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NAKAHARA, Vernon Kenneth

Temperament/Demeanor

Most interviewees seem to like Judge Nakahara’s court-

room temperament. They said, “He’s fairly pleasant and very

even tempered,” “He’s patient,” “Judge Nakahara is very

professional yet has a sense of humor” and “[His mien is]

businesslike yet informal.” However, others were more criti-

cal and said, “He’s a little sarcastic” and “He’s not particu-

larly pleasant. He can be blunt, brusque and really intense

at times.”

Intelligence/Knowledge

Nearly all of the interviewees said Judge Nakahara’s legal

knowledge is fine. Their exact comments included: “It’s very

good,” “It’s average,” “It’s average to above average,” “It’s

very good” and “It’s above average to excellent.” Only one

lawyer complained and said, “[His legal acumen is] average

to slightly below average.”

On Motions

The majority of interviewees said Judge Nakahara’s

courtroom management style is “pretty relaxed,” “informal

and efficient,” “relatively relaxed” and “somewhat informal,

in a positive way.” Other attorneys offered a somewhat dif-

ferent perspective and said, “[His style is] somewhat formal”

and “It’s formal and efficient.” Most of the interviewees said

this jurist is usually polite to everyone who appears in his

courtroom. As two of them put it, “He’s extremely polite”

and “He’s absolutely polite.” Only one attorney disagreed

with the others and opined, “He’s very direct and blunt.”

Attorneys seem to like practicing in this judge’s courtroom.

They described its atmosphere as “attorney friendly,” “pretty

comfortable,” “affable. He doesn’t like surprises,” “profes-

sional and attorney friendly” and “formal but a decent place

to practice.” While discussing this judge’s courtroom atmo-

sphere, one final lawyer opined, “He’s genuinely friendly

with people he likes.”

On Trial

Only a minority of interviewees said Judge Nakahara lis-

tens closely to attorney arguments and keeps an open mind.

As one of them put it, “He takes the time to listen to each

party.” Those who were more critical said, “Judge Nakahara

seems to listen closely but he’s very prosecution oriented,”

“He has a pretty good idea about what he’s going to do before

the attorneys begin speaking,” “He listens closely but he

doesn’t always keep an open mind,” and “It’s hard to tell if

he’s listening closely because he usually knows what he’s

going to do before you begin your argument.” Nearly all of

the attorneys said they are pleased with the way this jurist

moves his cases. Half of them even said, “He moves cases

faster than his peers.” Others opined, “He moves cases at

an average” pace and “He’s not one to rush you.” Only one

lawyer complained slightly and said, “Judge Nakahara can

move things pretty slow, it just depends on the gravity of the

case before him.” Litigators offered mixed opinions regard-

ing the way this jurist handles his sentencing duties. Those

who were pleased said, “He’s very fair,” “He’s fair” and “He’s

fair without being overly sympathetic to the perpetrator.”

Those who were less impressed opined, “He’s stern,” “Judge

Nakahara isn’t particularly sympathetic to the parties” and

“He’s tough. He’ll sentence many defendants to the max.”

Continuances

Most of the interviewees said you have an “average”

chance of obtaining a continuance from Judge Nakahara.

Others said, “Judge Nakahara is more likely to grant one

because he’s sensitive to the needs of each attorney” and

“He’s very reasonable” about granting continuances.

Settlement

Every interviewee who evaluated Judge Nakahara’s

settlement and negotiating skills said, “He’s proactive.” They

further claimed that his skills are “good,” “above average”

and “strong.”

Proclivities

Most of the interviewees said they are pleased with Judge

Nakahara’s neutrality. Comments included: “He’s fair,” “He’s

impartial” and “He’s between fair and very fair.” However,

others were more critical and opined, “Judge Nakahara

leans slightly toward the D.A.” and “He leans moderately to

strongly toward the prosecution.” Attorneys provided addi-

tional comments concerning this judge. One of them said

he does a good job when interacting with jurors. He added,

“He’s very personable with them.” Another lawyer said that if

you request special jury instructions, “Judge Nakahara will

review the law and if it requires him to grant your request,

he’ll [do] it. But you better brief your authorities for him.”

Two interviewees just chose to praise this judge by say-

ing, “He’s got a sharp wit and a good sense of humor, yet

he’s never insulting” and “You won’t have to worry about

any surprises when you appear in front of him. None of

the highly experienced lawyers try to avoid him because

they know what they’re going to get.” One litigator warned,

“Even if he’s smiling at you and listening closely, you can’t

expect too many rulings in your favor ... “ One final lawyer

advised, “It’s important to brief issues for him and give him

the opportunity to digest them. Otherwise, if you ask him to

rule from the bench, he’ll just do an average job instead of

an above-average job.”

Summary

Although there was some disagreement, most interview-

ees said they like Judge Nakahara’s courtroom temperament

and find his legal knowledge acceptable. They also approve

of his courtroom management style. Lawyers offered mixed

opinions regarding Judge Nakahara’s willingness to listen

closely to their arguments and keep an open mind. (01F)

NAKAMURA, Kirk

Temperament/Demeanor

Most of the attorneys interviewed about Judge Nakamura,

while agreeing that he is a stickler for following rules, had no

complaints about his temperament. “His demeanor is reason-

able. His judicial demeanor is fine,” said one. Another said,

“Nakamura is pleasant. Nakamura is a very even-tempered

guy.” A third interviewee said Judge Nakamura has “nice

demeanor and is very professional. I’ve never known him

not to be professional or uncivil. He’s always been nice in

his courtroom.” One interviewee had a different view. “He’s a

smart [alek],” the attorney said. “He doesn’t really belong in a

judicial setting. He considers himself to be quite clever. He is

wrong about that, but nonetheless, he is very full of himself.”

Intelligence/Knowledge

Attorneys interviewed about Judge Nakamura were unan-

imous in their praise for his knowledge of law. “He has a

good grasp of the law,” said one. “He’s very bright. I’d give

him a nine out of 10 on knowledge of law,” said another

interviewee. A third attorney said, “He is very up on the

law. He’s actually a real stickler for knowing the law and he

knows a great deal of it himself.”

On Motions

An attorney who has appeared on motions in Judge

Nakamura’s court, and tried cases against him before he

was appointed to the bench, said, “I know he’s very rules-

oriented and does things by the book.” Other interviewees

agreed. One recalled a case in which the judge refused

to budge from a pretrial ruling, which was requested by

the attorney for the other side, though that attorney later

sought a modification, to bar an expert from testifying

beyond the scope of the deposition. “The judge told the other

attorney, ‘you wanted the ruling and you got it.’ Was that

being a stickler? Well, yes, he read it with a fine-tooth comb

and stuck to his ruling. But it was the right ruling.” The

interviewee added, “I didn’t always win in front of him but

in terms of his intelligence, judicial demeanor, thinking both

sides of an issue out and making fair rulings, I find him to

be terribly outstanding. I think he’s a wonderful judge. He’s

one of the better judges in Orange County, frankly.” Another

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attorney added, “I’ve had some difficulty in getting him to

enter default judgments. He tends to be a little bit more nit-

picky than other judges, but he seems to do a good job. He

could have done it quickly because there was nobody on the

other side. But he really protected the right of the defendant

in that case and made sure that whatever I presented was

proper evidence and that it was well documented. I can’t

fault him for that.” Most interviewees said they appreciated

Judge Nakamura’s insistence on getting things right. As one

put it, “He will listen. He makes sure that whatever is done

in front of him is well documented. He doesn’t give anything

away, that’s for damned sure.”

On Trial

One interviewee said Judge Nakamura is “easy to try a

case in front of.” Most other interviewees had no complaints

about trying cases in front of Judge Nakamura, though

they said he is anything but casual and easy-going about

proceedings in his court. “He is a real stickler,” said one.

“He makes sure that every t is crossed and every i is dot-

ted. He’s very, very particular about seeing that all of the

requirements are complied with.” Another said, “He’s going

to require you to follow the rules in terms of your trial

preparation. You’re going to have to do your trial prepara-

tion and you’d better be prepared because he is not one

to waste jury time. That’s the reason he makes you be

prepared.” Another interviewee praised Judge Nakamura’s

performance in a lengthy, “very technical” bench trial with a

lot of money at stake. “I was really appreciative of his abil-

ity to sort through a ton of numbers and charts. He had a

very good knowledge of the rules. He was very aware and

very intuitive. He could tell that the other people were lying

and he called them on it. When the other attorney started to

raise the same issue in his final argument, Nakamura told

him to move on. He had heard enough already. They were

alleging fraud and he just told the guy straight out that he

wasn’t convinced.”

Continuances

Judge Nakamura doesn’t like to waste the court’s time

so he will carefully consider requests for continuances to

assure that there is a good reason for the requests, said

interviewees, though none complained that he is unreason-

able about it. “He is extremely efficient,” one interviewee

said. “But I have no complaints” about his policy on con-

tinuances. Another interviewee said, “I would not call him

liberal” on granting continuances. “If you’ve got a good basis,

you’re going to get one. But if you just say, ‘Gee, we didn’t do

our discovery,’ Nakamura is not going to grant it, I can tell

you that right now.”

Settlement

None of the attorneys interviewed about Judge Nakamura

had extensive experience with him in settlement negotia-

tions. One interviewee explained that a case that was tried by

Judge Nakamura was sent to another judge for a settlement

conference prior to trial. “When it got to Judge Nakamura,

it was ready for trial. It was past the point of settling.”

Another interviewee had a case before Judge Nakamura that

was resolved prior to trial, “but not because he settled it.

Judges generally do not do settlement conferences in Orange

County. They have attorneys come in to handle that. You can

ask Nakamura, but most trial attorneys don’t ask the trial

judge for a settlement conference.”

Proclivities

All interviewees said Judge Nakamura expects attorneys

to rigidly adhere to the rules. Most interviewees had no

complaints about that since he treats both sides the same

way. “He is someone that is going to enforce the rules, which

means you better follow the court rules,” said one interview-

ee. But it’s “an even playing field, and that’s what I want,”

added the attorney, who specializes in representing plaintiffs

in medical malpractice cases. “You better make sure your t’s

are crossed and your i’s are dotted,” said another attorney

who added, “I have no complaints about that.” One inter-

viewee, who was late for a court appearance and suffered the

consequences, was more critical of Judge Nakamura than

the others. “He is a stickler when it suits him. Otherwise,

he is not,” the attorney said. “That’s a problem, if he takes

a dislike to someone as he did with me. Maybe he was jus-

tified. But I was engaged in another court and I could not

get away and unfortunately I was late. When I got to his

courtroom, he was fairly nasty about it. But I just couldn’t

be in two places at once. I was wrong, but not intentionally.”

According to that interviewee, Judge Nakamura was still

steamed about the attorney’s late appearance two months

later in an entirely unrelated matter. “I think he carried over

his animosity. He held a grudge and that’s wrong, I think. I

don’t get angry when a judge rules against me as long as it

is a reasonable thing, whether I really think it is or not. But

I thought the stuff [Judge Nakamura] was doing was wrong,”

the attorney said.

Summary

Judge Nakamura knows the court rules well and is ada-

mant that attorneys adhere closely to them. Most interview-

ees appreciated that approach, which they said the judge

applies even-handedly to both sides. But lawyers had cer-

tainly better know the rules and follow them when appearing

before Judge Nakamura. (08L)

NAKATA, Eric M.

Temperament/Demeanor

“As a person, I think he’s a great guy,” said one of the

attorneys who commented about Judge Nakata. But that

attorney said his congenial personality disappears and he

turns tyrannical once he takes the bench. “He can be very

demeaning. Ask anybody how he likes banter, for example, if

he starts to say something and you give him your view, he’ll

cut you right off. He makes no bones about treating lawyers

and defendants with disrespect,” the attorney said. A second

interviewee said, “Somehow, he got it into his head that to

be a judge, you have to be a bully. It really is unbecoming

for a man of his caliber. I think it could perhaps be a cul-

tural thing. He is Japanese-American, and I think perhaps

it was instilled in him that important institutions like the

court demand severe respect. It is way overboard. I think

if he could see how unbecoming his demeanor is, he would

change.” A deputy district attorney agreed with defense

attorneys that Judge Nakata has a mean streak. “He has a

reputation. He made one of the new attorneys from our office

cry,” the prosecutor said.

Intelligence/Knowledge

Judge Nakata “thinks he knows everything,” one inter-

viewee said. Other interviewees said that he, in fact, is

“very knowledgeable on the law,” as one put it. A criminal

defense attorney who handled a death penalty case in Judge

Nakata’s court said he was on top of all of the legal issues,

and there were many complicated ones. “In that case, there

was faulty DNA evidence and minors who had testified on a

prior occasion. There were some intricate factual and legal

issues that needed to be decided, and I thought he did a

great job,” the attorney said.

On Motions

Though many complained about Judge Nakata’s demean-

or, none of the interviewees complained about his rulings.

“He makes good rulings. He is going to call it the way it is,”

said one criminal defense attorney who added, “I have a lot

of respect for him. I think he’s a really good judge.” Another

defense attorney said, “He makes a big effort to appreciate

the legal motions that are brought and to follow the law. I’m

not saying he necessarily ruled in my favor every time, but

he did rule in the defense’s favor on a number of in limine

motions.” A defense attorney who has often filed affidavits of

prejudice against Judge Nakata, based on concerns about

his demeanor, not because his rulings are biased, acknowl-

edged, “My perception is that he would grant a motion, if the

facts and law supported it, but he is not going to reconsider

anything that you have to say. And if you say it more than

once, you’re going to wind up being chastised in his court-

room.” A deputy district attorney said, “He is hard, but his

rulings are usually fair and accurate.”

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