus. On Dec. 9, Azrack granted a temporary restraining order directing that ICE immediately release petitioner from custody. Read More

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a state that calls its trial courts the Supreme Court, the rules of binding precedent in New York state courts are not always obvious. Online searches turn up summaries (written by AI and attorneys alike) that confidently proclaim incorrect rules for when a particular decision binds other courts to the same result. Because the question of whether a court’s decision is binding can end up determining a case, this article aims to set the record straight with a (mostly) comprehensive explanation of what decisions are binding and when. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In Emrit v. Burnett, 25 CV 2873 (EDNY, Nov. 27, 2025), Judge Pamela K. Chen dismissed pro se plaintiff’s complaint against, among others, Erin Burnett and Volodymyr Zelensky, sua sponte, for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and because it was frivolous. Read More

When a brokerage contract states the broker is owed fees for its client’s transactions, does that include transactions its client procures entirely on its own, without any help from any broker? Should the court enforce the plain meaning of the contract’s broad language and award the broker a windfall fee for nothing? Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In Wilson v. Transportation Workers Union, Local 100, 24 CV 7362 (EDNY, Oct. 27, 2025), Judge Ramón E. Reyes, Jr., granted defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint because the federal statutes upon which plaintiff relied did not apply to him and the analogous state-law claim was time-barred. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In Freeman v. HSBC Holdings PLC, 14 CV 6601 (EDNY, Sept. 30, 2025), Judge Chen denied plaintiffs’ motion to vacate the court’s dismissal and attendant judgment for the purposes of filing a third amended complaint. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In Schenker of Canada Ltd. v. Am Trans Expedite LLC, 24 CV 6440 (EDNY, Sept. 4, 2025), Judge Cogan held that plaintiff’s claims are not implausible, so as to support a motion to dismiss, merely because it is possible to draw other plausible conclusions from the complaint’s allegations that would not support liability. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In United States v. Chen, 22 CR 158 (EDNY, July 7, 2025), Judge Vitaliano granted defendant’s Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29 motion to vacate his conviction for participating in a sex trafficking conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1591(a). Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In Miranda v. TLB 2019 LLC, 25 CV 533 (EDNY, May 18, 2025), Judge Eric N. Vitaliano affirmed an Order of Chief Bankruptcy Judge Alan S. Trust of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York setting aside the defendant-appellant’s deed to debtor-plaintiff-appellee Sonia Miranda’s property as a fraudulent transfer. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In Liberman v. Goldberg, 21 CV 5053 (EDNY, April 30, 2025), Judge Eric N. Vitaliano resolved a contentious dispute between an attorney and her former employer by granting summary judg-ment dismissing her discrimination claims and the firm’s sole counterclaim. Read More

This column reports on several recent significant decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Natasha C. Merle dismissed claims based on res judicata. Judge Frederic Block granted a motion for a new trial due to an excessive damage award. And Judge Brian M. Cogan dismissed qui tam claims under the False Claims Act for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Read More

This column reports on several recent significant decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Rachel P. Kovner denied a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Judge Joan M. Azrack denied defendant’s motion to reduce his sentence. And Judge Natasha C. Merle denied a motion to remand to state court. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Gary R. Brown dismissed a complaint against United States Bankruptcy Court Chief Judge Alan S. Trust and others based on judicial immunity. Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon denied a motion for sanctions and adverse inferences. Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks granted a motion to disqualify counsel. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Eric R. Komitee denied a preliminary injunction to a defamation plaintiff, Judge Gary R. Brown denied a prisoner’s pro se petition to have his sentence vacated under 28 U.S.C. §2255 and Judge Frederic Block denied a motion by defendants to access frozen funds in an action brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Rachel P. Kovner dismissed a First Amendment challenge to a school district’s policy of restricting comment at school board meetings to local residents. Judge Eric N. Vitaliano granted defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims under 42 U.S.C. §1983 concerning the Mitchell-Lama housing program. Judge Gary R. Brown found that plaintiffs challenging New York state gun control legislation had not made a sufficient showing of irreparable injury to support preliminary injunctive relief. Read More

In this edition of their Eastern District Roundup, Harvey M. Stone and Richard H. Dolan report o… Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Joanna Seybert saw no basis to grant bail pending sentence, despite defendant’s plea to a lesser charge of the indictment. Judge Brian M. Cogan held that requiring certain out-of-state travelers to fill out a New York state COVID-19 health form on entering the state does not violate the Supremacy Clause. Judge Cogan also declined to grant a TRO directing the U.S. Embassy in Djibouti to adjudicate Form I-130 petitions under a fast-approaching deadline set by plaintiffs. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge William F. Kuntz II set forth the reasons for a two-year sentence of incarceration in a tax case. Chief Judge Margo K. Brodie granted plaintiffs’ motion to serve a preliminary injunction on a Taiwan-based company by email. And Judge Joanna Seybert and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation decided related cases concerning defendant’s motion to transfer a matter to a multidistrict litigation. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Eric R. Komitee, denying a motion to suppress statements made to foreign officials in Bulgaria, found that there was no “joint venture” between U.S. and Bulgarian agents so as to require Miranda warnings. Judge Sterling Johnson Jr., held that there was no subject matter jurisdiction over claims against Interpol. And Judge Brian M. Cogan sanctioned plaintiffs’ counsel, in a Fair Labor Standards Act case, for improper client solicitation. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Brian M. Cogan found that defendant’s hostile remarks on Yelp about plaintiffs’ medical practice did not amount to actionable defamation. Judge Frederic Block dealt with motions to dismiss securities fraud claims against a drug company and its executives relating to an off-label promotion scheme. And Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall ordered an attorney representing the debtor “in connection with” a bankruptcy case to disgorge part of his fee for failure to file the requisite statements of compensation. Read More