"The Robing Room: MA State Judges

Hon. Ralph D. Gants	See Rating Details
Superior Court Judge Superior Court
Suffolk County Chelsea	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 8.0 - 4 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: - 0 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

What others have said about Hon. Ralph D. Gants

Comments

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: MA19
Rating:9.6

Comments:
Judge Gants is a credit to the judiciary. He is very patient, always well prepared, unfailingly courteous and a judge's judge. It is always a delight to sit in Judge Gants's courtroom and observe him as I await my turn. I have also had the privilige to try cases before Judge Gants. Most recently I had a jury waived trial involving some complex financial and accounting issues, but the case setled favorably after four days of trial.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: MA13
Rating:8.1

Comments:
I think he does a very good job in the BLS. More attentive than Judge van Gestel was in his last year there, although not as good as Judge van Gestel was earlier.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: MA8
Rating:5.4

Comments:
No doubt, Judge Gants is very capable; but he applies himself to cases in which he is personally interested. Otherwise, he is inattentive and dismissive of cases he regards as distasteful or not meriting attention in the BLS. In two cases before him, I was dismayed by his disengagement, failure to read the pleadings and memos, and pre-judgment of the merits. Moreover, he is not inclined to consider precedent to which he is not sympathetic. He is no Judge Van Gestel.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: MA7
Rating:9.0

Comments:
Judge Gants is an excellent judge - he reads the papers in advance, is smart, asks probing questions, is civil, can occasionally display a sense of humor, etc. I say these things even though he got a major issue wrong in one of my cases and entirely made up a theory for the opposing party in another (and then found in favor of that theory).