"The Robing Room: NY State Judges

Hon. Alan D. Scheinkman	See Rating Details
Supreme Court
Westchester County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 3.9 - 9 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 1.0 - 4 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. Alan D. Scheinkman

Comments

Other

Comment #: NY12490
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Having been directly involved in civil litigation in Westchester State Supreme Court -- with requisite knowledge of Sheinkman's legal shenanigans -- all I can say is good riddance. He was a Cuomo guy who through the good offices of DiFiori was able to get himself bumped up to the Appellate Division where he could do further damage. Many were shocked (not me) that he could pull this off Cronyism was his middle name and he did damage in so many areas. I hear now he'll continue to slash and burn as an "arbitrator."

Litigant

Comment #: NY12118
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Thank God Justice Alan Scheinkman is retiring. He already ruined my family's life with his mean-spirited arrogance though. He should never have been the head of the Second Department. He doesn't have the temperament.

Other

Comment #: NY11939
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
OVERTURNED A SUFFOLK COUNTY SUPREME COURT JUSTICES DECISION IN STATE APPEALS AFTER IT TOOK THE SUPREME COURT JUDGE 8 YEARS PRESIDING OVER A DIVORCE TRIAL TO AGREE WITH THE LAW GUARDIAN THAT THE 9 AND 14 YEAR OLD CHILDREN SHOULD LIVE WITH THE FATHER DUE TO THE MOTHERS MENTAL ILLNESS. THIS GUY HAD THE CHILDREN GO BACK TO THEIR MOTHER AFTER 2 YEARS OF LIVING WITH DAD WHEN DAD WAS AWARDED CUSTODY. HE CITED THE CHILDRENS WISHES CONTRARY TO WHAT COURT APPOINTED PSYCHOLOGIST AND LAW GUARDIAN SAID. HE DAMAGED A FATHERS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS CHILDREN NOW BEYOND REPAIR. SHAME ON HIM .

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY11879
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Yes, he's terrible. I believe he intentionally misstates the facts in his decisions in order to justify his mean-spiritedness and unfairness. He probably thinks he's a tough guy, but he's just an unhappy bully.

Other

Comment #: NY11121
Rating:4.0

Comments:
Smart but politically motivated.

Litigant

Comment #: NY11120
Rating:1.0

Comments:
He presided over a terrible decision for me in the Appellate Division. It seems that all he cares about is the administration and timeliness, and not the administration of justice. He was brought on to his current position with a mandate to speed up the caseload in the appellate division, but that has resulted in a recent batch of terrible decisions, particularly when it comes to foreclosures. He is afraid or overly deferential to "prestige" law firms. Governor Cuomo, I urge you to find someone new to run the Appellate Division. This man is arrogant and does not care about the little guy in foreclosures. Fox guarding the biggest hen house in town. Maybe faster, but definitely not better. For example, can we get some clear cut decision as to RPAL 1303 and 1304 in foreclosures? They are all over the place. Faster than his predecessors, I'm sure. He's very proud of that from his recent press releases.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY8199
Rating:3.5

Comments:
The idea of the commercial division was to create a part where substantial commercial disputes could be litigated in an appropriate manner. This justice runs a part that is the anathema to intelligent litigation of a commercial dispute, so much so that I would never bring a case into the commercial part in Westchester County for risk of having him preside. Commercial disputes are not PI cases. They frequently are document intensive. If both parties jointly come before the court and say they need more time to complete whatever they are attempting to complete, in the commercial arena there is little reason for the judge to reject the joint request of the parties and hold them to deadlines that they cannot reasonably meet. There is no reason to rush cases to trial/Note of Issue when all of the parties jointly profess that the case is not ready. Why in the world would New York create a commercial part and then have it run this way?

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY8012
Rating:2.1

Comments:
No one thinks nearly as highly of Justice Scheinkman as Justice Scheinkman thinks of himself. Why listen to other people when he can listen to himself. He has absolutely no regard for the litigants and is an embarrassment to our court system.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY5020
Rating:8.1

Comments:
Justice Scheinkman is scholarly and works extremely hard. His written decisions usually get it right, but truthfully, they don't have to be so long. It's true that he is hard on lawyers when it comes to scheduling, but everyone knows that lawyers will take advantage of a judge who doesn't put his foot down and demand an end to discovery. If I could offer one suggestion, it would be for him to talk less, and sound less pontifical.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY4031
Rating:3.7

Comments:
Has ability, but not nrearly so much as he thinks. Impatient. Doesn't listen to lawyers who know their case a lot better than this judge presumes he knows.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY2911
Rating:5.0

Comments:
At first blush I was impressed with the "federal court" atmosphere in the courtroom - formality, everything on the record, an apparent willingness to enforce clearly stated rules and deadlines - but it didn't take long for me to realize that it was all a show. The judge only enforces rules and deadlines in an arbitrary fashion, and even then often fails to follow through, he is terrified of having to decide a written motion, has an average grasp of the law, and is not so much formal as arrogant and condescending. I also join the others who commented on his affection for the sound of his own voice and his strong prefernce for talking over listening, even when he doesn't know what he is talking about. Not to mention the nasty law clerk who mirrors the judge's flaws. They must get along fabulously.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY2196
Rating:2.4

Comments:
I agree with the second comment. Scheinkman is, frankly, one of the worst judges before whom I have had the displeasure of appearing. He is incredibly arrogant, and is frequently demeaning to lawyers. I have also seen him shift from arbitrary obnoxiousness to cool respect in a split second, when suddenly confronted with lawyers from "big Manhattan firms." His pretrial rulings are frequently ridiculous, and seem calculated more to show his power than to aid in the administration of justice. His new "rules" have basically ruined the Weschester Courthouse, and the administration of those rules is totally unpredictable and inconsistent. I now advise clients to avoid this Court, and I try to do so myself when possible.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY1088
Rating:3.5

Comments:
I find the 3/4/08 post puzzling. I have watched and been amazed at the lack of even a pretense that His Honor was affording an opportunity to be heard. But he loves to hear himself. He is no doubt very smart but he is also almost maliciously inflexible and unconcerned about the difficulties lawyers have juggling impacts justice for litigants. When it comes to the "administration of justice," Justice Scheinkman is single-mindedly about "administration" with far too little regard for justice.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY587
Rating:5.9

Comments:
Justice Scheinkan obviously enjoys what he is doing. He is very smart and runs a tight ship in the courtroom, but gives the lawyers plenty of opportunity to be heard. If he has a fault, it's being too loquacious.