"The Robing Room: CA State Judges

Hon. Patrick T. Madden	See Rating Details
Judge Superior Court
Los Angeles County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 5.1 - 5 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 1.0 - 4 rating(s)	Please send me alerts on this judge E-mail Address:

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Only items marked with (*) are averaged into the displayed overall rating.

General Rating Criteria

* Temperament		(1=Awful,10=Excellent)
* Scholarship		(1=Awful,10=Excellent)
* Industriousness		(1=Not at all industrious,10=Highly industrious)
* Ability to Handle Complex Litigation		(1=Awful,10=Excellent)
* Punctuality		(1=Chronically Late,10=Always on Time)
* General Ability to Handle Pre-Trial Matters		(1=Not all Able, 10=Extremely Able)
* General Ability as a Trial Judge		(1=Not all Able, 10=Extremely Able)
Flexibility In Scheduling		(1=Completely Inflexible,10=Very Flexible)

Criminal Rating Criteria (if applicable)

* Evenhandedness in Criminal Litigation		(1=Demonstrates Bias,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
General Inclination Regarding Bail		(1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
Involvement in Plea Discussions		(1=Not at all Involved, 10=Very Involved)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Pretrial Stage		(1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Trial Stage		(1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Sentencing Stage		(1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)

Civil Rating Criteria (if applicable)

* Evenhandedness in Civil Litigation		(1=Not at all Evenhanded,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
Involvement in Settlement Discussions		(1=Not at all Involved,10=Very Involved)
General Inclination		(1=Pro-defendant, 10=Pro-plaintiff)

Comments

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What others have said about Hon. Patrick T. Madden

Comments

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA26676
Rating:8.6

Comments:
Really one of the more patient, fair trial judges in the County. I've won and lost in his courtroom, but never because of him. Respectful of the lawyers and judges. A little slow moving but worth the wait.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA11707
Rating:2.5

Comments:
Judge Madden is, unfortunately, inherently biased in favor of attorneys who frequently are in his court. I had one case in front of him where the other side was represented by an attorney who had formerly represented the Judge himself in a partnership dispute prior to his taking the bench. Despite a rather large appearance of impropriety, he would not recuse himself. Every ruling in the case went in favor of his former attorney, including the ultimately judgment. Then he was overturned on appeal.

I further represented a witness in a case in front of him where the exact same counsel represented one of the parties and, again, he consistently ruled in favor of that counsel's client, despite what seemed to me as strong evidence in the other direction.

I would 170.6 him automatically.

Litigant

Comment #: CA11134
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I unfortunately found myself in Judge Madden’s Courtroom as a defendant in a case against someone who was a very outspoken activist and clearly had some mental issues. Instead of demonstrating leadership and doing the right thing, I believe that Judge Madden took the cowards way out and decided against me simply because he did not want to potentially have the spotlight shined upon his decision. In other words, it was easier to throw me under the bus than to upset someone who was crazy. His single bad ruling cost me hundred of thousands of dollars and severely damaged my life and that of my family.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA10371
Rating:4.2

Comments:
Judge Madden can be manipulated. In my only case in front of him the appellate court over rode his decision. I believe that if the opposing attorney wasn't a young blonde Judge Madden would have listened as closely to our arguments as he did to the young blonde's arguments.

Litigant

Comment #: CA7089
Rating:3.0

Comments:
Judge Madden became overwhelmed from too many pre-trial motions and some of his rulings went wrong in haste contrary to the law. As nice as Judge Madden tried to be with the jury, they failed their duty to deliberate the case after a 2 week trial. Judge remarked that his last 3 jury trials in the past 6 months were all verdicts for the defense. I prefer strong Judges who do not suffer fools. Judge Madden seems like a really nice gentleman, but he is not one of them in my opinion.

Other

Comment #: CA3441
Rating:1.0

Comments:
This jurist should be dismissed. He favors landlords without prejudice, ignores critical defense evidence, bullies defendants into accepting intolerable settlements and regularly ignores Civil Section 1942.5.
This jurist's conduct leads me to assume he's on the take. Plain and simple. Remove him now to restore a semblance of integrity to Department B in Long Beach Superior Court.

Other

Comment #: CA3440
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I observed him in the courtroom Dept B and he favors landlords instead of the tenants. There was a case of obvious violation of civil code 1942.5, retaliation against the tenant and he refused to view the tenants evidence. He spoke to them harshly and stated that if they did not sign off that they would have an eviction on their record. They had evidence that included reports from the city of long beach inspectors, etc. citing numerous violations. The other side could not produce any cause and there was even a question as to who actually was the landlord! The tenants were seniors and were never in arrears of their rental payments, however, when they asked for repairs due to the recent illegal remodeling construction below and above their unit (yes, and the tenants were still inside!)making the unit uninhabitable! This judge needs to be removed because justice is not served when you bully tenants by threats by stating "settle & move out now or you will have an eviction on your record and won't be able to live anywhere!" The worst judge I have ever seen in Long Beach!

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA1949
Rating:2.0

Comments:
he tends to pick favorites who have been in his Long Beach courtroom before.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA1501
Rating:8.1

Comments:
Temperament-wise, Judge Madden is a judge's judge. I've not experienced a judge so patient. Unfailingly professional. Appropriately understated personality. Not overly-friendly and not removed - he strikes the ideal balance.

He works diligently to serve parties and attorneys, and is kind to his staff.

He does harbor an unrealistic view when it comes to difficult attorneys. While I'm sure that Judge Madden understands that there are some attorneys who are extremely and destructively difficult, he is not one to corral the behavior. I think he expect that counsel, almost no matter what, will be able to work things out. While this may be true in most cases, there are instances where the cooperative attorney may already have their substantive positions compromised by borderline misconduct.