"The Robing Room: CA State Judges

Hon. Mark C. Kim	See Rating Details
Judge Superior Court
Los Angeles County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 6.5 - 11 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: - 0 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. Mark C. Kim

Comments

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA54286
Rating:2.9

Comments:
Bad temper, rude, and self-absorbed. Should not be on the bench.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA52915
Rating:8.0

Comments:
This is one of the more intense courtroom experiences in southern California, and maybe one of the most intense state-court experiences anywhere.

Trial goes Mon-Fri, no dark days or breaks, no wasting the jury's time and no excuses. You will usually get assigned a trial date about a year out from when the complaint was filed. You will not get extra time for discovery or settlement talks or whatever. If you are slow effecting service, you will get hammered.

He rules quickly and decisively. He certainly makes the occasional legal error, but that's to be expected from somebody who's actually calling balls and strikes instead of taking everything under submission after multiple rounds of briefing. There is no such thing as being overprepared in this department. If the court is wrong about something, you had better be ready to tell him why.

He seems to read everything, and expects you to be as prepared as he is. He does not have the patience for lengthy oral argument, and will cut you off pretty quickly - but he is not close-minded. If you get right to the point, you can sometimes move him off a tentative.

Show up to your final status conference ready to go, with all exhibits and trial docs locked and loaded. Do not show up without trial docs because you are 90% of the way to getting a settlement done. The last person who tried that was physically shaking by the time they left the courtroom.

Speaking of which, his demeanor can be harsh, and occasionally even disparaging. His DA background is also evident, and he seems to lean somewhat pro-plaintiff, especially on bad-facts/good-law cases.

But overall, this is probably one of the best trial judges working today.

Civil Litigation - Govt.

Comment #: CA52696
Rating:1.4

Comments:
To say 'lacks judicial temperament' would be a mild statement. He gets off on barking at counsel and interrupting them mid-sentence. He didn't read the briefs. He thinks he knows everything. He'll go through the motions of judicial process, but his main goal is to get out of the courtroom as soon as possible. He's just generally speaking an asshole with a Napoleon complex. Would've made a great Rumpole of the Bailey quintessential arrogant short-tempered narrow-minded idiot judge character, though.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA48983
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
He approaches complex civil cases like a criminal judge or DA. Has no interest in discussing any issue or listening to counsel. He lacks appropriate judicial temperament.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA40715
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Great trial judge. Makes you happy to be a lawyer. Be prepared. Stick with the evidence. A compassionate, fair, smart guy who is prepared and has a crazy memory.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA40201
Rating:9.8

Comments:
As others have said he reads the papers and is well prepared for law and motion. He's willing to make a hard call. He is generally convivial. Avoid being unprepared or long winded with him, I've seen him come down hard.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA39587
Rating:9.3

Comments:
He puts in the work, reads the papers and understands complex issues, is willing to make difficult decisions, and moves cases forward. Oral argument is not perfunctory, he moves a bit off his tentatives with good argument. He generally has a good demeanor on the bench. This is a good draw.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA37488
Rating:7.6

Comments:
I appeared before him years ago when he was in the criminal court. He's more relaxed now. He definitely reads the papers, has a good sense for the facts, and seems to know the law pretty well. He's a pretty good judge, very thorough.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA34183
Rating:2.5

Comments:
Pretty awful judge. Not bright and misapplies the law.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA24776
Rating:9.1

Comments:
Excellent Judge in multi-week civil case. Kept the trial moving and was fair and prompt in his rulings.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA16058
Rating:10.0

Comments:
Judge Kim is one of the few, very few judges, that actually reads the papers, applies the law without bias, and gives both sides a fair opportunity to present their arguments. Not many of these judges left.

Other

Comment #: CA13195
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Paper this judge.
Biased, unfair, unjust.
Have your case heard by someone else.
Might be prejudiced against other minorities or might be oro Asian group!!!
Ruling in one of the cases clearely showed a litigant at a disandvantage, supported by evidence, testimony and opponent's own declaration.
Judge's decision was surprising.
If your Middle Eastern or of a dark skin, run from this judge. He might not have made the transition from Prosecutor to judge, despite years on the bench.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA451
Rating:1.9

Comments:
Imagine the most officious and hostile police deputy you possibly can, then fit it into a short man. That's this judge.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA406
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
This man is atrocious, and a disgrace to the bench. He has never left the District Attorney's office, in his mind. When a jury was hung, he actually asked the D.A. if his office would mind if a mistrial was declared. What? He is not very intelligent at all, and will not listen to arguments contrary to the position taken by the prosecutor. He seems to believe that his position as a judge should be to protect and bolster the prosecution position.