"The Robing Room: CA State Judges

Hon. Bret D. Hillman	See Rating Details
Judge Superior Court
Tulare County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 3.4 - 4 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 1.0 - 5 rating(s)	Please send me alerts on this judge E-mail Address:

Add your own rating

E-Mail Address ()

* *

Confirm E-mail Address

* * *

Zip

Occupation

Add a comment only

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

Please type what you see below:

Not an even number!

What others have said about Hon. Bret D. Hillman

Comments

Litigant

Comment #: CA47473
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I have had Hillman on three different cases. If you are a pro-se litigant and your opponent has an attorney, Hillman will not rule in you favor no matter what the facts or law is. Hillman will make sure that he takes care of his attorneys. He doesn't consider the facts of a case and appears to make up his own rules as he goes along. He has only been a judge since 2010 and he certainly acts like it. Although he is astute at organizing trial trial calendar, when it comes to making moral, just and lawful decisions, he is almost criminal because of the damage he has inflicted upon people who are representing themselves. It appears that he has serious distain for pro-se litigants. Hillman had no right to wear a judges robe and should be removed as a judge. I have to appeal everything judgement Hillman makes. I am filing an ethics complaint against Hillman for the injustice that happens in his courtroom. Luckily his poor decisions are a matter of record. I have also watched him deal with other pro-se litigant and he treats all of them unfairly. It will be a good day for justice and the public when Hillman leaves the bench.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA47463
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Has no idea of the law or creates his own rules according of who is saying what. Extremely bias and rude. [redacted by Ed.] during his hearings. He doesn't handle cases according to the merits or the facts. [redacted by Ed.]. Horrible judge. Doesn't deserve to be called Honorable.

Litigant

Comment #: CA47462
Rating:1.0

Comments:
[redacted by Ed.]. He would rule based on his opinions and not the evidence being presented by him. He is totally bias towards pro-se litigants. He is the worse judge I have ever experienced. You cannot get justice in front of this judge. He doesn't deserve to be part of the honorable court. I know he will be thrown off the bench soon, he [redacted by Ed.] Hope you never have to go to his court if you're an innocent person seeking justice. Your opponent my win over you without facts. Please get this judge off the bench NOW!! He doesn't even know the laws related to the case you're in trial for. He makes up rules, you present him with the laws and he disregard them like they don't mean anything. He is extremely bias. Some superior of him needs to have an undercover court reporter in there so this miserable guy stop making plaintiff's miserable over his "opinions".

Other

Comment #: CA37397
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Has no idea what the Mobile home residency law even is and yet he hears cases regarding mobile home parks and tenancy issues.

Other

Comment #: CA34596
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Horrible Judge. Did not review any of my case what so ever before my family law court date. My ex wife was openly caught committing perjury several times and he did nothing about it. Dishonorable Judge Hillman refused to accept any of my evidence. I had not been served with any divorce papers yet (we were there for a RO hearing) and he tried forcing me to handle a divorce that day. I refused as was my right. He became very violent and began shouting to which I became upset and continued to refuse. He then stated that since I was "angry" he was going to extend the RO from one year to three years. During the case I brought up several facts to which he had no knowledge of. If he had reviewed even a single paper submitted to the court he would have known of those facts.oh and BTW the RO was granted "to give my wife and I time apart". There was no harassment or abuse what so ever in my case. This man ruins peoples lifes with no cause and needs to be immediately removed from his office as a judge.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA10355
Rating:2.2

Comments:
Sometimes it seems that this Judge appears at hearings without having reviewed his own records and without having read the moving papers. The Judge is also ridged on trial dates, to the detriment of the parties, often with explanations that make no sense. One wonders if his rulings are being made with the hopes that they will deter future motions and possibly limit his workload.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA7470
Rating:8.3

Comments:
Judge Hillman handles the Probate calendar extremely well. He is onscientious and always reads the papers presented. He is practical and is unfailingly patient and polite with those appearing in his court. Although relatively new to the bench I think that Judge Hillman has a good judicial temperment and will become one of our best judges with additional experience.

Other

Comment #: CA5543
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
How this guy Bret D. Hillman earned his position in the Judge chair, I have no idea. I cant even show him respect as a judge because he does not deserve that title. He is uneducated in Child Development, the safety and welfare of children and he is also unfit to be a family law judge. He favors the mother on all cases and does so with disgust towards the father. Hillman will literally show an expression of disgust when communicating with the father in the courtroom. Hillman is very disrespectful towards the father and will show complete sympathy towards the mother no matter how much negative evidence is presented of the mother in the files before him. Bret D. Hillman needs to be removed from his position as Judge immediately. Hillman is unfair, unjust and unfit to be a Judge. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger must have been drunk when he appointed Hillman to be a judge for Tulare County. Arnold Schwarzenegger probably sobered up and said, "I made who judge??!!" Somebody who has superiority over Bret D. Hillman PLEASE! review Hillmans performance as a judge, investigate his court reports, have an undercover investigator sit through Hillmans court hearings and terminate Hillman from his position! Hillman is better off flipping burgers at McDonalds.

Other

Comment #: CA5235
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Judge Hillman has to be the single most careless, thoughtless, reckless, arrogant Judge I have ever witnessed. It is my opinion he has an extraordinary bias against women and has either no understanding of family law or just utter contempt for it. I think his rulings are arbitrary and not based in fact or the law.