"The Robing Room: CA State Judges

Hon. William F. Highberger	See Rating Details
Judge Superior Court
Los Angeles County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 4.4 - 22 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 1.0 - 1 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. William F. Highberger

Comments

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA51112
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Being assigned to Judge Highberger was the worst experience I personally have had as an attorney. Argumentative, disrespectful, dismissive, arrogant to name a few. Likes to argue over the simplest issues and if you argue, you will be on his s__t list until the case is over. I suggest having a court reporter at each and every hearing and be prepared to file a writ or appeal.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA48803
Rating:2.0

Comments:
This judge is a train wreck. Way, way, way too involved (in a bad way) and overbearing and histrionic. Makes prosecution of cases 50 times harder than they should be. Clear defense bias and remains in low with Gibson Dunn (his former firm). Worst part: berates and embarasses lawyers without any sense of proportionality and often unnecessarily so. I have watched him yell and demand lawyers (you waste day tie; you're incompetent, etc.) only to later admit he was wrong because they did whatever dumb thing he was complaining that they failed to do. Ten minute routine hearings become 2 hour yack-a-thons. Hey Judge H: "Complex" means the type of case it is; not the manner by which the judge is supposed to act. He should retire.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA34262
Rating:6.7

Comments:
Judge Highberger loves him some Judge Highberger. Give him 10 minutes and he'll tell you how great he is. Give him 11 minutes and you're sure to hear how great his prior firm, Gibson Dunn, is. Judge Highberger's ruling are intelligent, but not always even handed and well reasoned. He is an activist judge whose rulings just as often as not are seemingly constructed to achieve a desired outcome as opposed to an even handed analysis of the law. He is not afraid to explain how prior and multiple appellate courts got things wrong and he is the Judge to make things right. He is prone to wrongfully and improperly attacking counsel only to pretend he did no such thing when it is discovered he did so with incomplete or wrong facts.

I would suggest always considering a 170.6, but there are worse out there.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA34227
Rating:10.0

Comments:
Fantastic judge. The collaborative brilliance needed to solve problems or provide opportunities to have meaningful adjudications.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA26821
Rating:1.2

Comments:
Awful, awful judge. Should be removed from the bench.

Defense hack, biased, awful temperament.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA25449
Rating:9.6

Comments:
Judge Highberger is a pretty amazing anomaly in the LASC civil courts. He is incredibly discerning and intelligent but also equitable and likable. His background is defense and because of that he is indulgent and patient to, sometimes, fairly lame defenses. However, because of this background he is also pretty unsympathetic to unpreparedness which bodes well to diligent lawyers. He's the kind of judge that you still like after he rules against you.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA17613
Rating:2.6

Comments:
He is arrogant and very defense oriented. He has dismissed a lot of minors cases on the statute of limitations. He will not allow you to amend your pleadings over six months before trial. He will not give the plaintiff a few hundred pages of discovery, but he will allow the defense to file a 1500 page motion for summary judgment. He should be removed from office.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA14996
Rating:3.5

Comments:
He sucks. We only needed a few hundred pages of discovery and he said that was too much for one plaintiff and refused to allow us to amend our pleadings 6 months before trial. He is unfair to Plaintiffs and dismissed hundreds of Risperdahl cases and others.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA8148
Rating:8.0

Comments:
I have been litigating in CCW for many years. Although I do not always agree with Judge Highberger's decisions (he is a little more pro-Defendant than I would like), I find him to be thorough in his decisions. Additionally, he will engage you in discussion seriously and with thoughtful consideration. He does have the tendency to give the Defendant's counsel unsolicited legal advice from the bench, however, there are worse Judges (70% of the US District Court, Central District of California) in this area.

Court Staff

Comment #: CA6106
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Court reporter's nightmare. Interrupts every single attorney when they're speaking. Every time. Speaks fast - whips through cases like he's got a plane to catch. "Small man" syndrome exercising authority...because that's all he has.
Clerk is great - will give copies of tentatives, thankfully, because he mumbles and speaks fast.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA5080
Rating:2.5

Comments:
Ill-tempered. Often rude. Closed-minded and wed to legal interpretations that have been outdated for decades. Seems to truly hate what he does. Recommend a 170.6 before the ink dries on the assignment!

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA2634
Rating:2.5

Comments:
Disregarded evidence and made ruling that ignored evidence. Was rude and condescending, was dismissive, not open-minded and generally acted as though he didn't want to be bothered. Is not stupid, but may be lazy. Is so unbelievably pro-insurance company that he will not follow the law or attempt to be fair.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA1886
Rating:4.8

Comments:
This judge flip-flops all over the place on his positions on issues. His primary goal is to force parties into settlement. Self-absorbed and ill tempered.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA1491
Rating:1.9

Comments:
Pedantic. Pompous. Self-absorbed. Disinterested. Ill-tempered. His personal agenda is typically more important to him than precedent. He disagrees with many modern interpretations and rulings on evidence, so he ignores them.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA1484
Rating:1.5

Comments:
My client timely responded to discovery but was unable to do so as he was in the intensive care unit at the hospital. Defendant nevertheless filed a motion to compel. Prior to the opposition being due, my client was released from the hospital and signed the verifications. I opposed with the certifications and a letter from the doctor explaining the situation. Highberger granted the motion and deemed the RFAs such as "defendant did nothing wrong" as admitted, essentially destroying the entire case.

This guy is terrible. Definitely a 170.6.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA1339
Rating:1.1

Comments:
Powder keg. You can always tell when he's having a bad day as he often takes it out on counsel. Doesn't prepare and has a habit of speaking incessantly.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA1277
Rating:2.0

Comments:
Refuses to follow precedent if it doesn't fit his agenda. Mercurial. Long-winded. Doesn't understand basic rules of evidence. The people who like him tend to brown nose him to curry his favor, and he particularly likes this.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA1223
Rating:1.5

Comments:
Judge Highberger comes across as pompous. Likes to hear himself talk. I've never known him to actually read the papers. He seems to make up his mind early on in his cases, deciding all later questions one-sidedly with little regard for the merits.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA1213
Rating:7.9

Comments:
One of the smartest judges around. Whoever wrote otherwise is either bitter or clueless. Or both.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA1199
Rating:1.4

Comments:
Worst judicial temperament ever experienced; slams doors and insults counsel over minor issues; unprepared and forms opinions without reading cases or understanding legal issues; appears to make decisions based upon his workload rather than upon legal precedent.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA1196
Rating:3.3

Comments:
generally poorly prepared. doesn't read cases; constantly complains about his workload as the excuse for ill-informed and unsupportable rulings.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA1165
Rating:10.0

Comments:
Excellent judge. Very even-handed, well prepared, and respectful toward counsel. One of the very best.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA393
Rating:9.3

Comments:
Great judge. He should be elevated.