"The Robing Room: CA State Judges

Hon. Ralph C. Hofer	See Rating Details
Judge Superior Court
Los Angeles County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 2.7 - 10 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 2.0 - 11 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. Ralph C. Hofer

Comments

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA41014
Rating:1.4

Comments:
I have never rated a Judge before. Ever. But if you land Judge Hofer, do yourselves a huge favor and ding him the first opportunity you get.

I will leave a more detailed review later once my case is over, but for now, suffice to say, I have never, ever, EVER seen or heard of such an incredibly incompetent, incapable and generally horrendous judge.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA40778
Rating:1.1

Comments:
Often contradicts his own tentative rulings unsolicited by either side....a clear sign he didn't prep the tentative nor did he read it before posting it, which a judge SHOULD be doing. Is perpetually 45 minutes late for every hearing and gets cranky after 20 minutes on the bench. Really shouldn't be there.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA38861
Rating:3.5

Comments:
Consistently takes the bench an HOUR after the calendar call time. Really inconsiderate of the time of the attorneys who appear before him.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA32232
Rating:1.4

Comments:
Extremely unpleasant, prejudiced person. Loves his power. Not fair or just in any way.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA18887
Rating:4.2

Comments:
This judge is consistently 45-90 minutes late in taking the bench, and then does so without a word of excuse or apology. Just insulting.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA18680
Rating:2.0

Comments:
Lazy, unprepared, late, argumentative, and sides with the defense. Loses papers and has no idea of what your case is about. Unless your a young Blonde female, then he has a lot of interest.

Other

Comment #: CA18540
Rating:10.0

Comments:
Hon. Judge Hofer is impartial, thoughtful and respectful on the bench and issues detailed tentative opinions. He presided over a Rental/Breach of contract trial in which he was attentive and fair to all sides. He is patient and respectful. I think he is among the best judges one could appear in front of.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA15044
Rating:7.6

Comments:
Judge Hofer is thoughtful and respectful on the bench and issues detailed and well-reasoned tentative opinions. He presided over a long trial in which he was even handed, attentive and fair to all sides. He is patient and respectful. There must have been a lot of disgruntled people in family law cases. Now that he is handling general civil litigation I think he is among the best judges one could appear in front of. My only complaint is that his calendar takes to long because he allows and indulges in too much talking.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA11756
Rating:2.0

Comments:
Judge Hofer doesn't seem to respect the law. He follows and does whatever the Insurance Defense Industry practice is, which can be very different from the law, rendering him biased against Plaintiffs. He doesn't care for women, and he seems bored with his job.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA10266
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
If your house has been unlawfully foreclosed on or if you ask your pretender servicer to provide an accounting of payments made to your mortgage, they don't have it because they don't own your mortgage. Go and read CASE: EC063856, study it. Technically homeowners paid their loan off but in my case we paid off our loan but discovered the real truth of the loan that we have exposed in the latter part of the lawsuit. Tell your friends to research the Case file #, send it out to every homeowner and person who can spread the information. The scam is to scam you into believing that you owe a debt that you really truly do not owe. Go get what is yours and pass it on to your heirs because our future generation will suffer; cost of living will go up, jobs will be scarce but if they have inheritance and it is protected, you will be helping them and they will be forever great full.

Other

Comment #: CA8739
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I was in front of this judge for a custody hearing. 2 minutes into the hearing he got distracted by moving papers he saw re financial records I was requesting from my spouse. He went on and on talking about the request and my attorney tried to redirect him back to the custody issue in front of him. My attorney reminded him that we were not there to discuss money. He would not stop talking about it. Finally when he was done he circled back and basically said oh ya and as or your custody request....denied. That was it. My attorney and I sat there in disbelief. The entire hearing took 10 minutes.

Litigant

Comment #: CA8041
Rating:1.0

Comments:
It shocks me that Judge Hofer can preside over custody cases. He takes little time to learn what is in the best interests of the child and instead seems to prefer whatever is presented before him that takes up the least amount of time for him. His decisions are very inconsistent and he comes across as intellectually lazy and wholly committed to his opinions regardless of what evidence is presented to him. It's a shame to have someone this indifferent making decisions about vulnerable children.

Litigant

Comment #: CA7847
Rating:1.0

Comments:
The comments made here by other people are accurate. This judge pushed my custody battle for 2-years of continuances forcing me to travel cross country each time, several times to leave me in the hallway all day and not be seen at all! Once he was transferred to Pasadena he ADMITTED that the incoming judge at 111 Hill St. didn't want to take our case halfway through, so Hofer "rubber-stamped" a bi-weekly visitation (again a 3,000 mile trip) and max child support. My attorney had prepared a book on against a mother who's a mentally ill, sociopath with--at best--questionable character after investigation turned up a ton of ill behavior. Yet, he decided to rule 100% in her favor and now my child is suffering the anguish throwing tantrums to live with me instead. It's been 7 months since his ruling and it's proven to be a disaster. He wiped me out financially without any regard for my little girl's well-being whatsoever. I'm seeking action against the court system for the indignant abuse.

Litigant

Comment #: CA6889
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
My divorce was in front of Judge Hoffer for 7 yesrs. He would never ask my ex-wife for proof of anything. My ex-wife and Attorney Michael Abrams copied and paste my signature on a Stipulation and Order saying I waived all Child Support and Alimony for the past 4 year. I was never at a hearing on this. Judge Hoffer still signed it and it was filed. I hired a hand writing expert to look at the document. Report states 100% they copied and pasted my signature on the document. The 111 Hill st building in LA. Come to find out we were in a private room on a private floor.8 floor, Dept. 88 with an undercover police officer always sitting behind me. There was never any one on the floor or in the hallway. This has been a real eye opener. If you have the money you can hire a private judge in a private room. Next I went to Jerry Browns office to make my complaint. Jerry Brown removed Judge Hofer and he went to Pasedena. Judge Carl Moore is now the new judge. I had Child Support attorney there, the hand writing expert there in court. Judge Carl Moore said he would not hear the case. Even though I had Attorney from Child Support services and the expert hand writing person there to testify. They are corrupt and criminals. It's all about how much money they can make from you or the other side.
No one over sees the Commission for Judicial Preformance or the California State Bar. They are the Judicial Moffia....
Sa do for all the kids involved....

Other

Comment #: CA6887
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Judge Hofer seemed annoyed to have preside over our case. He was ill prepared for our case - as well as a previous case - and was not at all interested in gathering information that could have resulted in a more informed, intelligent decision regarding custody. On several occasions, he did not seem to know the law, and instead seemed to rely far too much on how the attorneys presented the law to him. He seemed utterly indifferent to the right of the father to spend time with his child, and did not seem like a judge who was committed to - or genuinely interested in - his duty as a family court judge. He did not seem qualified for his seat on the bench.

Litigant

Comment #: CA6833
Rating:1.0

Comments:
My year long family law case was just taken over because of judge rotation by this man. Was completely disinterested in the context and background of today's hearing. He completely disregarded the law regarding drug testing and federal employee standards, empowering my estranged personality disordered ex to force me into 1.5 years of the most strict drug and alcohol testing. I tested positive one time on an 80etg alcohol test 13 days prior to my scheduled visitation. He heard arguments from my attorney for three minutes, this despite my ex's pleadings are riddled with easily demonstrable lies. Good Lord, everything was beginning to go my way until the day this judge took over.

Other

Comment #: CA6226
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I am a mother. He took all of my custody from me bc I moved out of state for a job and school. I filed all the proper paperwork and I have never been deemed an unfit parrent. This is just a tip of the iceberg. He violated my right to due process and issued an order against a family member which also violated his right to due process. Can't wait until his reelection in 2017. Not to mention he is being reviewed by the judicial counsel and a major media outlet. If you have a problem with this judge submit your judicial complaints. Or, if you are a female litigant, before he hears your case, file a 170.6 form. You'll thank me ;)

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA5178
Rating:1.0

Comments:
This judge strikes me as very arbitrary and unwilling to listen to pertinent evidence. I have seen him four times now in pretrial matters in a child custody battle in my relative's divorce and I do not believe him to be fair or sound in judgements.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA5177
Rating:2.9

Comments:
I AGREE with the other comments. This judge looks down at the bench, while lawyers talk (no eye contact at all) and by his questions and statements indicate that he is not listening carefully. He seems to possible be a closet misogynist who does not really respect women litigants or lawyers, but that is just my observed opinion. Watch out for this judge. He has disregarded the child's well being frequently by not addressing pertinent evidence in a relative's divorce ex-parte hearings. I hope in some way, he will get out of family law. How about a little mercy and compassion for people who are going through hard times in their emotional lives?

Litigant

Comment #: CA4804
Rating:6.0

Comments:
I had only minimal contact with this judge, and only administrative-type legal tasks were done for me. But I have to say that Judge Hofer was pleasant, professional, and efficient.

Other

Comment #: CA4467
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I wish there were a zero for this judge rating. I hate even giving Judge Hofer a one. He gave increased visitation to my deadbeat ex who: 1) owes us >$100,000 in child support (and should be in jail for this); 2) has been arrested for being under the influence of drugs; 3) was domestically violent with me (and this was caught on video!); 4) abducted our child over the holidays across a state line (and Judge Hofer had to give me emergency physical/legal custody to go and have the deadbeat arrested); 5) was ordered supervised visitation by Judge Hofer, and the deadbeat hired a monitor who had a criminal violent felony and drug charges history; and etc., etc., etc. By the way, these 5 instances occurred in the short 10 months before Judge Hofer awarded this deadbeat increased visitation! We had a restraining order hearing, not even a visitation hearing, when Judge Hofer gave the increased visitation to the deadbeat without even hearing or asking how the supervised visitation went. The deadbeat had only had 6 visits supervised in a 4 month period! When my attorney asked the basis for Judge Hofer's decision on visitation, Judge Hofer replied, "If you want to discuss visitation further, set another court date," and left the courtroom. Since I paid my attorney $5,000 for her 1-day appearance, we haven't gone back. What a sad man that Judge Hofer is! Let's put his children in the deadbeat's custody for a weekend!

Court Staff

Comment #: CA4465
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I agree with the other comments. Judge Hofer makes rash decisions without analyzing evidence. I saw him terminate support for an unemployed spouse because the other side asked for it while at a hearing for another matter. Counsel pleaded to allow her to return with the hundred applications her client had submitted to find work before removing her support, and Judge Hofer said "no." He frequently allows everything to be considered at a hearing, yet is too afraid to change prior decisions, even if evidence shows it is by far the right thing to do. The worst part is that he appoints and defers to Minors' Counsels, forgetting that they are just attorneys who are educated, trained, and accustomed to taking sides, and do not understand the needs of a child enduring the complexity of a high-conflict divorce. You do not go to a business attorney for a divorce, and yet our court system puts unprepared attorneys like Judge Hofer on the Family Court bench. It's a difficult situation for all.

Other

Comment #: CA4194
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I filed a request for order and application for arrearages. Judge Hofer was my judge. I represented myself in court. Judge Hofer did not consider any evidence that I presented in court. I had bank statements clearly showing arrearages that were due. He ruled against me. He did not protect the rights of my child.

Other

Comment #: CA3997
Rating:1.0

Comments:
This judge makes rash decisions without waiting for evidence to be presented. It seems to be an attempt to get the parties out of his courtroom. These decisions occur at the end of the hearing, when there is no time left to argue the point. He portrays the image that he is actually listening to your case, but the evidence seems to be a complete waste of time. His decisions are not based on exhibits or evidence presented in the courtroom. I wish there was a better process to complain about judges or replace them. They are not always right and just. It makes our legal system such a joke! He is new to family law and it is evident in the courtroom. Perhaps he should have a mentor pop in once in a while to observe his decision-making process.