"The Robing Room: CA State Judges

Hon. Michael C Small	See Rating Details
Judge Superior Court
Los Angeles County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 3.0 - 4 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 1.0 - 6 rating(s)	Please send me alerts on this judge E-mail Address:

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Only items marked with (*) are averaged into the displayed overall rating.

General Rating Criteria

* 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=Chronically Late,10=Always on Time)
* General Ability to Handle Pre-Trial Matters		(1=Not all Able, 10=Extremely Able)
* General Ability as a Trial Judge		(1=Not all Able, 10=Extremely Able)
Flexibility In Scheduling		(1=Completely Inflexible,10=Very Flexible)

Criminal Rating Criteria (if applicable)

* Evenhandedness in Criminal Litigation		(1=Demonstrates Bias,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
General Inclination Regarding Bail		(1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
Involvement in Plea Discussions		(1=Not at all Involved, 10=Very Involved)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Pretrial Stage		(1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Trial Stage		(1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Sentencing Stage		(1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)

Civil Rating Criteria (if applicable)

* Evenhandedness in Civil Litigation		(1=Not at all Evenhanded,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
Involvement in Settlement Discussions		(1=Not at all Involved,10=Very Involved)
General Inclination		(1=Pro-defendant, 10=Pro-plaintiff)

Comments

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What others have said about Hon. Michael C Small

Comments

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA47209
Rating:8.9

Comments:
I have had several cases in front of Judge Small while he was sitting in probate. I always found Judge Small to be well read on the issues and familiar with cases as they come back into his courtroom. Judge Small is patient, knows the law and is fair in his rulings. He also does not tolerate frivolous filings and claims and does what he can to stem unnecessary litigation.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA46510
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Judge Small is disrespectful to counsel and seems to enjoy flaming, embarrassing and berating attorneys in front of their clients for making respectful arguments regarding evidence and procedure. Uncalled for and unbecoming of a judge. CCP 170.6

Litigant

Comment #: CA38317
Rating:1.0

Comments:
He should not be serving as a judge. Hire a man if you want Judge Small to take you seriously. Heed my warning. He only listens to men. It's the old boys club in his courtroom. It's like he still needs the approval of the playground popular boys. HIRE A MAN TO REPRESENT YOU. That's my best advice.

Other

Comment #: CA36785
Rating:1.0

Comments:
This judge isn't a good judge. He makes preliminary and swift judgments about you and your case based on personal biases, such as whether you remind him of other cases he's had. Then he makes all his rulings as if it were this other case. He doesn't carefully review filings and misses many things. He also favors court-appointed counsel. They can do no wrong even though they don't care about the case either. Court-appointed counsel in his courtroom learn to develop an ear to discover which party Judge Small favors (and he will pick early on) - and all the court-appointed counsel will do is parrot statements favoring that side while billing tens of thousands of dollars for doing no work. It's like a Russian show trial. If the judge doesn't like you - don't bother attending. Facts and law - won't get you anywhere. Petty and not terribly insightful or intelligent, he'll bend over backwards to rule for his favorite party. I'm likely going to stop going and fighting. It's so sad.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA35505
Rating:1.3

Comments:
Cant be in the childs best interest to be placed in the very same household where grandma sexually exploited her money making grandchild whom she held down as boyfriend penetrated & repeatedly Raped csusing bodoly harm to a child under 5yrs of age. As a parent I did what I was supposed to filed an exparte NODOY CARED!!! TO HEAR.. Never will I stop advocating for my abused child!!! NEVER!!!!!!!

Other

Comment #: CA35504
Rating:1.0

Comments:
The first mistake was granting permition all parties involved to violate my constitutional rights, and 3yrs later! after I reapeatedly pleaded for justice, asked for revision be made concerning the many unethical practice sworn under oath to fulfil in legal job procedural. To no avail. Under Wic fam code Clearly states DV victims are protected under this law! I was discriminated & made it clear I could NOT Deliver my defense to a level of a certified attourney within the practice area I know NOTHING ABOUT. I am ansolutely indigineos & languege is foreign to me. Waived my notice participate in my child's hearing by a false allegation about dv order in place. At this point I have severe emotional damage at being revictimezed within great abuse its ridiculous

Court Staff

Comment #: CA34323
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Pure justice doesn’t exist in our court. Judges may start their careers with justice and fairness in mind, but then become jaded. They want cases over with quickly so they can get paid. Judges don’t get paid until the case is over. The only way to get justice is to go outside the bounds of what society expects. Protest what this judge is doing, and speak very loudly. Post your evidence, including medical records, deposition transcripts, video and audio recordings, etc. Let others know what you’ve gone through so they can benefit from your experience. Karma will be your justice in the end.

Litigant

Comment #: CA34322
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I am hoping to change the detrimental dynamics of probate court and minors counsel/probate volunteer panel. There MUST be an independent committee to ensure unbias and best interest of the children represented through this Government Funded Program. Judge Small has made rulings without a doubt that is the reason there is Civil Rights Case in Federal Court Case #2:20-cv-11255.

Other

Comment #: CA31254
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Nightmare year long case, dragged out painfully with clear cut favoring and bias. Another sad example of our horrific judicial legal system . Absolute circus with this unfortunate ring leader. Small has been making horrid, large life and death decisions on hearsay.
It's criminal to have this kind of person in this position!

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA12149
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Judge Small has demonstrated an inability to comprehend simple and straightforward facts supported by documentary evidence. His decisions have resulted in many thousands of dollars in monetary losses to California litigants and, in some cases, potentially in the millions of dollars to non California contract holders whose contract terms have been negatively impacted by the precedent established by his rulings.

Court Staff

Comment #: CA8387
Rating:1.0

Comments:
This judge is a joke. I don't know who appointed him, but he should get off the bench. He primarily seems to handle small claims matters, but he is incapable of handling even that. He is completely biased, and makes his rulings on something other than the facts (i.e. the status of the parties).If you get Judge Michael Small you should use your right to strike one judge for any reason (CCP 170.6 -each side can strike one judge preemptively for any reason), to get a different judge...Whether he is knowledgeable or not is irrelevant, because he uses his knowledge to ignore the law and the facts.