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• Author: Mark Thompson/Elizabeth Smith
• Pages: 992-994

Retired Judges

982Revak California Judge Reviews

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REVAK, Bernard E.

FROM THE BENCH

Judge Revak graciously responded to questions regarding

his courtroom preferences and procedures.

Preferences

Attorneys are reminded to be fully prepared, present their

cases in a professional manner, and to use their time well.

Trial briefs are appreciated “well in advance, whenever pos-

sible.” Permission must always be requested to approach

the bench. Standing permission to approach each witness

will be granted after the first request has been made. Time

limitations are placed on voir dire. In general, lawyers will

be given between 15 and 30 minutes to handle voir dire.

However, Judge Revak says he can be “pretty flexible” when

an unusually sensitive case is being presented.

ROMERO, Enrique

Temperament/Demeanor

Defense and plaintiff’s lawyers had only positive com-

ments about Judge Romero’s personality. “He is very polite

and courteous.” “He has a great judicial temperament.”

“Romero is very professional.” “He is very hard working.” “He

is great. I like him.” “He is very efficient.” “He is very good

at handling his calendar.” “He is patient.” “Romero is even-

tempered and enthusiastic. He is interested in the case.”

Intelligence/Knowledge

He was given high marks by lawyers for his legal aptitude.

“He is smart and intelligent.” “He is very bright.” “He is a very

intelligent judge.” “He understands complex cases.” “He is

very knowledgeable about the law and the cases. He is able

to get through to the issue.” “Romero was a tax attorney.”

“He is able to understand and cut through the garbage and

get to the heart of the case.”

On Motions

Judge Romero’s courtroom is reportedly a place counsel

likes for presenting law and motion matters. “He is good

on law and motion.” “Romero is good on law and motion.”

“He is fair on law and motion.” He is prompt and “starts on

time.” “Romero takes control of his courtroom.” “He moves

his cases along.” “He follows rules and procedure.” He is

reputedly thorough and serious about the job at hand. Legal

practitioners said that Judge Romero “prepares for hear-

ings” and “expects the same of the attorneys.” “He reads the

papers.” He also “allows oral argument for motion hearings.”

Attorneys were of the opinion that this judge follows along

with the law when he comes to a decision. “His decisions

are predictable.” “His decisions are based on true legal dis-

course.” “His decisions are on time.” “His rulings are timely.”

On Trial

There were nothing but positive comments about this

judge’s ability to run a trial. “He is a great trial judge.” “He is

a superb trial judge.” “Take him!” “He conducts a good trial.”

“He understands complex cases.” He was praised for some

of the particular aspects of trials, and for generally allowing

attorneys to try their cases unhindered. “He lets you try the

case.” “He is good with voir dire.” “Judge Romero has a strong

grasp of evidence.” “Romero is very good with evidence.”

Settlement

This judge is reputed to be at the very top of everyone’s

list for settlement efforts. “I have never come across a bet-

ter settlement judge. He spent all day on a medical case. I

wouldn’t have settled without Judge Romero.” “He is great at

settlement.” “He takes the time to settle the case.” “Romero is

able to settle very complicated cases because he is able to get

to the issue at hand.” “This is the judge to settle the case!”

Continuances

Even though everyone seems to like this judge, they do

report that he is not flexible in the area of continuances. The

lawyers generally reported that Judge Romero “doesn’t allow

continuances because he likes to keep the cases moving

along.” “He does not allow continuances.”

Proclivities

Defense and plaintiff attorneys agreed that this is an

impartial judge. “He has no bias.” “He is fair.”

Summary

This is one of the best courts for settlement. Preparation

is the key.

ROSS, Edward Michael

Temperament/Demeanor

An appearance before Judge Ross is not likely to be

a pleasant experience. He is uniformly characterized as

disagreeable, explosive, intolerant, and irritable, with a

penchant for disposing of cases so quickly that attorneys

question his motives. “He is nasty.” “He is the fastest judge

in the west. You can’t get worse.” “He has a short fuse.” “He

tends to be fast. He loves to get rid of cases for any reason.”

“He is impatient.” “He interrupts counsel.” “Ross explodes for

no reason.” One plaintiff’s attorney remarked, “Even defense

attorneys want to come and speak to plaintiff attorneys about

Ross.” “He is not the best person.” “He is not that courteous.”

“He takes control.” One experienced attorney remarked that

there was a better side to Judge Ross when he was off the

bench, “He is nice in chambers. Off the bench, he’s a decent

guy.” “He’s all right.” “I’ve had good and bad experiences with

this guy.” “He is really nice. He looks real old.”

Intelligence/Knowledge

Lawyers polled gave this judge mixed reviews in the area

of knowledge of the law. “He is not smart.” “He is not knowl-

edgeable.” “He knows the law.” “He is good in probate.” “He

is smart enough. He is all right.” “He is highly intelligent. He

is a very thorough and solid judge.” “He is smart. He was a

tax specialist. He loved criminal law.”

On Motions

This judge begins court promptly and makes his rulings

in a similar manner. Some attorneys felt the quickness of

his decisions caused their quality to suffer. “Ross starts on

time.” “He moves the cases quickly. He does have that.” “His

decisions are fast.” “His decisions are erratic.” “I find him

to be arbitrary.” “Rulings are not well reasoned.” “He is not

afraid of reversal.” Judge Ross received some compliments

on various things. “Good work ethic.” “He is good in probate.

He is an excellent judge.” Judge Ross is known to be strin-

gent in following rules and procedure, and he is not known

to open his chambers for hearings. “He is very strict with the

rules.” “He is extremely strict in following the law.” “Motion

hearings are done in the courtroom.” While this jurist comes

to his courtroom prepared for the day’s proceedings, he is

reputed to rule strictly on the submissions. “He reads the

papers.” “He is prepared.” “He knows the case.” “He tends

to base his rulings on the papers.” “He bases his decisions

more on the papers than argument.” His restless personal-

ity sometimes prevents him from listening to argument. “He

may not allow oral argument.” “He is hard on a lot of argu-

ment.” “He interrupts.”

On Trial

Plaintiff and defense attorneys gave poor ratings to Judge

Ross as a conductor of trials, citing his evidence and voir dire

rulings in particular. “Get rid of him.” “Affidavit him.” “He is

poor on evidence.” “He is not very good at his evidence rul-

ings.” “Fair as far as his understanding of evidence.” “Poor

on voir dire.” “Fair on voir dire.”

Settlement

This judge is not known for helping settlements and none

of the attorneys had positive comments about that aspect of

his level of achievement there. “He is poor on settlement.”

“He is not good at assisting settlements.”

Continuances

Judge Ross has been known, on a rare occasion, to grant

a continuance, but is generally known for not granting them.

Attorneys commenting about his continuance policy said the

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