The Robing Room

Hon. John F. Walter	See Rating Details
District Judge	See Comments
C.D.Cal.
Average Rating:3.5 - 42 rating(s)	Please send me alerts on this judge E-mail Address:

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*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

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What others have said about Hon. John F. Walter

Comments

Other

Comment #: 35259
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Had case against cvs pharmacy for racial profile wrongfuly accuse of theft in Santa Barbara case remove to la he dismiss case less than a month regarding his local rule, gave me little time to respond mail me, email cvs, the case was for $625 million. something smell very fishy, thing not adding up then charge me a sanction fee of $750.00 is this a joke !

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 35011
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Old incompetent judge who needs to stay home, consent to magistrate, is danger to the public, denies right to sue

Other

Comment #: 34131
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
The last comment is mine and i may have jumped the gun. I may not agree with whole process of law and how it is administered but what i said in my last comment may not be true. This guy could be very well an eccentric genius. I didnot realize until now that he is an x ray machine and is very sharp at picking stuff . He may have his way of doing things but this gentleman may be dont care play by rules and i am the King of my court and this attitude may very Well comes from solidly entrenched understanding of law procedure and system in Whole. I misread the judge . What a shane . My apologies . It was premature evaluation done too harshly.

Litigant

Comment #: 34121
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Cases decided on merits of evidence.you must be kidding.35 pieces of hard evidence submitted but i doubt he ever looked at them. If i had shown those documents he will have bunch of questions for me to understand those documents but judge walter didnot had single question. He gives summary judgement hours before we were to go to mediation. There were other documents that were submitted 5 day earlier pertaining to msj. Judge walter gives msj decision around 230approx and those documents ge get docketed 15 mins later.never ruled on judicial notices i filed before msj decision. I wonder at the timing of his decision.i am a science graduate. To me evidence is everuthing. When i started the action i was under the false impression that judicial proceedings are some scientifically based process but to my amazement it is not .it is pseudo science.there is no scientific basis to it . If you look at the case there was no witness testimony from defendant .whatever defense attorney said amounts to be hearsay. My statement and evidence i gave is from first hand witness.so how does hearsay trump testimony of first hand witness.my consternation was overflowing the brims when judge agreed to defendants assertion that in order to show financial ruin i neeed to be literally homeless with no car ,no house and no family members to borrow from. You can see the apathy of judge when he said in his msj "for the reasons mentioned in defendants statement of decision msj is granted in defendants favor." Basically there was no explanation for his decision because his decision was premediated without any basis. Ge was clearly biased and this guy who is to act as refree fair aand just acts in most depreciating manner. He is very antagonist to self represented candidates and will goto lengths to punish them for knocking the door of justice . This is why he doesnot have any open hearing he hides for he knows he is bankrupt intellectually and cant face people ,see them in eyes anf justify his actions . This person i feel is hollow and is a big blot in the name of justice. I dont know what is the underlying pathology for such psychopathy but he should know that this is a transit point not the end. He will have to stand in gods court and account for his actions and that court doesnot flinch. And to justice and judiciary of this nation that to help pro se litigants you have started at the very bottom trying to help by having pro se clinics etc. You need tostart at the top with judges and their staff. In my case my opposing counsel sends email to clerk and gets response same day. I sent a question and to this date no response is received. I dont know if judge stands in front of mirror everyday and basks in the glory of his position and power and thinks he is the best judge in the world. Then let me the bearer of bad news you are not . The strings of intellect apathy and being just are broken . I rather had my case decided by a caveman than you. Yo are hollow just like your laws and legal jargin you use to hide hollowness.

Other

Comment #: 32994
Rating:8.0

Comments:
He gave me plenty of chances but I can the honorable judge is strict but fair.

Litigant

Comment #: 29904
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I was unfortunately assigned this man for my case. Was talked into accepting a crap settlement by my attorney due to the "possibility" that this man may not even hear my case. Ridiculous that your fate can be left to a roll of the dice like that. He needs to go.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 29031
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I am a civil defense lawyer. Practicing before Judge Walter is a nightmare.

As anyone who has had a case with him knows all too well, he is obsessive about compliance with the Local Rules and his Scheduling/Standing Orders. If you violate any LR or anything in his 30-page orders, your motion will get denied, he will threaten you with several thousands of dollars in sanctions (he never follows through with that though), and may even dismiss your case. He does not care how trivial or inconsequential the violation may be. I have heard of him denying with prejudice complicated, dispositive motions because a party did not submit courtesy copies as he wants them (i.e., with oversized hole punches). He is that strict about his rules.

If you draw him, try to consent to the magistrate. Your life will be far less stressful and your case will get decided on its merits instead of on some meaningless procedural technicality. If you are stuck with him, read his Scheduling and Standing Orders over and over and over. Make sure you comply with everything in them.

Some pointers:

He will deny your motion if you do not strictly comply with LR 7-2, so make sure you timely meet and confer before any motion and submit the M&C statement he requires.

He will deny your motion if you do not submit a proposed statement of decision two days after the reply is due.

He will deny your motion if you do not send compliant courtesy copies.

He will strike any pre-trial filing that is not 100% perfect and exactly as he requires.

He will deny your motion if you do not LODGE (email Word copy to chambers) a proposed order/decision.

Do not plan on him granting any extensions, continuances, or modifications to the scheduling order. He will not do it, even if it's by stipulation.

If he ever holds a hearing (he rarely does on motions), he will almost certainly berate you and grill you.

As unpleasant as he makes it, he is very thorough (for the most part) and, if you comply with all of his rules, he will issue a well-reasoned order. He does his homework, reviews everything, and is clearly a very sharp guy. His decisions are generally even-handed and considered.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 25818
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I’d love to rate him across categories but I never met the man, he having denied my case before it even got underway. He denied stipulations between counsel, made an unbelievably quick trial schedule and then granted an MTD that makes brand new law (even against sound precedent) by simply signing the defendant’s proposed statement of decision. Now, we take him in appeal, not because every one of our claims was great but because some of them should have survived the MTD, especially given the actual law on the subject.

Other

Comment #: 24463
Rating:1.0

Comments:
In the hearing at sentencing he would not engage or listen to the defendants counsel, he interrupted him, would not listen to the counsel, and had made up his mind on the case prior to any statements from the attorney. The DOJ attorneys were in agreement with the defendants attorney. But the Judge would not listen. The defendant had an 80 year old mother who just had open heart surgery and the judge stated - she will live. This Judge is ruthless, over bearing, does not consider statements of any kind. Will not listen and just not judge fairly. He should not be serving on the bench.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 24457
Rating:2.8

Comments:
Would it be too much to assert that he is the worst judge I have ever been in front of after decades of practice? It would not be. If you look at the reviews, there are only two types: Judge Walter is the absolute worst or he is fantastic.

In comparing notes with civil and criminal colleagues, I was told that if you draw Judge Walter as a civil plaintiff or a criminal defendant, then you should dismiss your case or make an effort to be in front of another judge. There are many defendants who were forced to take a plea not because of the merits but because of his bias.

On the other hand if you are a prosecutor or defending a civil case, then break out the champagne corks.

To be fair, there are many federal judges that bring a bias to either side so any claims of bias are typically nothing new and should be taken with a grain of salt. This court, however brings an extreme application of bias. Judge Walter is a bully. He is mean-spirited.

In addition to his well-known obsessive adherence to his own arcane rules (rules that are likely on the edge or do in fact violate due process) this reviewer asserts that this Court's obsession with his local rules present a disturbing likelihood that this man is no longer fit to be a judge.

If one were to read all of his opinions, there is a clear pattern of abusing attorneys and litigants through "gotcha" procedures, imposing wholly unreasonable schedules on both sides of the bar. As a matter of fairness and equity, this Court reflects conduct that under the APA 's standards reflect true narcissistic if not borderline psychopathic behavior.

The worst thing is that the Court appears to fashion itself as an intellectual giant. To the contrary, and as the Ninth Circuit has made so clear in reversal after reversal of the most petty attempts to punish a party or litigant, his opinions are the result not of an intellectual effort or even the most fundamental from of justice. AS a whole his opinions are often a ham fisted effort to punish one side and its counsel (It is almost always a civil plaintiff or criminal defendant).

If someone had the time to force him the bench, the entire bar in our Central District would be relieved of the constant injustice which eminates from his courtroom. If I had one positive thing to say, I would point out that he does not like delay, especially the kind of delay that gives the law a bad name in the public eye

Litigant

Comment #: 24438
Rating:1.0

Comments:
He makes an order in violation of the law not a friend to Pro Per bad judge.

Now in 9th circuit on an appeal.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 24312
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
He is unfit for a judge and he does not take any evidence and the previous ruling from the federal court.
he should be disqualified.
how to complaint a judge in the judicial system? He is not knowledgeable.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 24213
Rating:8.5

Comments:
Judge Walters is generally a very hard working jurist who drafts detailed rulings, and is fairly even-handed in his litigation.

With that being said, he is VERY particular about following his standing orders issued in the case to a "T," including requirements that parties meet and confer in person prior to filing any motions in the case. His temperament also is not the best for a federal judge.

While I think he generally gets his rulings correct, practicing in his court is certainly not an enjoyable experience.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 23468
Rating:2.0

Comments:
Judge Walter is unfit to be a judge. He is biased and will not let the facts or the law get in the way of his (predeterminated) decision.

If you are unlucky to be in his courtroom, the best thing you can say is that at least he is not Manny Real.

Other

Comment #: 21549
Rating:1.0

Comments:
This judge is prejudiced and ignorant. He refuses to admit bona fide evidence, and prejudges without listening to all of the evidence. He should not be a judge.

Other

Comment #: 21515
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
He is a horrible judge. His sentencing is harsh, he refuses to listen to all sides, he refuses to allow the testimony of licensed psychiatrists, and his sentencing is very disproportionate to the charges. He is very influenced by prestige and wealth. He is inflexible, intolerant and ignorant regarding underlying psychiatric illnesses. His sentences are harsher than those recommended by the prosecutors. He goes out of his way to be more punitive than he is required to be by law, to the point of prisoner abuse.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 21348
Rating:8.7

Comments:
This judge is getting an excessively bad rap. In our case, he was extremely well-read and had obviously given a great deal of thought to the sentence. We didn't get quite what we were hoping for, but he was fair, and he explained his reasoning in a way that showed his grasp of the case and the issues. No one could reasonably call his sentence unfair in our case.

Litigant

Comment #: 18721
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Judge Anderson and Judge Walter are half-brothers? I agree. First Judge Walter hijacked our criminal case from another judge, and refused to recuse himself as biased. He was, since he'd ruled against us on the Civil part of the same case. I appeared before both of them in this case. Mainly, after Judge Walter could not appear for a bail hearing, he assigned Judge Percy Anderson. It was clear why during that brief encounter, where Anderson sat with his back turned to us for the entire time?

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 18524
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Nasty, arbitrary, right-wing, former proseuctor, who should not be a judge.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 18296
Rating:1.0

Comments:
One of the worst Judges I ever appeared before. Totally gutted the Plaintiff's case based on a complete ignorance of the law, notwithstanding that it was described in great detail to him in the Plaintiff's briefs. He would not even give the Defendant the stanbdard 30 day extension for responding to the complain claiming that there was no good cause. If you appear before him be warned, even if the law is on your side that will likely have nothing to do with how this judge rules.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 13844
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Judge Walter allowed a govt atty to violate all the rules, let her seek continuances when she wanted to, let her violate the requirements of a Rule 37 motion to compel over and over again, and get this: HE LET HER HAVE 159 DAYS WORTH OF CONTINUANCES TO FILE HER MSJ. She stated under oath she was being paid $270.00/hr OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO DEFEND THE CASE IN THIS FASHION. The motion to dismiss was denied. Based on the identical facts in the complaint and law on which the motion to dismiss was denied, he granted summary judgment (all the facts necessary to defeat S.J. were actually proven by Defense Counsel in her MSJ Stmt of Facts)!! In four years of litigation, he never held a hearing. So, a judge my client and I have never met, never seen, and never heard threw his case out.
In another case, for a defendant who ran a pimping operation, I sued him under RICO. J. Walter ordered a RICO stmt. Then when I was late with the RICO stmt, because I miscalendared he threw out the entire RICO claim with prejudice. --And I have not even served the defendants. The four year old case also involved a RICO claim, but he did not order a RICO stmt. His local local rules completely vitiate the purpose of efiling which is to level the playing field for attorneys representing plaintiffs. His technical requirements violate the General Order on efiling which is a denial of due process to plaintiffs and their attorneys running their cases on a shoe string.
Funny thing is that I never met the judge because he never allowed a hearing.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 13251
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
This man knows nothing of justice. Arrogant, self righteous jerk. Stay as far away from him as you can.

Other

Comment #: 11956
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Walter gave me a 13 month probation violation for using a cell phone in the halfway house. While it was against halfway house rules, I had 2 weeks left on federal supervision, and he put me in there to stay in school in the first place to finish my bachelor's degree. Instead of being able to do that, he warehoused me in federal prison for 13 months, pulling the rug out from under me and leaving me in a horrible situation now a year later.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 11863
Rating:1.0

Comments:
When a judge ranks as low as Walter with so many reviewers, you know it is his personal qualities that are at fault rather than people merely unhappy with his substantive rulings. Judge Walter is simply arrogant and has lost sight of the fact he is a public servant charged with doing justice. He is fixated upon his own rules and procedural technicalities and is very inflexible. As noted by others, stipulations and agreements between counsel that would be compeletely accepable to his colleagues on the bench are rejected by him. A sad reflection of ego run rampant. While I'm sure he prides himself (note "prides') on running a tight ship, he cares not for the impact of his procedural rulings on the litigants and public which he is supposed to serve. Very unfortunate.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 11659
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Horridly biased in favor of corporate defendants sued for illegal conduct.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 11484
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Beware! Judge Walter never sleeps. Nobody will know the case better than the judge. If you are incompetent or unprepared you will find yourself angry and posting silly comments on this site. Instead of taking responsibility you will call him discourteous and be hurt by his abusive tone, you will call him names and point the finger at him. Grow up people; get it together. A highly intelligent, honest, and capable judge (even if Bush appointed him).

Other

Comment #: 10488
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Worst judge I have ever had the displeasure to work with. Very short temper and irrational decisions. His communication skills are on par with that of a 6th grade playground bully. This man should be removed from the bench - am dissapointed with Bush for this appointment.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 10014
Rating:9.8

Comments:
He is simply the best Federal Judicial Judge in the Circuit. He is a pleasure to appear before. He is honest, dry sense of humor, and knows what is going on in the real world.

Probation or Pretrial Officer

Comment #: 9942
Rating:2.0

Comments:
This jurist is a horrorshow of unreasonable expectations, inflexible routine and abusive tone.

Litigant

Comment #: 9617
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Terrible, what can one expect being a Bush appointee. Saw this guy in the local law library, and he is very discourteous even toward the librarians. This guy really needs to retire, and permanently from the bench so that he can take up fishing or whatever, but as for any kind of respect for the law..forget about it.

Litigant

Comment #: 9517
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Even though diligently prepared he can't follow his own standing orders, and violates the federal rules of civil procedure.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 8878
Rating:2.0

Comments:
One need only look at the comments presented. This is not justice as we know it. It is Judge Walters own brand of justice. When given the opportunity to do the right thing he passed then delivered a decision that endeared him to his clique. If your issue is at all complex, go elsewhere or suffer. Not worthy of the robe.
Is it true that his 1/2 brother sits on the same bench? Our courts have become much like the royal family, too many relatives and spouses. Time to fix it before it's too late.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 8736
Rating:1.0

Comments:
The Hon. John F. Walter is inflexible, follows his own local local rules, and generally makes life extremely difficult for the attorneys who practice before him. He has repeatedly denied joint stipulations filed by counsel for all of the parties that virtually every other Judge in the Central District would have granted as a matter of course. Sadly, I completely agree with the comment below that Judge Walter would rather follow his own petty rules (some of which run contrary to the FRCP) than render justice.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 5959
Rating:1.3

Comments:
Petty, petulant and intellectually dishonest, this judge cares not one bit about justice. Plays favorites with his old lawyer friends. Just an awful judge.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 5303
Rating:2.7

Comments:
Nothing good to say.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 5234
Rating:9.3

Comments:
Very smart and industrious. One who is knowledgable and well-prepared should do well before him. An unprepared or uninformed lawyer will not do well. Nobody will know the case better than the judge. Works long hours.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 4978
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
This judge is more interested in all the petty rules and punctuality than in justice, which he couldn't define if someone asked him. This former federal prosecutor has no heart and shouldn't be allowed to remain on the bench. He is lazy, pompous, and takes the position that everyone, except himself, is always wrong.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 4928
Rating:2.4

Comments:
I had him for one case where the defense lied to me and failed to produce critical documents proving liability in my initial rule 34 request, saying none existed. Then, in a deposition the witness proved the existence of the documents and I filed a motion with the magistrate which was granted. But the defense had already filed a MSJ and I got the documents report the day after my response was filed. He refused my motions to modify the scheduling order to allow sufficient time to get the report after the magistrate ordered it, denied motions to reschedule the MSJ, forced me to work all through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays on Rule 16 trial preparation stuff, and on the day of the hearing on the MSJ, on January 3, issued an order that the defense had indeed "stonewalled" the discovery and reopened discovery, which he could have done when I first asked for it. He was a real jerk. Another pro-government Bush appointee with little regard for civil or human rights. Very disorganized and seemingly did little reading in the early part of the case.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 4495
Rating:7.7

Comments:
Good trial judge and not a bad sentencer. Denies defense motions but can explain why and reasoning is good. His downside is scheduling. It is extremaly difficult to get a continuance and enough time to adequately prepare.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 4480
Rating:8.8

Comments:
Walter is very smart which makes him a control freak; he is unwilling to let lawyers who know what they're doing try the case. Denies defense motions routinely, but not cavalierly--actually does the research and understands the issues. Terribly inflexible in scheduling, even in cases where the sentencing consequences are horrible and counsel show good cause for continuance.

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What others have said about Hon. John F. Walter

Comments

Other

Civil Litigation - Private

Other

Litigant

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Litigant

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Other

Civil Litigation - Private

Litigant

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

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Criminal Defense Lawyer

Litigant

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

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Civil Litigation - Private

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Other

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Probation or Pretrial Officer

Litigant

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Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Civil Litigation - Private

Criminal Defense Lawyer

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Criminal Defense Lawyer

Criminal Defense Lawyer