"The Robing Room: NY State Judges

Hon. Arlene Bluth	See Rating Details
Supreme Court (Civil)
New York County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 5.2 - 18 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 2.0 - 4 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. Arlene Bluth

Comments

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY13488
Rating:10.0

Comments:
Judge Bluth is extremely hardworking, unusually intelligent, and especially diligent in ruling on dispositive motions.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY13384
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Justice Bluth's decision in my case on a dispositive motion was unanimously reversed by the First Dep't only two weeks after the appeal was submitted, which must be a new record. Her bizarre decision seemed to emanate from another planet.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY13289
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
` Over 80 reversals by the 1st Dept from 2020 to April 2023? That's a lot compared to other judges and not fair to litigants who have to spend money to appeal. What's going on in her Chambers?

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY11333
Rating:1.0

Comments:
horrible judge. ignorant of the facts; ignorant of the law. nasty, vituperative, unduly punitive. She’s been unanimously reversed by the Appellate Division, First Department 28TIMES since 2015. That has to be a record.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: NY11238
Rating:1.0

Comments:
She dislikes Pro Se litigants and doesn't care when laws and rules are broken. She may seem strict, but she's not considering that she ignores findings of fact. Terrible!

Other

Comment #: NY11059
Rating:8.0

Comments:
Judge Bluth is fair and patient. She has taken the time to really understand all the intricacies of our case. She has definitely gotten frustrated with the lack of respect and lack of consideration from the opposing side. She will listen to all sides, but doesn't like game playing and wasting time. Not a bad thing as far as I'm concerned.

Civil Litigation - Govt.

Comment #: NY10866
Rating:2.3

Comments:
Awful judge. Unprepared, crude, unknowledgeable. One of worst judges on the bench.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY10455
Rating:9.9

Comments:
A great even handed and intelligent judge.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY10031
Rating:4.6

Comments:
Generally fair, if somewhat uncouth. She's the type of person you'd expect to step into the middle of a subway argument just to tell both sides they're being complete morons for fighting and, in any event, are both wrong. She's rough around the edges but her sense of practicality (and, a sense for nonsense) make up for what one could call her lack of strict scholarship.

She's sort of like Joe Pesci in "My Cousin Vinny" - she comes off as obtuse at times but, beneath her wiseguy routine, is actually a pretty decent judge. She doesn't get it right all the time, but she comes close - and, at least you will feel that you got a fair shake. Given the sheer number of complete incompetents inhabiting the judicial chambers of the State of New York, Bluth is a miracle in comparison, despite her flaws.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY8879
Rating:8.0

Comments:
What a pleasure to appear before a serious jurist who read each and every motion that was presented to her. She knew the background of each case (as I sat there all morning listening, before we were called). she knew the facts, the relevant caselaw and dispensed justice as appropriate. She permitted counsel to speak almost to their hearts' content. she held counsel's feet to the fire when they made spurious allegations.I've been at this many years and she moves the cases alone in an expert fashion. She correclty cut short those arguments that had no merit whatsoever and made no bones about showing which way she was leaning. Got the signed order via CEF before I even got back to the office. pretty impressive. That fact that she read everyting submitted and had the law down pat impressed me.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY8801
Rating:9.0

Comments:
A very good judge. She takes the time to know the case and the law even before the parties come into court. She has a very well-tuned nonsense meter, so don't try to pull one over on her -- and don't complain when you get caught trying.

Litigant

Comment #: NY8497
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I don't care who thinks she's good. You weren't there for my claim. Truly a bully. She shouldn't sit on the bench. She thinks she Judge Judy. You can assume all you want. My lawyer was soo afraid of her. If I knew at the time, I should have put in a complaint about her and her law clerk. OMG... She even said to me right out in our pre-conference that she was for the Defendant. I couldn't believe her. The Brass!

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY8495
Rating:8.3

Comments:
I argued a motion before Judge Bluth today, and have to say I find the comments made here very surprising and not at all in keeping with my experience. I have appeared before her on three different cases, and on each occasion the judge had read the papers, which almost no judges do, was familiar with the issues, treated all sides with respect and let everyone have their full say during argument. I can only assume that someone has a particular axe to grind with her and is using this forum to do so. Suffice it to say that my experience with her was singular enough that it prompted me to write this review, which I have not done for any judge before. And for what it's worth I say this knowing that she is almost certainly going to deny my motion.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY8174
Rating:8.0

Comments:
Prepared, even-handed, and a pleasure to appear before.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY7920
Rating:9.0

Comments:
One and only experience arguing a motion before J. Bluth was a pleasure. She'd read the papers, understood the issues, and asked good, relevant questions. Only complaint was that she seemed to be a bit too comfortable with plaintiff's counsel.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY7350
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Worst kind of Judge. The worst kind of Judge. Has no knowledge, but thinks she's the best

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY6254
Rating:9.3

Comments:
If I had to guess, I'd say that most of these comments are made by the same disgruntled person. How sad. If you were to poll the lawyers who have appeared before her in the last several years in the NYS Supreme Court Motor Vehicle Accident Part, I think the results would be very favorable to her.

Litigant

Comment #: NY5570
Rating:1.0

Comments:
I settled with the defendant because Judge Bluth said she was on the defendant's side!

She beat me up verbally and my attorney just kept his mouth shut! He and all other attorneys are afraid of her. Where's the justice?

The only reason I didn't open up my mouth was because I was afraid she'd charge me with contempt. I sorry I didn't open my mouth. What a travestry!! Read below what she said to me!

She was afraid I was going to have a jury trial, so she yelled at me, and said "How dare I have working people take out their time to hear my case". Oh, my God!! How dare she.... Shame on her and my lawyer.

Others, obviously, feel the same way, so I'm not making this up! OMG!!!

Other

Comment #: NY5057
Rating:1.0

Comments:
As a former (and now retired) court employee, I have held my tongue for years, but upon reading the comments about Judge Bluth on this site, I can't help but support the authors thereof by joining in, almost as a public service. I don't necessarily agree that Judge Bluth is not bright, but I absolutely agree with all of the other observations -- specifically, that she does not know the law well, and takes her insecurities out on everyone else (litigants and staff) by insulting and "flailing" at them. I think that Judge Bluth might very well fit the textbook definition of "narcissistic bully" -- although, in all fairness, she wouldn't be entirely alone in that category among New York judges.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY4629
Rating:1.6

Comments:
This judge embodies the deadly combination of rudeness, ignorance of the prevailing law, and the apparent inability to exercise even basic legal reasoning.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY4351
Rating:1.3

Comments:
Like the other comments say, Bluth is unpleasant and nasty, not to mention, incapable of being efficient in the use of her time when parties and counsel are left waiting patiently. It needs to be said that those parties and counsel appeared on time, while Bluth waltzed into the court room around 10:30 and then finally took the bench at 11:00 with no apoligies to anyone, including her staff.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: NY3503
Rating:4.7

Comments:
Rough around the edges does not being to describe her. A little surly. If she were a Disney character, she would be Maleficent, and that comment is unfair to Maleficent.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: NY2814
Rating:4.0

Comments:
Always in a bad mood. Makes it seem like you're imposing on her by having her make a decision.