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• Author: Mark Thompson/Elizabeth Smith
• Pages: 982-991

Retired Judges

972Parkin California Judge Reviews

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PARKIN, Robert William

Temperament/Demeanor

Judge Parkin is considered by most lawyers to be relative-

ly easygoing. “He has an okay temperament and demeanor.”

“Parkin is calm.” “He is patient.” “He is a nice guy.” “He is

courteous to attorneys.” “He is very nice. He has a lot of

patience.” One type of remark which was a common theme

had to do with this judge’s inability to put himself in the

attorneys’ shoes. “He doesn’t understand what it is like to be

an attorney and what it is like to try to make a living.”

Intelligence/Knowledge

This judge is regarded to be generally proficient and adept

with the law. “He is smart.” “He is smart and knowledgeable.”

“He has some intelligence.” “He is the Presiding Judge.”

On Motions

This jurist is reputed to be in somewhat of a hurry with

the business at hand. He is said to rule his courtroom with

an iron fist. “He starts on time.” “He doesn’t understand if

you’re late.” Attorneys are generally happy with the manner

in which Judge Parkin issues his decisions, and they report

that he works within the existing framework of rules and

procedures. “His decisions are fast.” “His rulings are timely.”

“His rulings are predictable.” “He does not bend the rules.”

“He follows the letter of the law.”

On Trial

Judge Parkin’s courtroom is considered a good place

for trial, as long as everyone is prepared and ready to go.

Plaintiff’s counsel report, “He is good for trials.” “He is a good

judge.” Lawyers polled also rated him as being at least com-

petent with some of the particular aspects of trial proceed-

ings. “He is very good with voir dire.” “Parkin makes good

evidence rulings.”

Settlement

According to attorneys, Judge Parkin aims for settlement

but is not outstanding at achieving it. “He tries at settle-

ment.” “He is not great at settlement.” “He is not pushy.”

“He is good at settlement.” “He is okay with settlement.” “He

works hard to settle the case. He has a lot of patience to

settle a case.”

Continuances

“Continuance” is not a word in this judge’s vocabulary.

“He gives no leeway” “‘No’ to continuances.” “He is stubborn

on continuances.” “He doesn’t believe in continuances and

was inflexible even when the witness was unavailable.” “He

wants to wrap up cases.” “On ex parte, he is extremely dif-

ficult on continuances.”

Proclivities

Attorneys generally describe Judge Parkin as “fair,” and

“very fair.” “Parkin is unbiased.” “He has no known bias.”

Summary

Make sure your alarm is in working order. This judge is

not sympathetic to late lawyers. Be very prepared with your

case. Requests for continuance will not even be considered.

PARNELL, Lorna Kay

Temperament/Demeanor

Interviewees said Judge Parnell is, as one put it, “a little

abrupt.” The other explained, “She wants precision from

counsel. She does not tolerate sloppy legal work.” But others

said, “She never has been abrupt with me” and “I though

the opposite. She is just, in general, very relaxed.” “I think

the best way to describe her is that she’s a public servant

in the best sense of the term. She wants to get things done

in a reasonable manner for the people who are there. She’s

always courteous and polite. So many judges will hold out

for ridiculous technicalities without paying any attention to

what effect it has on the people. They’ve got to come back

six times because a comma is out of place. She doesn’t do

that.” But that attorney cautioned, “You can’t just come in

and wing it. If it’s important, you’ve got to follow the rules.

If it makes a difference substantively, you’ve got to follow

the rules. But if it’s something that’s silly and arbitrary, it’s

not important to her. She’s very polite and has very little

patience for people who are rude and aren’t polite back.”

Intelligence/Knowledge

Interviewees said Judge Parnell is “quite scholarly,” “quite

knowledgeable” and she “appears smart.” “She’s very bright,

very well prepared. She understands the issues.” An attorney

who handles real estate matters that are sometimes compli-

cated noted, “A lot of judges don’t understand a lot of these

esoteric things and she’s right there.”

On Motions

On motions, interviewees said Judge Parnell “calls them

straight” and is “good, prepared and allows the attorneys

argue.” One interviewee cautioned, “You have to be careful

because she makes up her mind very early on and she will

get very angry with you if you argue with her after she’s

made her decision. When you go in there, you have about

two minutes to say your spiel and she probably has her

mind made up. She’ll tell you and she’s not going to change.

She’s an early decider.” A third interviewee agreed with that

assessment but insisted it is not a criticism. “If you argue

with her after she has ruled, no judges like to hear that.

If she has ruled, it’s time to sit down and shut up. If you

insist on going on after it’s over, she’s going to stop you. No

question about it. But her decisions are good. They’re not

arbitrary. They’re not unfathomable. They’re transparent.

You know what’s going on in her court.”

On Trial

Judge Parnell “runs her own courtroom but allows law-

yers pretty much to try their own cases,” said one interview-

ee. Another, who had a bench trial in her court, added, “She

quietly listened to everything and came to the right decision,

which unfortunately was against me. But I knew going in

that I didn’t have much of a case.” The attorney who called

her an “early decider” said that over all, she is an “excellent”

trial judge. “Some judges, if you make a mistake with a filing,

they just go nuts. She’s not that way. But I see guys trying

to argue with her and she really, really gets mad at them.

And I don’t normally see that in a judge. That’s her thing.”

Another attorney said that she can be extraordinarily patient

when the circumstances warrant it. “I remember an example

when a homeless person with obvious mental problems was

representing himself. The sheriffs came to remove him from

the courtroom and she said, ‘no, he’s here for his case, we’ll

give him his chance to talk.’ She was polite to the guy, very

patient with his ranting, and told him what he needed to do.

Most judges wouldn’t have taken the time. They would have

thrown him out and said you forfeited your chance.”

Continuances

Judge Parnell is “pretty liberal” about granting continuanc-

es, said one interviewee. Others agreed. “She has no hard rules

about denying continuances. She’s very open to listening to

problems. She’s very sympathetic to the problems of running a

law office and that’s a plus.” “She’s as reasonable as anybody.

As long as you’ve got some colorable reason for getting one,

you’ll get it. On the other hand, if you just don’t feel like going

to trial, that won’t work. You can’t be too loose about it.”

Settlement

Interviewees agreed that Judge Parnell is “proactive on

settlements. She does get you to settle.” “She’ll do anything

she can to help facilitate settling the case. If you need help

from her to settle it, she’s available to help you with whatever

help you need.” “She pushes for settlement.”

Proclivities

“I see no particular biases in favor of plaintiffs or defen-

dants, no racial biases, economic biases or anything like

that,” said one interviewee about Judge Parnell. Others said

she “treats both sides the same way” and is “fair.” “In her

courtroom, the interest of the litigants is first and foremost.”

Summary

Judge Parnell is knowledgeable and decisive. She lets the

attorneys argue their cases, though she does not like for the

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