---
title: "Robert M. Levy | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-m-levy-new-york-us-magistrate"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-08"
---

# Robert M. Levy

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York · U.S. Magistrate Judge

## Profile

- Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- State: New York
- Role: U.S. Magistrate Judge
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-07-29

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Biography

### Professional career

- United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York, appointed in 1995, and serves as the Court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Oversight Judge
- Levy has taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia, New York University, and Brooklyn Law Schools
- Before his judicial appointment, Levy was General Counsel to New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and worked at the New York Civil Liberties Union, where he held the role of Director of the Mental Health Law Project and Senior Staff Attorney.

### Education



### Additional information

- Magistrate, District Court, E.D. New York, 1995-present
- Judge Levy presides over cases in the Eastern District of New York and oversees the district’s court‐annexed mediation and arbitration programs.
- J.D. — New York Univ.
- B.A. — Harvard Univ.
- He also briefly worked with the Juvenile Rights Division of the Legal Aid Society
- Also the Court’s ADR Oversight Judge, responsible for designing and operating these dispute resolution initiatives, and has assisted other federal courts in the U.S. and abroad in developing and training ADR programs
- He serves on the Ethics Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the Committee on Second Circuit Courts of the Federal Bar Council, and the Committee on Public Service of the Federal Bar Council

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### civil remote testimony

Scope: courtwide

In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards.

Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location.

[Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### criminal recording and broadcasting

Scope: courtwide

Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception.

Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.

[Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=13)
- [Official roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=13)
- [U.S. Courts judicial profile or roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=13)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9419/robert-m-levy/)
- [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure)
- [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9419/robert-m-levy/)
- [BR/MAG Judge Database: Robert Morris Levy](https://legaldatalab.law.virginia.edu/brmag-judges/brmag-judges.json)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9419/robert-m-levy/)
- [BR/MAG Judge Database: Robert Morris Levy](https://legaldatalab.law.virginia.edu/brmag-judges/brmag-judges.json)

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## Published courtroom rules

### Shared court rules

- [SDNY and EDNY — Joint Local Civil and Criminal Rules](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/ny-shared-set-201c11a4597834a9a953) — Federal district-court proceedings only. Civil and criminal sections have distinct scope and district-specific exceptions. Not Bankruptcy Court rules. [Official source](https://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/local_rules/2026-01-02%20-%20EDNY%20and%20SDNY%20Joint%20Local%20Rules%20As%20Amended.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.
- [Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-651872d6e45e0d82319ecccc) — Civil actions in United States District Courts; Rule 81 exceptions apply. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.
- [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.
