"The Robing Room: OK State Judges

Hon. Barbara G. Swinton	See Rating Details
District Judge Court
Oklahoma County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 3.2 - 23 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 1.0 - 5 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. Barbara G. Swinton

Comments

Litigant

Comment #: OK2043
Rating:1.0

Comments:
The only person that would give this judge anything but a 1 (worst) rating has contributed to her campaign and therefore bought her bias and become one of her favorites. Cannot believe she is still a judge. She is a real disgrace to the whole legal system.

Other

Comment #: OK2042
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Absolutely the worst judge I have ever encountered. Extremely biased.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK1656
Rating:1.5

Comments:
Worst of the worst. very biased. If you are up against one of her favorites who contributes to her campaigns you will lose. It's as simple as that. Her elevation to the Court of Appeals is a travesty, but a blessing for the trial court.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK1527
Rating:1.5

Comments:
My opinion:
Palpable bias and lack of decorum. It is disappointing to prepare and draft documents that are never read or considered by the Judge. The law and facts are irrelevant to this Judge if you are not in her circle of favorites. Be prepared to be ambushed and belittled at every turn.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK1457
Rating:1.1

Comments:
I watched her from the family court docket, criminal and now civil. Very biased throughout 19 plus years on the bench. If opposing counsel is from one of her favored firms you will lose every time.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK1440
Rating:1.4

Comments:
Agree with all the other negative comments. Judge Swinton is biased, ill-tempered and vindictive for no apparent reason. If you are not one of her favorites, be prepared for unfavorable decisions and incoherent (if any) reasons for those decisions.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK1322
Rating:2.1

Comments:
Undoubtedly, one of the worst judges that I've seen. I can't help but contrast this with some of the ratings on this site. She is unprepared for hearings and won't allow a defending party to present its arguemnts. At least if she allowed a party to present its arguments and then ruled against them, you could respect that.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK1294
Rating:8.8

Comments:
I do not always agree with her rulings , but she is fair and unbiased .

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK1268
Rating:1.1

Comments:
She is either really, really dumb or really, really corrupt. I do not know which, although I do know she's lazy. Oklahoma County citizens sincerely deserve better. She doesn't understand the law, makes no attempt to do so, and she gets offended when you explain the law to her (as is necessary). If you're up against a lawyer on her favorites list, you will lose every motion. No, it doesn't matter how strong the motion is. The pretrial stage is a charade, and just a primer for the inevitable appeal. Always, always, always ask for a court reporter, particularly for a dispositive motion ruling.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK1236
Rating:1.1

Comments:
She is probably the worst judge that I have ever experienced in decades of practice. I believe that she may have a personality disorder. She is mean and vindictive for no apparent reason. Other comments say that she is biased, so maybe that is it? She is just awful in every respect. Any good comments must be spam or her family, because they cannot be legitimate and objective.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK1231
Rating:1.1

Comments:
She is absolutely the worst judge in Oklahoma County. She has no idea what she is talking about most of the time. If you disagree with anything that she says, she huffs and puffs and throws a hissy fit. Sit in on her docket for a day and you will see her throw a fit numerous times. She is absolutely embarrassing to the legal profession.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK1191
Rating:3.1

Comments:
Judge Swinton is pleasant, but she's just incompetent. (Terribly incompetent, actually.) She's the type of person that makes you wonder how they got through law school, after listening to their nonsensical rationale on rulings. I'm not sure if she cares what the law is, but if she does, she doesn't have the ability to comprehend it. The worst judge in Oklahoma County by a mile.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK1189
Rating:1.1

Comments:
This judge has a horrible temperament. She does not follow the law, and refuses to hear argument citing the law when it is in opposition to her decision. Furthermore, any complaints go directly to her, so what is the point?

Court Staff

Comment #: OK1169
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Judge Swinton's weakness is in civil litigation, where she clearly shows bias towards her favorite attorneys, ignores court rules of procedure and does not observe the judicial code of conduct regarding impartiality. She is probably OK on criminal matters and that is where she should be assigned. Her bias in civil cases has been documented.

Litigant

Comment #: OK1071
Rating:1.0

Comments:
This woman is a lunatic. She awarded a default judgement against me when I had been slammed by a corrupt attorney and baseless allegations. I was not even given a notice to appear in court.

When I attempted to vacate the judgement, she already had her mind made up because she was apparently mad about the attorney I had hired for the first hearing. Unbelievable what this woman is capable of - destroying a life - and the truth has no relevance in court these days. But what else is new!

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK722
Rating:1.0

Comments:
The only person who would give "Less Than Honerable" Judge Swinton a decent or good rating would be a person she has given "favoritism" to in the past. Truely unbelievable that she is still a judge. She makes the whole court system look bad. Totally disgraceful.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK703
Rating:1.0

Comments:
One comment below states, "A person who is not changed by the black robe." Given her temperament, I'd say some change would do her good.

Litigant

Comment #: OK608
Rating:1.0

Comments:
"Honorable" is a really funny word to use in conjunction with Barbara Swinton's name. She is as crooked as the day is long and is a disgrace to the robe. Partiality, favoritism, and breaking the law are her way of dispensing "justice".

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: OK602
Rating:9.5

Comments:
Judge Swinton is an incredible improvement over the disreputable 'good 'ol boy' judges in Oklahoma county.

Swinton is an ethical judge with practical experience as a trial lawyer.
She takes time to read briefs and look up the law, and generally treats attorneys and litigants with respect.

If she comes down hard on someone, it's usually justified -- although her reasons are not always apparent to others.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK561
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Has NO BUSINESS being a judge. She's all about the mighty power! Dream on Bitch.

Litigant

Comment #: OK555
Rating:1.0

Comments:
HORRIBLE JUDGE! She has no business being a judge. Someone really needs to run against her. She is jealous of woman, especially beautiful women. She is one miserable, fat and ugly judge.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: OK544
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
THIS JUDGE IS LIKE EDITH BUNKER. GOOFY AND DIZZY AND OPERATING A COUPLE OF BOTTLES SHORT OF A 6 PACK. LIKE BEING IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK430
Rating:3.5

Comments:
Look out. If you're up against a lawyer that is a friend of hers, you might as well not even show up. She is very irrational, too.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK426
Rating:3.4

Comments:
Irrational and ill-tempered without justification; she has a strong predisposition to "find" a way to make the case for plaintiffs.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: OK415
Rating:5.0

Comments:
She is a wild card - never know what you're going to get with her. One hearing she showed up and blistered opposing counsel on a discovery issue where he deserved to lose, but not to be berated as she did. It was painful to watch. Then, she completely ruined me on a motion for summary judgement that should never have been granted, and she failed to recall the delay occasioned by the discovery issue for which she blistered opposing counsel previously. Beware: she may be your friend today, but tomorrow, who knows?

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: OK345
Rating:7.8

Comments:
A person who is not changed by the black robe.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK174
Rating:2.1

Comments:
A judge with this kind of bias should never be allowed on the bench. She needs to take a remedial class on the Rules of Civil Procedure, not to mention the Rules of Evidence.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK99
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Always does the right thing.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: OK9
Rating:8.3

Comments:
Good trial judge. Reads all material and briefs submitted. Works hard to understand and narrow the issues for trial. Willing to work with counsel on both sides regarding scheduling.