Hon. Loretta A. Preska (Chief Judge) See Rating Details
District Judge See Comments
S.D.N.Y.  
Average Rating:5.4 - 31 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. Loretta A. Preska (Chief Judge)


Comments


Court Staff

Comment #: 35348
Rating:1.0
Comments:
I work in the District Court in an administrative capacity. Judge Preska has been sending her personal deliveries, including Amazon, to the Court, because she wants to use the Court's mail detection system to ensure her own personal safety at the expense of taxpayers. She frequently sends her groceries, online fashion shopping, and Amazon packages to the Court, and we have to carefully sift through them to make sure that the packages are safe for her to use. We are treated as her personal assistants when I was hired to service litigants, not her personal needs.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 33034
Rating:1.5
Comments:
This is the worst judge I've experienced in over 20 years. She holds conferences that are not recorded where she curses and chastizes litigants and counsel. Most disturbing is she is dishonest and will misrepresent clear facts and law to harm a party because of her personal bias. She is the epitome of injustice.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 24011
Rating:5.3
Comments:
Initial impression was that this judge was pleasant and even-tempered. She even displayed a wry, if somewhat sarcastic, sense of humor. Her decisions and rulings, however, displayed a heavy bias towards government/defendant/prestigious law firms or defendants. She overlooked the FRCP and strong-armed the discovery process (and prevented the plaintiff from obtaining basic discovery) to engineer the outcome she desired from a case's inception, which was to grant summary judgment. And she did grant summary judgment. She feels entirely justified in strong-arming the legal process in this way, and employed economic reasons for doing so (i.e., saving costs to the defendants). So, I believe this judge oversteps the mark in civil/employment discrimination cases. I believe Judge Preska is very "republican" in her outlook and political/social bias and this taints her rulings.

Litigant

Comment #: 22073
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Terrible Judge. She is a total fraud. Does not read papers, fabricates evidence and opinions to to enhance the Government's position. Her decisions do not relate to the issues involved. The FBI loves her and she loves the FBI. They would routinely assign to her all their weak cases knowing they would always prevail in her court. She is totally politically ruthless and was instrumental in prematurely pushing Judge Kimba Wood, an excellent Judge, out of her chief judgeship.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 20904
Rating:9.8
Comments:
Judge Preska handled a complex international case with great skill. She is a first-rate trial judge with just the right combination of courtesy, professionalism, and toughness. She is one of the best judges that I have practiced before in my forty-year career as an attorney.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 19905
Rating:7.2
Comments:
Very good at settling cases. Always does it in the § 1983 cases I brought before her. I have never had an employment discrimination case against her, but she really nailed an appeals client who hired me to reverse her (I lost, but it was a bench trial). Prepared her decision before closing argument and called my client liar in open court. It was a close case, but she slammed him unfairly. On the other hand, has been very nice to other clients. A mixed bag.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 19514
Rating:2.5
Comments:
Extremely biased and against everything our national credo holds dear. Is everything a judge should NOT be. Her refusal to recuse herself on a case with an obvious bias as her husband is involved is illegal and immoral, and her lack of technical knowledge and pretrail bias and rabid comments in the Hammond case show she should be disbarred. An outrage to our justice system.

Civil Litigation - Govt.

Comment #: 19513
Rating:2.0
Comments:
This judge pre-prepares her decisions regarding cases before she even hears defense arguments. She is rude to defense council and harsh on defendants. Her venomous statements are a clear demonstration of her bias. Loud and extremely offensive.

Other

Comment #: 19512
Rating:2.0
Comments:
She is prejudiced, primitive, calling the suspect terrorist before even knowing about the case or the suspect.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 19085
Rating:1.0
Comments:
Bad news for plaintiffs - arrogant without the smarts or preparation to back it up. Announces she does not need to be told what is at issue because she has read the pleadings, then demonstrates she has not done so. Makes snap judgements guided by which side she pre-decides to favor. Phony personal style masks a mean-spirited core.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 18953
Rating:3.8
Comments:
Arrogant, phony pleasant at first, then condescending without the intellect to back it up. Neither insightful nor open-minded. Seems to have her agenda set before hearing from counsel. She seems unhappy.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 12938
Rating:9.8
Comments:
Very skilled at handling complex cases with deep records. Is very smart, so don't try to get junk past her, you will not succeed. Is not an activist but a fair judge you can count on pretty much to rule based on the law.

Civil Litigation - Govt.

Comment #: 12612
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Chief Judge Loretta A. Preska i am writting this message for the reasons;
of filing a civil action is due to malicious prosecution, and false imprisonment under a record of filing on courts system a violation of title 18 usc section 4 misprison of felones; my comment is it a crime to ignor such a report to any judge of any kind of nature, and judge can be find and or even imprison, wherefore it has been seven months since i have heard any thing back on the order to show cause dated febuary 2,2011 the reason i am filing this message is to bring this the concerns of being ignored by your district court sytem persay phone and being put on hold for long periods of time three time i call a day and i am put on hold, please contact me back at my e-mail address on this matter:

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 9747
Rating:9.5
Comments:
No other assigned judge in that venue has taken the time or made the effort to resolve cases like Judge Preska. She was fair to all and straight forward. Smarter than the average judge.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 7383
Rating:9.4
Comments:
I don't agree that Judge Preska is biased against employment discrimination plaintiffs. I do think that she (like other judges) sees too many bogus ones - after all, claiming discrimination has become a cottage industry. Judge Preska just tries to call 'em as she sees 'em - I think whatever "sarcasm" she exhibits is refreshing, not offensive. But strong women on the bench will always draw such critics.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 6776
Rating:9.8
Comments:
She has a very low tolerance for BS; wants her cases to move; will try to help parties settle; fun to appear before.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 6185
Rating:3.5
Comments:
Preska is a Fed version of Judge Judy! Prepare your Title VII plaintiff for an appeal from the very get-go. She is pro-employer plain and simple. Summary judgment. If you argue any motion before her, make sure that the argument is fully on the record. Good luck because you are going to need it. The bias is apparent -- she’s both judge and jury and the only thing missing is the executioner.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 5665
Rating:1.8
Comments:
I don't know Judge Preska very well, but from what I have seen she is not very smart, biased, unfair and intellectually dishonest in her written opinions. Also slow.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 5504
Rating:5.8
Comments:
Judge Preska is very pleasant and courteous. She is willing to listen and can occasionally be persuaded to the defense side, but she generally finds it hard to rule against the government. Her trial rulings are particularly pro-government. She is not the most scholarly of judges; do not assume she knows the law or the rules of evidence.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 5451
Rating:3.5
Comments:
We had a civil case before her. She made several improper comments, such as (not verbatim): "you're only interested in obtaining attorneys fees"; and "let me hear from the older attorneys"; and more. Fortunately, these comments were not in front of a jury (one was in front of my client). She also has this horrible tendency to be sarcastic, an absolutely improper trait for a judge in my opinion. Finally, coupled with her sarcasm, she makes these awkward facial expressions and varies her voice to give as much effect as possible to her comments. I called several attorneys after my first appearance before her. One sighed right away. Another told me to prepare for appeal whenever I appear in front of her. Finally, a review of summary judgment cases on Westlaw show that she grants summary judgment indiscriminately. Perhaps she is overwhelmed by the number of cases before her, perhaps she is pro-business (she attended a Federalist Society event recently). Whatever the case, I wish judges remembered how important their role is to appear impartial, patient, and fair. I do believe that is in the Code of Judicial Conduct.

Other

Comment #: 4390
Rating:10.0
Comments:
I recently sat on a jury for a case over which Judge Preska presided. As a first time juror, there were lots of things that I found interesting, but what I will most remember about this experience was the patience and fairness of the judge. She is a class act.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 4318
Rating:2.3
Comments:
Unprofessional. Yelled insults for a lawyer's saying he wanted to take 10 depositions -- i.e., the amount the rules provide -- in a fairly complex civil litigation. Inexcusable, even if 10 deps was too much -- which it clearly wasn't, as evidenced by the fact that she (grudgingly) agreed to allow 10. In a mure just world, judges would be formally admonished, or taken off the bench, for such an unprofessional display of bias.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 2782
Rating:1.7
Comments:
Horribly defense-biased in discrimination case, making derogatory comment about the social utility of discrimination lawsuits generally. I've seen her be even-handed too, so I'd say she's inconsistent.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 1690
Rating:9.0
Comments:
Excellent judge, very even-tempered, smart, responsive, and fair. A credit to the bench.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 1031
Rating:8.2
Comments:
While she is pleasant with the attorneys who appear before her, she can be a harsh sentencer.