Sanket J. Bulsara
How Judge Bulsara decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Reconsideration is an 'extraordinary' remedy. He will not entertain new arguments or new case authority that could have been raised in the original briefing, and disagreement with the result ('mere carping after having lost') is not a ground. Bring controlling decisions or overlooked data the first time.
“Reconsideration is 'an extraordinary request that is granted only in rare circumstances ...' It 'is not a vehicle for relitigating old issues, presenting the case under new theories, securing a rehearing on the merits, or otherwise taking [another] bite at the apple.'”
He distinguishes substance from form on the party-presentation rule: a court may cite governing authorities the parties never briefed, because the rule limits the issues/arguments a court decides, not the cases it may rely on to construe the law on an issue properly before it.
“The party presentation principle applies to arguments or issues, not cases. ... 'When an issue or claim is properly before the court, the court ... retains the independent power to identify and apply the proper construction of governing law.'”
Procedural preferences
Before the 'drastic' sanction of striking an answer or entering default, he demands the full procedural predicate: a finding of willfulness/bad faith/fault, consideration of lesser sanctions, and clear prior notice/warning TO THE DISOBEDIENT PARTY. An order merely directing the moving party to file a motion to strike is NOT notice to the defendant.
“An order directing the party entitled to discovery to file a motion to strike ... is not a warning to the disobedient party. ... Parties must be given notice and an opportunity to respond before a cause of action, or potential remedy, is dismissed as a sanction for failure to comply with court orders.”
He enforces service rules to the letter: a Rule 45 subpoena on a corporation must be served by a Rule 4 method on an authorized agent, and a Rule 4(m) failure to serve within 90 days (absent good cause) draws a mandatory dismissal after notice. Get service and proof-of-service right.
“In the absence of good cause, dismissal of the Complaint is mandatory. ... Accordingly, the Complaint is dismissed without prejudice against Defendants”
Cautions
Do not move to strike a corporate defendant's answer as a back-door to default: he notes striking is not the right vehicle because it does not produce the entry of default that is the prerequisite to a default judgment -- seek an entry of default for failure to defend (Rule 55(a)) instead.
“seeking to strike the answer is not the appropriate means of achieving the ultimate goal of obtaining a default judgment, since it would not result in an entry of default, the prerequisite to a default judgment.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The motion to compel is denied without prejudice to renewal.”
“it is respectfully recommended that LIU's motion for settlement enforcement be granted and the parties be directed to perform the settlement”
“Separately, the motion to seal is granted.”
“The motion to life the stay is granted.”
“The motion to reinstate Plaintiff's prior motions is denied.”
“the Court grants Nationwide's motion to dismiss with prejudice as to the claims against Nationwide only.”
“The motion to strike White's answers is denied.”
“For the reasons below, both motions are denied. ... Without proper notice and warning, a motion to strike cannot be granted.”
“The motion for reconsideration is denied.”
FLSA collective action. After plaintiffs' counsel withdrew pre-trial and plaintiffs went silent for >4 months, Magistrate Judge Shields issued a SUA SPONTE R&R recommending dismissal with prejudice for failure to prosecute (Rule 41(b)). District Judge Bulsara, finding no clear error and no objections, ADOPTED the R&R and dismissed with prejudice. This is a non-motion disposition. The order states: 'the R&R is adopted in its entirety and the case is dismissed with prejudice for failure to prosecute.'
Pro se case. As DISTRICT JUDGE, Bulsara dismissed the complaint SUA SPONTE under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m) for failure to serve within 90 days, after twice ordering service and warning of dismissal. No party motion -- court acted on its own. The order states: 'the Complaint is dismissed without prejudice against Defendants Larry Flowers Group, P.C. and Larry E. Flowers.'
“Because MNR and LIRR are rail carriers subject to the STB's jurisdiction, sufficient to meet the requirements for the FLSA's exemption from its overtime provisions, Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment is granted. Plaintiffs' FLSA claims brought on behalf of MNR and LIRR employees are dismissed with prejudice.”
“Accordingly, the Ammann II Defendants' motion to dismiss is granted. ... For the reasons explained above, Ammann's motion for leave to amend his Complaint in Ammann I is denied, and the Ammann II Defendants' motion to dismiss Ammann II is granted. The Amended Complaint in Ammann II is dismissed.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 2.5 days (N = 16).
Two windows. (1) His district-judge assignments are a 2026 cohort (20-case snapshot, sitting in Central Islip, all 2:26-cv dockets still pending): a surge of alien-detainee habeas petitions (Martinez Canales, Nazarenko, Inestroza Carbajal, Yeleshev v. LaRocco) alongside Fair Labor Standards Act labor cases, employment civil rights, consumer/financial (Calderon v. Experian, Dash v. Goldman Sachs), Social Security, contract, and immigration mandamus -- no terminations yet to time. (2) His 2017-2024 magistrate consent docket is where the motion record lives: six terminated cases that consented to him under 28 U.S.C. 636(c) ran a median of about 544 days from filing to closure (range 134-870 days; three Fair Labor Standards Act collective/individual actions plus three diversity personal-injury and removal cases), nearly all ending in court-approved settlement.
Put Judge Bulsara's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Bulsara actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Bulsara's own signed orders and cites them.