"The Robing Room: CA State Judges

Hon. Claudia J. Silbar	See Rating Details
Judge Superior Court
Orange County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 5.5 - 12 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 3.0 - 15 rating(s)	Please send me alerts on this judge E-mail Address:

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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. Claudia J. Silbar

Comments

Litigant

Comment #: CA47163
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Warning, this judge is inherently Biased. In my case the evaluators June 2019 ordered the minor including minors counsel and both parents for the minor to have counseling/therapy.
Every 6 mths the petitioner has filed contempt of court orders and all she does is again order the respondent ( mother) to immediately get counseling and she fails to do so.
Then this was assigned to Minors Counsel to assist get Counseling .

Both Minors counseling and The respondent have violated the court orders and in 4 years nothing has been done in the best interest of the minor. Bit I missed one mediation during Covid she sanctioned me fined me.
She has double standards, verbally insulating in her courtroom.

Have filed 6 contempt of orders that involve 6 court order violations and this Judge still refuses to take any action .

I wish could afford help but in the meantime the minor is suffering from this judges lack of her own court orders.

I have 17 other bias actions of this Judge but too long to type here.

Other

Comment #: CA45139
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
This woman should truly not be handing down decisions from the bench. She displays sarcasm and makes inappropriate comments toward one side while showing openness and empathy toward the other. She even went as far as to verbalize her liking of the other side while accusing our side of drug use (there was no evidence of that). She does not consider (or read) valid and copious documentation provided by the side she is biased against, and yes, prejudges family court cases prior to hearing them. She refused to follow recommendations of two 730 exams (court mandated psy hiatric family assessments. She favors the father's sides and acknowledges that she is the stepmother for her husband's children. She unfairly displays anger toward the side she has disfavored and stops them from speaking. After witnessing these behaviors once, I made it a point to return to other hearings and heard similar situations. I believe she also has overseen the judicial behavior of other judges, putting her in the position of denying fairness when questioned. I seriously doubt the mental health of Silbar.

Court Staff

Comment #: CA44596
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
This pathetic excuse for a judge emotionally identifies with abusers and she has the blood of women and children on her hands.

If you are ever a victim of domestic violence, do yourself a favor and keep it out of her courtroom. This woman will not help you, she will sense your vulnerability and pile on because it’s entertaining to her. She will not look at your evidence and she will make your life a living hell for even bothering to report it to her.

The most bizarre thing about her is that she does it right in the open. Every single lawyer knows what she’s about because the same scenario is being reported over and over again, by numerous victims over many many years.

Litigant

Comment #: CA39857
Rating:4.0

Comments:
I feel like instead of doing whats best for the child, its keep the child parent relationship no matter what. I did everything i was suppose to, the other parent didnt. Even said he would eventually (whatever that actually means) and that was completely fine with her. The other parent has shown over and over again that our child is only a priority if i pay, make the effort. And have the responsibility. He has shown over and over he doesnt put our child first or even close to first. And thats completely fine. He has no consequences for not doing his part. But if it were reversed i would be in trouble. Ive seen her listen more to litigants who have lawyers. So i guess being a female and no lawyer means me and our child should get screwed.

Litigant

Comment #: CA37655
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
There is no pretense of objectivity in Silbar's courtroom. She clearly favors male litigants. I have watched her berate mothers and continually hush them, while allowing fathers free rein. She has done the same in my case. She has completely destroyed my family - my children in particular. She is also smug, passive aggressive, and lazy. There should be more judicial accountability in family court. This woman has no business being a judge.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA37592
Rating:1.4

Comments:
This judge is AWFUL! She has repeatedly put innocent children in danger by ignoring father's abuse, causing them to be abused over and over, for years. The kids are suffering and the judge does not care. She considers the abusive father's right to see the kids over the children's right not to be abused. She is HORRIBLE.

Other

Comment #: CA36800
Rating:2.0

Comments:
Claudia Silbar knew that I had accidentally hired my ex husbands law partners. Claudia Silbar knew that my ex was fired from DCSS in Orange County for embezzlement yet she continued to say his testimony was credible. My children are grown now and tell me they told Claudia Silbar their dad lied, yet judge Silbar ignored them. She an angry and passive aggressive woman.

Litigant

Comment #: CA36553
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
This judge called a 730 evaluation, and did not listen to the diagnosis of my spouse. He outright lied about having a meth problem until his hair test revealed a high amount of meth. She did not hold him in contempt. My kids were granted overnight visits. When he continued to drag me to court the judge told us BOTH she may take the kids to foster care. End result: my son was in text message and otherwise fueling our son to drug use. He made meth in the condo he rented .. and after all of this: my son was an addict, fueled by his own genetics and his father. I had no where to turn as she ... did not do her job.. her job was to read the 730 and my ex was diagnosed a sociopath. And his means his energy etc and actions were just that. My son died at the age of 22 and this judge in my opinion gave me no where to turn and has limited insight as to how sociopaths work. I followed each and every order of the court, and did not only my job but my ex husbands.

Litigant

Comment #: CA35435
Rating:2.0

Comments:
She does not read the information given to her. Ex husband ordered a 730 custody evaluation and she never bothered to even open it. She is not for women. Does not support women nor does she support the children. Why 50/50 custody is the mainstream is still unclear to me or many of the other mothers or fathers fighting for time with their children - when they have been the primary caregiver most of the children's lives. We need reform the court system and someone like Judge Silbar is not equipped to handle family court. How these judges are appointed to the bench with no prior experience in family law is ridiculous. A judge can HAVE prior experience in traffic court and yet they appoint them to family law? Silbar needs to retire or start listening to the facts - BETTER YET - READ THE COSTLY 730'S THAT ARE PUT IN FRONT OF HER. I came to court with my attorney for a health issue related to my kids and their medical condition - and yet she that it best to reduce my child support - when that wasn't what we were there for. When my attorney tried to re engage Silbar why we were in court in the first place - she did not follow protocol. what the heck? All the evidence pointed to our side - yet my attorney said she was in a bad mood that day and that's why we had the verdict we did. we need reform! OUR CALIFORNIA FAMILY COURT SYSTEM IS A JOKE and we are the idiots paying for it!

Litigant

Comment #: CA30848
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Law is a highly contentious business, so I always take negative reviews against anyone with a grain of salt. However, when the negative reviews all the same thing, it must be true. You can add my case to the pile.

Judge Silbar broke our family. After listening to Family Court Services testify to the 20-ish minutes worth of reasons why my ex should not have had custody, and nothing but a glowing review of me, Judge Silbar still ruled against my child's best interests. The list against my ex included a felony, multiple misdemeanors, outstanding warrants in multiple states, a history of drug use, multiple RO's against her (yes, HER) including two from me, mental illness involving narcissistic tendencies... the list goes on.

On the other hand, I didn't have a job (because ex was a sociopath who kept me in a constant state of fear), so instead of ending my nightmare and just ordering child support, she ordered a 50/50 custody arrangement. If that wasn't bad enough, Judge Silbar put the control of my child's school in my ex's hands, giving her the foothold she needed to eventually move our child out of state.

After all that misery, my child now lives with me and his other mom can't be found. Everything I had told the court would come to pass did so, including the breakdown - right on schedule - of her current relationship.
If there were a way to sue, I would do it in a heartbeat. All of the signs were there and Judge Silbar made a deliberate choice to ignore them.

What this all tells me - in the context of her sexism - is that isn't not sexism at all. We're both women, and in my case, also disabled. The problem is that she views employment as strength and a nurturing demeanor as a weakness. In my case, I played the role of the mother, and she played the role of the father, but it was the role, not the gender, that was the problem in my opinion.

As an aside, my ex has a relative in the Clerk's Office and my case was reassigned from another judge the day it was filed, so not only do I believe there is corruption in that office, it means that the person in question assigned me to Judge Silbar because she knew the likely result.

Disrobe Claudia Silbar.

Litigant

Comment #: CA29269
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Judge Silbar presided over my divorce which involved 3 minor children. My attorney was correct, as we alleged my ex husband was on Chrystal meth which was an abrupt change in his otherwise reasonable behavior of 17 years. HE denied and purgered himself and continued to bother the court with unnecessary ex parte hearings and was rarely admonished. A 730 Evaluation showed him now to be a sociopath - the evaluation was ordered by the court.
Well, here we are 11 years later, she had given father overnight visits with these kids, and we have now found that he used drugs in front of the kids, on visits and our son has been encouraged to imbibe with him. 4 years of rehab for our son. This is a very unfortunate ending to decisions that should have been to protect children.
This judge should be disrobed, and disbarred.

Other

Comment #: CA28731
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I have had the sad misfortune of seeing Claydia Stlbar in action on numerous occasions. I watched her glare at female participants as the walk to the bench, i have heard her interrupt folks who were trying to speak to insult the party and push her own biased opinion which has no legal basis. She threatens litigants, and I have witnessed her call out from the bench to make comments to observers in the audience. All these are violation of Orange Counties code of judicial conduct.

She favors certain attorneys who are her friends and seems to have a bias against women (which I am not I would add but a man who believes in Values and family).

Claudia Sylbar is a bully and way too much ego to be a Judge. She is representative of what is wrong with our court system abd damage to our family units..

Claydia Sylbar, you are trash but I know that you will answer for your sins one day. The damage your bias causes to these children and the stumbling block you create my LORD has already answered.

I pray for you.

Litigant

Comment #: CA25317
Rating:7.0

Comments:
I find Judge Silbar to be an interesting mix of many of the comments I read here. In addition to the fact that she was the judge during my divorce/custody battle, I also watched her in action with many other cases over the years. While not every detail of my case went my way, I can say for certain that Judge Silbar cares very much for the families and especially the children in her cases.

She is not at all biased against women, I think she is just protective of both parents being involved in a child's life. She refuses to hear nonsensical charges without proof. She is wise and fair.

She does occasionally lack patience - especially with self represented litigants. She could move things along more quickly with a little guidance.

She is very qualified and caring.

Litigant

Comment #: CA25239
Rating:10.0

Comments:
The honorable judge Silbar is 100% fair and looks at the evidence presented and not allegations that carry any weight or simply hearsay. She judges males and females equally with all the proper evidence provided, as it should in 2019. She doesn't side with mothers just because, as so many do. She understands Fathers have equal rights (as they should). Thank you Judge Silbar!

Other

Comment #: CA23841
Rating:1.0

Comments:
This judge is unapologetically biased against female litigants and counsel, to the extent that she has no hesitation to cut off or disallow argument from prejudiced counsel, often resorting to disrespectful and patronizing comments and ridicule of parties and counsel. Regardless of her expertise, she demonstrates at this point in her career that she is incapable of prioritizing that justice be done above all else, but is often more likely to retaliate or punish those with whom she disagrees. She wholly lacks the requisite judicial temperament for her bench, and should step down.

Litigant

Comment #: CA16138
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
I am currently assigned to c63 I’ve had 2 attorneys and now I’m pro per the next time I stand before her. She has choose sides & after reading the comments....a fair judgement for me... prolly not.The problem is I’m female I should just throw in the towel. Pro per + female = I’m screwed

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA14451
Rating:3.1

Comments:
She placed my children in a Meth addicts hands. It changed my son's life my daughers are productive. It would be interesting to see her hearing if there was one with my son. You are terrible at protecting minors from crime.

Litigant

Comment #: CA13616
Rating:1.0

Comments:
In addition to Hon. Silbar's judicial duties in the Orange County Court, she also serves as the Chair of the Temporary Judge Committee where she is fully responsible for a judicial conduct of Temporary Judge Balmages, who was presiding in my Small Case 30-2017-00910765 SWC-CJC, allowing him gravely violate Judicial Cannons, therefore, disgrace the court.

In that case Balmages acted as a total moron-mongoloid (IQ medical definition) having a judicial knowledge of the door knob.

Despite of the above, Silbar continues harboring Balmages in the Department 6 allowing him to bastardize the justice for other litigants.

By doing so Silbar clearly demonstrated her grave judicial incompetents so -- got help you in her courtroom.

Litigant

Comment #: CA13615
Rating:1.0

Other

Comment #: CA11721
Rating:10.0

Comments:
Judges are elected for a reason. This judge sees truth, no matter how muddy the water.

I am forever grateful for her. She protect my rights to my child and saw truth through stacks of lies and anger. She is tough, but fair and just.

Adam

Other

Comment #: CA10143
Rating:1.0

Comments:
My experience with this judge is that she is bias. In my 2008 custody hearing I had concerns and suspicions of drug use by the other party. When I brought it up and requested a drug test to be done she dismissed me. Forward two years, I had to file a restraining order for harassment which she also dismissed without even looking at the evidence let alone hearing my side. Now my ex is in rehab because my suspicions were right. Something could have happened to my children and I probably could've been held liable all because she was bias and never gave me the benefit of the doubt and listened to me.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA8945
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Worst Judge ever... Pray you never end up in her court room but if you do you have the right to transfer out within a two week period so be sure to get out!

Other

Comment #: CA8628
Rating:2.0

Comments:
Limited ability with family law. Incapable of seeing to the demise of minors a pro per sociopath, whom she ordered to be evaluated at our expense. She is idiotic and clearly impatient with family law and should not judge in that type of court. She deserves to learn if she is willing to understand the process and impact of her decisions on minors. Luckily the parent she prefers is using crystal meth to this day. While the parent raising the children while the parent in opposition is using, is taking care of the children in spite of opposing parents disregard for her order. I refuse to enter her court again. She is a complete family law court moron.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA8425
Rating:1.4

Comments:
This Judge has taken away my children. I'm a single mother. I love them dearly. She gave them to a negligent father, who claims he's re-married -but we are still LEGALLY SEPARATED!!

Court Staff

Comment #: CA6727
Rating:10.0

Comments:
As an attorney that has been practicing family law in Orange County for many years, I can personally attest to the fact that Judge Silbar is one of the best family law judges on the bench in Orange County. She gives everybody a fair shot and makes her decisions based on the law. We need more judges like her.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA4262
Rating:8.6

Comments:
Although one of Orange County's best family law judges in recent years, Judge Silbar has had to quietly take heat from litigants who were unwilling to accept the consequences of litigation, i.e., the decision was placed in the judge's hands once settlement options were rejected. Litigants lacking sufficient introspection to realize they were practically bluffing their way to trial with a loser's hand learn when they should have folded rather than calling. There cannot be two winners; Judge Silbar knows that and usually makes the right call.

Court Staff

Comment #: CA3534
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Judge Silbar refuses to read case materials, prejudges cases and makes inappropriate outbursts and attacks parties without justification.
She fakes knowing the law, flip flops from day to day on what she thinks would be her tentative only to do a 180.
She has a clear bias against women and moms, perhaps stemming from a bad event in her youth. Who knows?
She just doesn't belong on the bench and should have never been appointed to this most valuable and worthy position.
The sooner she retires and draws her pension the more justice people will receive.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA3294
Rating:10.0

Comments:
Judge Silvar is an excellent Judge

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA3138
Rating:10.0

Comments:
She is truly in my opinion the best judge in the family panel in OC. She treats everyone equally the same ith respect, knows the law very well, has a very good memory with facts of the case, and has no bias against fathers or mothers one way or the other. I represented a father attempting to obtain passport for his son, despite the image the other side attempted to create my client as a monster child abductor, she followed the law, allowed my client to get the child a passport, and he was able to travel with his son and return safely back to U.S. She is just great, wish more judges had the guts and great instincts like she does.

Litigant

Comment #: CA1980
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Judge Silbar has a very balanced approach when it comes to children seeing both parents. She does not carry the old school "Mom bias" that some judges have.

I'm glad my daughter is out of the bad situation she was in before. Would be great if she was Presiding Judge over Family Law Courts. Keep up the good work Judge Silbar. Signed a loving Father.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA594
Rating:10.0

Comments:
Judge Silbar runs her family court room well. she takes no beef from pro pers she is fair and she does not roll over for the good old lawyers, she rules the way she see it in the law. I believe you receive a fair hearing in her court.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA229
Rating:6.4

Comments:
She was a superstar, easy-going judge before she was bounced out of family law and sent to civil, then she fought her way back to family law and now she is a terror. I don't know what happened but she has the worst temperament of any judge in family law.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA103
Rating:1.5

Comments:
This judge is corrupt and biased against pro se litigants. She prejudges matters and uses inappropriate humor in the courtroom.