The bankruptcy judge overseeing Bernard Madoff’s liquidation can hear lawsuits the trustee brought against customers over fraudulent transfers and submit proposed rulings to a higher court, a federal judge ruled.

The decision by US District Judge Jed Rakoff is a defeat for Madoff defendants in more than 300 lawsuits. The defendants had asked him to take the suits away from US Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland in light of a 2011 decision from the US Supreme Court that found some types of state-law claims cannot be decided finally in bankruptcy court.

“Efficiency” will be improved by having recommendations from a bankruptcy judge who has “both intimate familiarity with the underlying liquidation and substantial expertise in the bankruptcy law,” Rakoff said in his opinion.

Trustee Irving Picard sued the customers, saying they received fraudulent transfers because they withdrew more from their Madoff accounts than they invested. Rakoff still may take those suits away from Lifland.