"The Robing Room: WA State Judges

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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. Douglas E. Goelz

Comments

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: WA1470
Rating:5.1

Comments:
Judge seems very smart but makes the strangest decisions that cannot be called either legally correct or even common sense. And he is obviously at times overcome by his bias toward the government. Unfortunate but hardly rare.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: WA1435
Rating:6.1

Comments:
Judge Goelz is recently elevated from the District Court and is generally even-handed and perspicatious. He does occasionally seem to form an opinion about a case that will inform his rulings and it can be difficult to shift him away from that opinion if he believes it is well founded. That said, he is relatively transparent and runs efficient dockets. He can be a little slow to the bench some mornings, but he clearly works hard on getting the law right when he makes rulings so the need to have a little patience with the court is not overly burdensome or unfair.