Comment #: CA55087
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
I have been going to family court for over a decade now and had 3/4 different judges handling my case. I'm not perfect but Judge Bell is the by far the worst I have ever dealt with! She is moody, condescending, easily manipulate and flat out doesnt not have a clear understanding of family law. She definitely favors the moms and puts all the dads at a disadvantage off the bat. If you do not have an attorney, you are screwed.

-She will fault you for having an opinion
-court staff hates her
-she lets her own emotions dictate the case and favors the moms because she's going through the same thing.
-if you are going up again a narcissist, watch out because she will fall for it.

Bell is a mandatory 170.6.

Comment #: CA54628
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Judge Bell, you are not supposed to pretend to be someone else and give yourself positive fake reviews! Stop it! You are the worst judge in the history of the Great State of California. You are the destroyer of families! You should resign in shame and crawl under the rock where you were hiding. Absolutely despicable person and worse judge.

Comment #: CA52687
Rating:10.0
Comments:
Thank you very much to judge Bell , for allowing me to reconnect with my daughter after 9 months.

Comment #: CA50703
Rating:1.0
Comments:
I was deprived of a fair trial before an unbiased judge, violating CA state and federal constitutional due process rights. Judge Bell demonstrated partiality throughout the hearing. Shortly after the hearing began, Judge Bell started asking questions, not allowing the attorney to question. Judge Bell immediately spoke to me in a derogatory manner and with a highly derogatory connotation. Judge Bell acted dismissively and appeared angered/annoyed that I had dared to ask specific questions that were respectfully addressed toward her partiality within the hearing. Judge Bell truncated and rushed the hearing. She disallowed critical evidence and exacerbated my anxiety, then blamed me for being emotional and questioned my credibility because further testimony was not developed, then used this as a basis to deny a child custody investigation and to deny any weekends to me. Judge Bell acted more as an advocate and lawyer of the other party instead of remaining impartial. She ruled contrary to existing case law. She did not specify the reasons for her custody ruling and why she believed it was in the children's best interest. Judge Bell refused to continue the status quo parenting timeshare that existed since 2021 between the parties. She denied me any weekend time at all, and she gave me no ability to argue or put on testimony regarding why the new timeshare that was requested and was brought before the court after the conclusion of all of the evidence was not in the best interest of the minor children. The court failed to remain impartial and refused to follow the Family Code in favor of acquiescing to the highly inappropriate vindictive demand from the other party, granting their request to deny me any weekend time. Judge Bell made custody orders without legal or factual reasoning to support her orders and contravening existing law and my due process rights. Throughout the hearing, Judge Bell failed to follow the statute's requirements and displayed a lack of impartiality.

Comment #: CA49060
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Calling her a judge is an insult to all judges everywhere. She will go down in history as one of the worst judges ever. She is totally biased against men. Anyone who is intelligent—prepared to get punished, she has a huge inferiority complex. The other review is spot on. She is an automatic 170.6 in every case. She cannot even keep a staff because no one wants to work for her. She is ripping families apart and damaging children in the name of doing whatever the mother wants. She claims to be making these horrendous decisions because they are “in the best interest” of the children. But if Judge Bell really wanted to do what was in the best interest of all children involved in cases before her, then she would resign in disgrace and get a job she is qualified for—asking “would you like fries with that?” I hope her baby daddy leaves her, takes the kids, and she gets a family law judge who mistreats her the same way she has done to so many male litigants and attorneys. Bottom line — Michele Bell is a criminal with a black robe. She seems to get real pressure from inflicting unwarranted pain on men. No wonder she wasn’t on an appointment list — she is incompetent and she doesn’t seem to be aware.

Comment #: CA48310
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Judge Bell is the worst family law judge in Orange County history, and likely the State of California. She rules with an iron fist and a tin foil mind. She always thinks she is the smartest person in the room even though that is only true when she is alone.

If you like to play Russian roulette with you kids and your life, then this is the judge for you. If you want an impartial judge who knows the law and follows it, then run for the hills! If you are a man, especially a father, you do not want this judge under any circumstances. There are so many horror storylines being shared on the attorney listservs and social media and she has only been a judge for a few months. Think Manny Real but not as smart and more biased and vicious. She makes decisions based on initial reactions and without letting the attorney or the party present evidence or argument because she says it is not relevant or she doesn’t think it is important.

Judge Bell is a mandatory 170.6. If you are an attorney and you do not use your 170.6 on Judge Bell, you need to notify your malpractice carrier of the impending claim.

Judge Bell is an insult to all judgments and the entire the legal profession. The only bench she should be sitting on is a bus bench. She should not be judging anything, and until she is removed the presiding judge should assign her to hear only traffic arraignments.