"The Robing Room: NY State Judges

Hon. Richard Hoffmann	See Rating Details
Family Court
Suffolk County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 5.1 - 2 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 4.0 - 3 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. Richard Hoffmann

Comments

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: NY9846
Rating:1.3

Comments:
Temperamental. Severe mood swings. Petty. Gets particularly grumpy before lunch break. Mumbles, especially when attempting humor. Legal knowledge appears limited, and it seems that he is not inclined to improve it.

Litigant

Comment #: NY9370
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Disgraceful. My case a joint parenting arrangement between my son's mother and me. Hoffmann seemed to favor the mother in each and every appearance in his court. It took one year to forge the agreement before my ex was convinced by her own attorney that she risked losing custody if she did not sign off on what three attorneys (hers, mine, and the Law Guardian) concluded was a fair co-parenting agreement that was in the best interests of our son.

Once the agreement was formally signed, my ex did anything and everything to circumvent the terms of our agreement. The icing on the cake came when it was discovered that she was living in Suffolk County while enrolling our son in another county before being caught with the ruse. His reaction? "Well at least she did not move out of the state." Really? In any community in this country, it is considered to be a crime if individuals deceive local governments by using the address of friends or relatives to avoid discovery. His flip remark about remaining in NY was insult to injury and essentially sanctioned the deception.

Ironically, after my personal situation moved to another level, I was fortunate (?) to have the honor of gracing Judge Hoffmann's court in the capacity of a foster parent for a permanency hearing. In this situation, He repeated warned the biological mother that it was her "last chance" to get her act together lest she risk losing termination of her parental rights. His actions clearly confirmed my belief that he had affinity for maternal rights regardless of the events that warranted the court appearances. Sad that male parents/guardians are held in such low esteem by an "impartial" jurist.

Other

Comment #: NY7287
Rating:2.0

Comments:
I have a very high level respect for Justice Hoffman. He does appear to have the best interests of the children at heart. However, he absolutely does not like it when you prove him wrong, especially as a pro se litigant. He adjourned the hearing for my ex-wife's petition to move outside the mileage boundary contained within our div stip so i could research and confirm for myself what he told me was the situation concerning children in special needs educational programs. I did my research and confirmed with the Special Ed Dept in Albany that I was correct and he was wrong about how switching schools impacted the child's school program. I gave him the names and direct phone numbers to the people I spoke with and asked if he would adjourn again to have the local rep from the department, he said no. Like all other Suffolk County Judges he favors the female parent. he allowed the move and since then, Nov 2014, my daughter's life has spiraled out of control. The new school district did not give her the same support as the old district, she has now gotten involved with drugs, chronically cuts classes and struggling in a big way in her classes. Thank you Justice Hoffman for for helping my ex-wife destroy my now 16 year old daughter's life.

Other

Comment #: NY5580
Rating:10.0

Comments:
He can be intimidating. But he is fair. He has a dry sense of humor, a soft spot for the best interest of children. And he is a man with a conscience. He respects honesty and is fair to the fullest extent of the law. I respect this judge and would say you are blessed to have him review your case.