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• Author: Mark Thompson/Elizabeth Smith
• Pages: 960-965

Retired Judges

950Lachs California Judge Reviews

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LACHS, Stephen Michael

Temperament/Demeanor

Attorneys report that Judge Lachs has varying moods.

Some attorneys have experienced him as unpleasant, and

some experience him as cordial and easygoing. “He is cour-

teous.” “He is somewhat courteous.” “He is calm.” “He is

impatient.” “He has a little temperament problem.” “He can

explode.” “He will interrupt.”

Intelligence/Knowledge

He was given generally high marks for his intelligence

and knowledge by attorneys, who specifically pointed out his

expertise with jury instructions. “He is smart.” “He is fairly

bright.” “He seems to know what he is doing.” “He knows the

law.” “He is knowledgeable in jury instructions.” “He helped

write BAJI 8th jury instructions.”

On Motions

Judge Lachs begins his court on a timely basis each day

and expects counsel to be on time, but he is not known

for being consistently prepared. “He starts on time.” “Be

on time. File the papers on time.” “He is prepared for the

hearing.” “He reads the papers.” “Counsel does have to

educate this judge on the papers.” He is generous with his

chambers, and frequently holds hearings “in chambers.” He

is also widely known to be very exacting about rules and

procedure. “At times, he can be a stickler when it comes

to rules and procedure.” “He is strict as far as following

rules and procedure.” When rendering a decision, he does

take the time to craft reasonable, if not predictable, rul-

ings which are based mostly on the pleadings. “He bases

his decisions on both papers and argument.” “He bases his

decisions on the papers.” “Lachs’ rulings are timely, clear,

and well-reasoned.” “His decisions are fairly fast.” “Rulings

are timely.” “His decisions are slow.” “Decisions are fairly

predictable.” “He is somewhat gutsy in his decisions and is

not afraid of reversals.”

On Trial

Judge Lachs is a competent and skillful trial judge.

“Lachs is okay for trial.” “He is good with juries.” “He is

good with voir dire.” “He is very good on evidence.” “He

is fair with evidence.” Some plaintiff’s attorneys report

frustrating experiences with this judge because of his con-

servative nature. He is known to sometimes reapportion

damage awards. “He is very tight. He dislikes damages. He

cuts down verdicts.”

Settlement

The judge received mixed reviews on his settlement abili-

ties, with no one giving him unqualified praise. “He tries to

settle the case. He tries to get rid of the case.” “He is not

effective in settling cases. He doesn’t put much effort into

settling.” “He is inconsistent. At the first status conference

he was reluctant to send the case to arbitration because the

case was getting old. At the second status conference he

jumped at arbitration.”

Continuances

“Continuance” is not a word commonly uttered in this

courtroom. “He doesn’t like to continue cases.” “He doesn’t

grant continuances.” “He won’t continue.”

Proclivities

Most attorneys rated this jurist as impartial, outside of

his reputed conservatism. “He is fair.” “He has no bias.” “He

doesn’t have any bias, however, defense attorneys are afraid

of him,” said a defense trial attorney.

Summary

Judge Lachs expects that persons before him will be

respectful of the court and wear proper court attire. “Don’t

wear blue jeans in his court.” Don’t ask for a continuance.

Consider another court for trial if you are aiming high on

damages. (01Z)

LARSON, Stephen

Temperament/Demeanor

Attorneys interviewed about Judge Larson were unani-

mous in praise for his demeanor. “I cannot say enough good

things about him,” said one. “He is very fair and even-tem-

pered. He has great demeanor on the bench.” Another said,

“I think he’s a terrific guy. He’s always very pleasant, very

thoughtful. He’s going to be a very fine district judge.” A third

interviewee added, “He’s very attentive. He’s very comfortable

to appear in front of. He’s respectful of lawyers. He’s one of

the best judges in terms of demeanor that I’ve ever appeared

in front of.” An attorney who had just begun litigating a case

in Judge Larson’s court said, “So far, he’s been very pleasant.”

Intelligence/Knowledge

Interviewees remarked that Judge Larson is “very bright”

and “very intelligent.” A civil rights attorney said, “I’ve had

a couple disputed motions before him on really cutting edge

issues of law, and I think he’s done very, very well. I haven’t

won those issues but I think he has a very good grasp of very

complex legal issues and the policies behind them.” Another

civil rights attorney, who noted that the law in the area is

constantly evolving and is confused by conflicts among the

circuits and “fact patterns that fall between cracks,” was

equally impressed with Larson. “He knew the legal issues

very well,” the attorney said. Two other interviewees recalled

hearings in which Judge Larson displayed an impressive

grasp of the legal issues at stake. “I was very impressed

that he was prepared on a rather complicated matter. He

allowed counsel to deal with difficult issues fully. He had

read everything and was well-prepared with good questions.”

“The parties had cited a number of cases on the legal issues

in the case and he had read them all. He was extremely well-

prepared. He really dug into all of the legal arguments and

was familiar with all of the cases.”

On Motions

In a hearing on motions, Judge Larson had “incredibly

incisive questions for all sides” and he was “very thought-

ful” and “very judicious in his rulings,” said one attorney.

One of several interviewees who represent plaintiffs in civil

rights cases was the only interviewee who offered criticism

of Judge Larson. “His rulings were affirmed, but in fact the

legal reasoning in the rulings was pretty weak,” the attorney

said. “I guess he’s pretty popular, but the reasoning was not

anything that one would shout about. In particular, a magis-

trate usually tries to be more legally oriented with cases and

rulings and he didn’t do that. He was pretty much shoot-

ing from the hip, without citations for what he was doing.”

Another civil rights plaintiffs lawyer offered a dramatically

different view. “He likes to deal with the merits of the issues,

so if you’re arguing a motion in front of him, he will listen to

what you have to say and direct you to what’s really on his

mind about the issues. And he rules according to what the

law is, even though he might disagree with it.”

On Trial

Judge Larson is an “absolutely top-notch” trial judge, said

one interviewee, commenting on his first year as a district

judge after a long tenure as a magistrate. “He is a model for

what a new federal judge should be. He’s very intelligent, and

he brings such a wealth of experience. He is courteous but

nonetheless he moves cases along quickly. He really attempts

to let the defendant know what he’s doing. He takes the time

to make sure everyone really understands. But at the same

time, he can really move cases along.” Another attorney who

tried a case before Judge Larson added, “He was totally in

control of his courtroom. He doesn’t let attorneys run wild.

He was very firm but fair at the same time. He gave each

side a full and fair opportunity to be heard, and listened to

everything that they had to say.” The attorney recalled a pro-

ceeding one day on an especially complicated legal issue that

Larson turned to after disposing of numerous other matters

on his docket. “It was at the end of a long calendar of other

cases and yet he was completely engaged in the issues in

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