"The Robing Room: CA State Judges

Hon. Julia Spain	See Rating Details
Judge Superior Court
Alameda County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 4.1 - 9 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 1.0 - 1 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. Julia Spain

Comments

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA53851
Rating:3.2

Comments:
Rules by fiat. Doesn't follow the law. You want someone else.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA36014
Rating:1.7

Comments:
Judge Spain is arrogant, rude/unprofessional, biased, and dismissive. She's not a complex thinker, will not consider nuanced arguments, and doesn't seem to fully appreciate her role as a judge. I'll peremptory challenge her the next time I draw her.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA31655
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Some judges do their homework in order to gain better knowledge and understanding of the law. She's NOT in that category.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA31596
Rating:1.5

Comments:
170.6 her if you have her in civil lit.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA31158
Rating:1.4

Comments:
Judge Spain forms extreme opinions before she has become acquainted with the facts and legal merits of a matter. Her pre-trial, trial, and post-trial rulings are then consistently designed to actively support and defend her initial opinions, regardless of the facts and law that emerge during the proceedings.

If it starts to become too obvious that the facts and law contradict her pre-formed opinions,Judge Spain will begin to ignore previous orders, rules of civil procedure, and basic legal principles. She will allow the party she favors to file and move for virtually anything at almost any time, and she will sustain any and all of their objections. The disfavored party is confronted with denial of all objections, refusal of all motions, and even refusal to consider motions that have gone through full briefing on the basis that they are not properly "before the court" for some pretextual reason. (She resorts to the latter as her fail-safe when she can concoct no basis for denying the substance of the motion.)

Proceedings before Judge Spain are not searches for justice but exercises in the imposition of her will and ego. Judge Spain lacks the impartiality, judicial temperament, and respect for the law that are the sine qua non of being a judge. If she wishes to help her community, she should step down.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA13566
Rating:5.7

Comments:
She makes decisions quickly and decisively but not always correctly. She does not ensure compliance with pre-trial orders nor does she make sure the parties have received proper notice and an opportunity to be heard. In many pre-trial and trial rulings the motions or submissions were not served on opposing counsel but she ruled on them anyway even with notice of lack of proper service and without allowing any opposition to be filed. She seems more interested in getting the matter finished then in making sure justice is done.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA6693
Rating:9.8

Comments:
Have had two lengthy complex civil trials with her in the past two years.
She was diligent, thoughtful, and fair.
Read everything submitted, worked nights and weekends, ruled according to the law and kept the cases moving along. Both trials started with over 16 lawyers involved - I believe we all enjoyed being in her courtroom.

Other

Comment #: CA5624
Rating:1.0

Comments:
This Judge made a ruling without showing proof as to why. The summons was shown to be untrue per her own judgment however she still judged in favor of the opposing side.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA3817
Rating:8.9

Comments:
I regularly appear in her courtroom, and I have had four trials in front of her. Got acquittals on two and her sentencing in the other two was less than the D.A. requested. In one case, she didn't hold my client to answer. No complaints about her. I found her to be fair to both sides. If you are prepared, and make a good showing, you'll get a fair shake. She doesn't swallow whatever the D.A. says -- you can't complain about that, since it's so rare!

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA2922
Rating:3.9

Comments:
She is punitive, short-tempered, and favored the civil defense attorney in our case. I would absolutely challenge her in any civil plaintiff's PI case.