"The Robing Room: FL State Judges

Hon. Heather Pinder Rodriguez	See Rating Details
Circuit Court
Orange County 9th Circuit	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 3.3 - 25 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 2.0 - 7 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. Heather Pinder Rodriguez

Comments

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: FL9174
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I would give here a negative as a prose litigant she failed to look at evidence, Her ties to OPD as well and rulings are unthinkable as well as she wanted to know what the defendants requested. like she cant make a ruling for herself and look at tons

Litigant

Comment #: FL9141
Rating:1.0

Comments:
She is extremely biased, unprofessional, and ego-centric. I filed a DV case pro se because my family law attorney recommended it and I couldn't afford to retain them for the DV case. Judge Pinder treated the defendant like gold from the get go because they had representation and I was treated like a troll. She chastised me in front of the man that hit me that I was trying to protect myself from that I needed to basically not waste her time and have my family law attorney handle this outside her courtroom. The cases were separate and not related. She is the type of judge that causes women not to come forward for help because of the shame she puts on them for doing so. The person eventually came after me again and I had no protection. Every time I think of her and what she said to me that day, it leaves me shaking. She's an awful woman on a power trip and not a fair officer of the court.

Other

Comment #: FL8920
Rating:1.0

Comments:
She didn't even review my case went by someone else recommendations when I had tons of evidence

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: FL7475
Rating:6.4

Comments:
Hmm okay. I have mixed feelings but mostly like her. She's smart. We had a somewhat complicated issue that was stipulated on the record. Based on the order that she drafted on the spot, which encapsulated the issues pretty astutely, she strikes me as smart enough to be a judge. (I hate to have to say that there are many who don't even meet that bar...)

Temperament-wise she is a bit of a wild card. Very mild and gentle until she's not. She does not like to be challenged, so take that as you will when it comes to making your record (do it lightly, but do it). Her tone instantly changes and you know that you're headed into "don't test me" territory. Just be aware and modify as need be. I mean, I get the feeling that some of the lawyers who gripe about her aren't keen enough to make adjustments based on how the judge is taking the argument. Eh, that's on you.

She does have a tendency to be late with orders and rulings. Not sure how much of that is due to her being split between the counties with inadequate support though.

My caveat is that I haven't spent that much time with her. These are my somewhat first impressions.

Other

Comment #: FL7329
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Lazy judge; did not read or prepare for this case. Late for all hearings in the case and once never showed at all. Delayed this case for over a year.
Ordered mediation with a demand to fly personally to Florida which costs the litigant thousands of dollars then proclaims she has no Jurisdiction to make any judgement 4 months later???
Wouldn't a good judge figure that out before they cause such financial harm to litigants when jurisdiction was brought up at beginning of hearings?

Other

Comment #: FL6705
Rating:3.0

Comments:
My trail started late 30-40 min, because of the case before mine.I am req by law to have 3hrs.for deliberation.That 3hrs will go into overtime for all court employees including the judge. I was asked to settle before the trial. We could not. So H.Rodriguez turns to me and said," if you've never reached the point of no return you are here now. No one will leave here completely happy. That's how I know I made the right decision." All before hearing any evidence. Case decided

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: FL6127
Rating:3.0

Comments:
Very biased and unprofessional judge. Wastes a lot of time; shows no compassion for male clients in Child Support cases. Very unprofessional and bad temperament in her courtroom and showing a very condescending attitude towards the litigant. She also tries to delay and send cases to the magistrate or future judges to avoid dealing working on the issue at hand.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: FL5702
Rating:2.3

Comments:
Read through your cases before making any judgements, please. You lack in that, announced it loudly in the meeting, and then put a child in the hands of a dangerous woman in a very dangerous situation. I do not think you believe this to be true or realize this though bc you made a decision based on not knowing the history of the woman you agreed should have custody over a child. Please start reading the full cases so you can prevent this from happening in the future. Your job is to help. Not hurt. Having compassion for past felons is ok but this was not and you need to be more careful with a child's life.

Comment #: FL4925
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Judge Rodriguez is stellar. I see the crazy old lady who likes to impersonate attorneys has been released from Lakeside again lol.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: FL4916
Rating:1.0

Comments:
took one month to sign an agreed order that should have taken 2 days we could not proceed to mediation until she signed it waste of time

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: FL4883
Rating:1.0

Comments:
she appears to be a know it all 99 percent right 100 percent wrong needs to listen more carefully and try to keep her opinion to herself

Other

Comment #: FL4802
Rating:1.0

Comments:
My only experience with Rodriguez is I am waiting for her to sign papers so we can move into the probate process. The papers should have been back 6 weeks ago. This is an uncontested action to appoint personal rep. I have talked to several attorney friends and they all agree Rodriguez is very slow. Her keeping people waiting is very is common. Unacceptable.

Litigant

Comment #: FL4762
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Rude to the lawyers. Interrupted the attorneys. Judge not prepared for the hearing.

Comment #: FL4051
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Unprepared, bad attitude and plays favorites. Clearly not suitable to be a judge....doesn't know the law and it's obvious.

Civil Litigation - Govt.

Comment #: FL3543
Rating:10.0

Comments:
Highly Intelligent and Professional