Hon. William H. Orrick III See Rating Details
District Judge See Comments
N.D.Cal.  
Average Rating:4.1 - 14 rating(s)
Please send me alerts on this judge
E-mail Address:



Add your own rating

E-Mail Address (will not be displayed)
Confirm E-mail Address
Zip
Occupation
Add a comment only

Ratings
*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=Chronic`y Late,10=Always on Time)
*Evenhandedness in Civil Litigation:    (1=Demonstrates Bias,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
*Evenhandedness in Criminal Litigation:   (1=Demonstrates Bias,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
Flexibility In Scheduling   (1=Completely Inflexible,10=Very Flexible)
General Inclination Regarding Bail (1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases, Pre-Trial:   (1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
Involvement in Civil Settlement Discussions:   (1=Least Involved,10=Most Involved)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases, Trial:    (1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases, Sentencing:    (1=Most Lenient,10=Most Harsh)
Typical Discount Off Guidelines for Cooperators:    (1=10%,10=100%)
  Items marked with (*) are averaged into the displayed overall rating
Comments


Please type what you see below:

  

What others have said about Hon. William H. Orrick III


Comments


Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 35244
Rating:4.0
Comments:
Orrick is a judicial activist that has no interest in following stare decisis. He will just ignore your briefing altogether, refuse to listen, and cut any motion hearing short by saying he'll take the matter under advisement. He won't. His mind is made up depending on how he has judged your client. The facts don't matter and your client's constitutional rights don't matter in his courtroom. It is no wonder the Ninth Circuit has an 80.4% SCOTUS reversal rate (since 2007) and the most cases overturned across the United States.

Send e-mail to this poster 7/3/2023 5:55:15 PM

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 33425
Rating:6.3
Comments:
Judge Orrick is a wolf in sheep's clothing. He is courteous to counsel and reasonable on scheduling and other procedural matters. However, he picks winners and losers early on, and shapes the law to achieve his desired outcome. If he does not like your client, you will lose everything.

Send e-mail to this poster 9/9/2020 3:24:56 PM

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 32774
Rating:9.7
Comments:
I have seldom been more impressed, in 30+ years, with a judge's temperament. He was always courteous, yet firm when he needed to be. He was extremely hard-working, and was able to rule intelligently on motions filed at 5:30 am during a multi-week trial before the jury came in at 8:00 am. His opinions were well-reasoned and researched. And -- to respond to the invariable cynics -- no, my clients did not prevail, nor were all of Judge Orrick's rulings go our way. In fact, quite a few did not.

Send e-mail to this poster 8/20/2019 2:29:06 PM

Court Staff

Comment #: 26822
Rating:2.0
Comments:
Why is he suppressing secret abortion videos? What is his investment history in abortion clinics?why hasn’t he recused himself?

Send e-mail to this poster 8/27/2018 12:39:09 AM

Other

Comment #: 24584
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Liberal activist who politicizes and discredits the judicial branch.

Send e-mail to this poster 7/22/2017 12:46:20 PM

Other

Comment #: 24354
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
As to the party in comment 24344, either you are the judge himself or one of his supporters or employees. You fool no one. Truth hurts, doesn't it.

Send e-mail to this poster 5/6/2017 12:45:11 PM

Other

Comment #: 24344
Rating:10.0
Comments:
How interesting are the anonymous postings! How obvious they are the musings of failed litigants. Alas, pity the poorly prepared who cannot make a case.

Send e-mail to this poster 5/1/2017 8:03:38 PM

Other

Comment #: 24328
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Seem to have lost track of the role of a Judge. So sad. He seemed to be very bright- but fell into a dark track. What a shame.

Send e-mail to this poster 4/26/2017 8:04:56 PM

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 24204
Rating:1.2
Comments:
Social justice activist for whom the rule of law is a quaint, malleable notion of no import. If an attorney is aligned, she may lie about the facts, mis-cite case law, and be richly rewarded. Relentlessly execrable. At times, he cannot even speak English properly.

Send e-mail to this poster 2/25/2017 7:55:02 PM

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 24187
Rating:2.0
Comments:
Agree completely with other postings, this is not a judge who upholds the law as duty bound and the Constitution mandates. Blatant conflict of interest he failed to disclose discovered after his erroneous ruling motivated by the conflict, leading to an outrageously unjust result. This will not be swept under the rug,and shame on appellate court judges who covered for him, ignoring the law and the Constitution themselves.

Send e-mail to this poster 2/19/2017 3:18:57 AM

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 22981
Rating:4.0
Comments:
Judge Orrick takes the general approach of determining which side he's going to support based on his particular bias. He then ignores the facts and law that don't support his predetermined position, and, at the same time, he will misinterpret or subvert case law to support his predetermined position. This works out fine if you're on the side that he has a bias toward, but if you're expecting a judge with intellectual honesty, you'll be sorely disappointed.

Send e-mail to this poster 8/14/2015 3:54:35 PM

Civil Litigation - Govt.

Comment #: 22033
Rating:5.5
Comments:
reading the last review could not have been more insightful. Picking a side and relentlessly justifying a predisposed outcome could not have been more accurate. Beware if you are a plaintiff or you file a claim against the government you will never experience justice.

Send e-mail to this poster 8/28/2014 4:55:55 AM

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 21538
Rating:5.3
Comments:
Judge Orrick is one of those judges who delights in elevating form over substance. He is strict in applying procedural rules, regardless of any actual prejudice. Forget about the exercise of discretion to achieve a just result -- he picks a "winner" and then relentlessly favors that side. Plaintiffs, beware.

Send e-mail to this poster 2/18/2014 6:15:42 PM