Hon. Dora L. Irizarry See Rating Details
District Judge See Comments
E.D.N.Y.  
Average Rating:3.6 - 29 rating(s)
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Ratings
*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=Chronic`y Late,10=Always on Time)
*Evenhandedness in Civil Litigation:    (1=Demonstrates Bias,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
*Evenhandedness in Criminal Litigation:   (1=Demonstrates Bias,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
Flexibility In Scheduling   (1=Completely Inflexible,10=Very Flexible)
General Inclination Regarding Bail (1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases, Pre-Trial:   (1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
Involvement in Civil Settlement Discussions:   (1=Least Involved,10=Most Involved)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases, Trial:    (1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases, Sentencing:    (1=Most Lenient,10=Most Harsh)
Typical Discount Off Guidelines for Cooperators:    (1=10%,10=100%)
  Items marked with (*) are averaged into the displayed overall rating
Comments


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What others have said about Hon. Dora L. Irizarry


Comments


Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 35505
Rating:8.8
Comments:
Judge Irizarry can be tough on lawyers, rightly or wrongly, which can make it difficult in front of your client. It does not matter. However, she is thorough, she reads everything and knows the material. She understands life experiences and that defendants are human beings who have made mistakes but are redeemable and decent. She gets it

Send e-mail to this poster 3/11/2024 1:23:48 PM

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 35320
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Let me give you another side to Judge Irizarry. We had a client on a Violation of Supervised Release for using drugs. He was a drug user. During the numerous court appearances he was busted for NYC offenses at least twice -- for a distributable quantity of crack and for other offenses. Nonetheless he managed to hold down a full time job. She could have put him in for any of a number of reasons, but continued to work with him, over a period of several months and numerous court appearances, giving him encouragement. Eventually he entered a court-ordered drug program, and started getting more "clean" drug tests than dirty ones. Eventually the government, probation and defense counsel proposed a plea that called for no additional time. She not only went along with the proposal but cut him free from another six years' supervised release after observing he'd be on NYC probation from one of his iocal cases and that supervision in two jurisdictions was unnecessary. It would have been easy to simply remand him for his NYC cases or dirty tests but she didn't. In many other courts it could have turned out quite differently.

Send e-mail to this poster 8/29/2023 9:30:47 AM

Litigant

Comment #: 24106
Rating:1.0
Comments:
She is just not qualified to be a federal judge with people's lives at stake. She is awful.

Send e-mail to this poster 1/12/2017 12:50:56 PM

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 23301
Rating:1.2
Comments:
I rarely if ever comment online but there needs to be as much material as possible documenting this dangerous, possibly evil woman. As some other commenters have noted she seems mentally ill-tempered. She is rude, illogical and filibusters her way through tantrums which seem to get worse as she goes on. Most importantly she sentences defendants in a mindless way that seems to rely more on her hatred of defense attorneys than any statutory or factual matters. In the fashion of the worst judges, she will treat a defendant better if she likes the lawyer, regardless of skill or facts or law. Representing a client before her is the ultimate soul-sucking experience and had me questioning my desire to continue in the profession. Practical advice: if you have her and want any semblance of favorable result watch her proceedings and try to identify the lawyers she hates least and get them to represent the defendant. That is your only chance and even that is agonizing. Words cannot do justice (pun intended) to the horror of her.

Send e-mail to this poster 2/18/2016 5:17:05 AM

Other

Comment #: 23190
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Welcome to Whose court is this anyway? With (Dis)Honorable Dora Irizarry where every charge is made up and your rights don't matter. Doesn't matter if all the evidence the plaintiff, not your lawyer, uses actually proves your innocence. She will use her opinions to make up rulings, even grossly unconstitutional, to fit her narrative as she goes along even if your impeccably innocent . She will go so far to even make up false accusations and deem them as true. She is the primary argument on why article III judges should not serve life tenures and affirmative action should be abolished. Her cancerous being will plague the court for many years to come. For those unfortunate to enter her court room for any purpose, please know you're going to lose, even if you win. The only silver lining for her is after your case gets overturned for being egregiously unlawful and lack of evidence is the massive civil lawsuit that follows after she trampled on your every individual right and sanity. Just encountering with Irizarry almost makes you want the many mass shootings that occur in this country to target actual sociopaths, and not innocents. This has been my rant and I wish good luck to anyone who has her name on a court summons.

Send e-mail to this poster 12/30/2015 4:21:42 PM

Civil Litigation - Govt.

Comment #: 22097
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Well-prepared, reasonable, impartial, timely, well-reasoned opinion on complex civil litigation issues.

Send e-mail to this poster 10/9/2014 1:06:45 PM

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 22016
Rating:1.0
Comments:
DLI. Demented Insane and Lunatic. She should be stripped of her robes and placed in a straitjacket. For the good of the Court, litigants and perhaps, herself.

Send e-mail to this poster 8/19/2014 6:18:30 AM

Other

Comment #: 21841
Rating:10.0
Comments:
The Honorable Dora L. Irizarry!
I would like to thank you for judging my court case.
I appreciate your respect and fairness throughout to my case. While I can’t go back in time and reverse what I did, you can rest assured that this will never happened again.
This is not the type of person that I am.Our family wishes to express deepest appreciation.Thank you for your time. Again, thanks for your objectivity.We wish you all the best in your professional life.Sincerely Miller's family.

Send e-mail to this poster 6/21/2014 10:31:07 PM

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 21453
Rating:2.0
Comments:
This judge has a horrendous temperament, and is unstable and possibly mentally ill. She should not be on the bench.

Send e-mail to this poster 1/23/2014 6:09:18 PM

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 21104
Rating:2.5
Comments:
I just finished a sentencing before this passive/aggressive unstable judge. Although the sentence was fair, she spent the entire time attacking me personally and professionally. I learned from my client's family that before I arrived she was making negative comments about me to the whole courtroom. Then she began to complain about her poor pay and the government shutdown. I have a suggestion for her: perhaps she should get off the government payroll and try the private sector. She is the most mean-spirited jurist I have come across in 28 years. My guess is that she does not have a happy home life. I laughed all the way back to my office.

Send e-mail to this poster 10/5/2013 7:06:32 PM

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 20876
Rating:1.5
Comments:
Irizarry on the same court as Judges Weinstein, Korman, Dearie and Amon?
The political gods must have either been cruel, insane or both when they foisted this joke of a judge on the federal bench. This would have been a hoot had she not gotten lifetime tenure to make countless lawyers miserable each time they have the misfortune to be in her courtroom. No question but that she makes the best case for doing away with lifetime tenure for Article III judges.

Send e-mail to this poster 7/11/2013 11:11:09 PM

Civil Litigation - Govt.

Comment #: 18171
Rating:5.0
Comments:
Completely unprofessional in her demeanour. Hears what she wants to hear rather than what is said and nasty to a fault. Although she takes forever to issue a decision, the decisions are rarely worth the wait.

Send e-mail to this poster 7/2/2012 6:50:16 AM

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 18158
Rating:1.5
Comments:
Just a miserable person with a horrible temperament. So awful. Amazing that this person was confirmed. Utterly disgraceful. Affirmative Action is alive and well.

Send e-mail to this poster 6/26/2012 2:56:13 PM

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 18129
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Where do they find such people?
Why does the Southern District get so many quality appointments and the Eastern District get so many rejects?

Send e-mail to this poster 6/19/2012 3:57:10 PM

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 13175
Rating:3.3
Comments:
This judge is the prime example of why the judiciary is often called the last bastion of tyranny in this country. A true nightmare awaits any human being every time he/she has the misfortune of stepping into the twilight zone of her courtroom. Perhaps the best evidence of the absence of meritocracy in the federal judicial selection process.

Send e-mail to this poster 11/18/2011 7:25:48 AM

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 12702
Rating:9.4
Comments:
Well prepared on the bench. Very impressed

Send e-mail to this poster 8/5/2011 1:00:36 PM

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 12689
Rating:2.0
Comments:
At the very bottom of the Federal Judiciary in this district in terms of intellect and perhaps every other way except sentencing, where she is compassionate. But she hates defense lawyers and anybody else who dares to speak up in her courtroom. Very petty and tyrannical.

Send e-mail to this poster 8/2/2011 3:24:10 PM

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 12562
Rating:2.0
Comments:
Like a mean kindergarten teacher, with very little understanding of the issues that matter. Constantly making up for her lack of intellect by belittling lawyers over minor matters. Does not belong on the Federal bench.

Send e-mail to this poster 7/13/2011 10:24:52 PM

Civil Litigation - Govt.

Comment #: 12244
Rating:8.9
Comments:
Judge Irizarry is a very diligent and hard-working judge who makes significant contributions to the bench, bar and larger Eastern District community. You will win her favor if you are well prepared, read the FRCP, the Local Rules and her Individual Practices. She takes great pride in her work and expects litigants and lawyers to do the same.

Send e-mail to this poster 4/29/2011 10:29:30 AM

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 11922
Rating:1.0
Comments:
I represented an attorney on a civil contempt that had criminal contempt potential comtempt. She was arrogant, jumped to conclusions and understood very little about my client's errors. Overall, she was terrible, although she did lower his sanction.

Send e-mail to this poster 1/25/2011 3:43:15 PM

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 9793
Rating:1.0
Comments:
I represented an attorney on a civil contempt. She was nasty and "caustic" in response to my zealous representation and disagreement with her about the attorney and his character. I was prepared (to you peanut gallery or possibly was that the Judge's mom who said she gets a "bad rap" by unprepared attorneys?). The attorney had life and death personal problems and she was immovable and angry. She threatened me because I "gave her an attitude". She lost my respect from minute one and knew it. It drove her nuts because she is very impressed with herself and wanted me to be. She should in some motion support office with no human contact. Attorney that got to withdraw plea: Okay, so you had a good experience, had everything not gone in your favor, you would not be so eager to praise her, trust me.

Send e-mail to this poster 2/8/2010 1:10:43 PM

Litigant

Comment #: 7829
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
This judge is totally inept. My case has been floudering for more that ten years with no end in sight.

Send e-mail to this poster 1/21/2009 11:21:07 AM

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 6656
Rating:1.5
Comments:
She doesn't read your papers. She comes to the bench completely unprepared. When you then walk her through your papers and show her where you have exhibits demonstating your point, six months later you get an opinion saying that you did not offer any exhibits. This when your papers have over 400 pages of exhibits!

Send e-mail to this poster 8/14/2008 9:46:00 AM

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 5001
Rating:9.0
Comments:
I just came back from an appearance where she breathed new life into a rapidly deteriorating criminal matter. The client wanted to withdraw his guilty plea and go from the frying pan into the fire and Judge Irizarry spent an hour patiently listening to the client's (the defendant) proffered reasons for withdrawal of his earlier lawfully entered guilty plea. Her calm demeanor, understanding and patience paid off and defendant withdrew his plea withdrawal motion, quite probably saving him from at least a twenty-year sentence. It was heartening to see a federal judge take the time to assist this very marginal client and using her skills in preventing his throwing his life away due to his reflexive (and vocal) gripes about a hard-won plea agreement that admittedly required a lengthy custodial term. I went in expecting a difficult and unhappy experience and she truly turned a sow's ear into a silk purse.

Send e-mail to this poster 10/5/2007 11:05:51 AM

Civil Litigation - Govt.

Comment #: 3816
Rating:7.4
Comments:
She gets a bad rap from unprepared lawyers who can't hold their own in the courtroom, but she is generally a fair, albeit tough judge. While her temperament can easily rub some the wrong way, her decisions are well thought out and her written opinions are always solid.

Send e-mail to this poster 3/6/2007 2:42:13 PM

Other

Comment #: 3386
Rating:1.0
Comments:
should neer have been nominated to be a Judge. Does dishonor to the position.

Send e-mail to this poster 12/29/2006 2:19:42 PM

Civil Litigation - Govt.

Comment #: 2790
Rating:2.7
Comments:
doesn't seem to read arguments and doesn't address many. her opinions rarely make sense. if you challenge her at all, be prepared for a caustic response. expect her to take at least a year to decide a motion. otherwise, she is terrific.

Send e-mail to this poster 10/24/2006 4:32:22 PM