District
31 reviews
Remarkably bad and evil judge famous for bias and disregard of the law. Has turned Foley Square once home of our greatest judges into a notorious banana republic judicial system destroying people business and respect for the law. Tears for you once great SDNY once home of greatest courts now held in universal contempt
Terrible. Another Paul Weiss partner helping his group. But this Circuit never takes action against bad judges hence they are lawless & unaccountable like Mr. Kaplan.
1/31/2024 6:07:36 PM Hi Lew! ha ha great intellect indeed. He’s a Paul Weiss stooge adding to the long list. Not even the sense to disclose clear dishonest conflicts like with “Roberta Kaplan”. He has dragged the SDNY to be even more a house of ill repute previously thought to be the bottom of the barrel. Avoid this gonaf.
In defense of Judge Kaplan, a first for this criminal defense attorney, he cannot be said to lower any court. He is a giant intellect, dispensing justice as constitutionallty mandated. Haters gonna hate.
Terrible. Another Paul Weiss judge in SDNY. Lowering SDNY to a kangaroo court.
I am a Canadian citizen. But if Hon. Lewis Kaplan is the judge for the Prince Andrew case, I believe Andrew should be tried and convicted for the Virginia sex abuse law suit. He was clearly a part of Epstein and Maxwell’s sex ring. Just because he is a member of the royal family should not allow him to get away with his being a part of this.
I’ve spent some time reading about the Ecuadorian environmental pollution case against Texaco/Chevron. Of particular interest is Judge Kaplan‘s prosecution of the lawyer who won the case in Ecuador, Donzinger. The judge’s rating at 4.9 Includes a number of (1)s on a scale of 10 is bolstered by several high private ratings that all seem to be written on the same script starting with “the judge is very smart” this seems strange.
This judge is the worst judge ever in history. He is a racist and prejudice to the defense and pro government. I don’t know how he still on the bench. He automatically finds you guilty if the government says your guilty. Prejudice racist
Judge Kaplan's release of the terrorist Adel Abdul Bary is an egregious, indefensible action that should be decried by all Americans. Of course, it is just another in a long line of shocking decisions that he has made over the years. He should have been removed decades ago. Why has that not been done?!
Smart. Mean. Dangerous.
Lewis A. Kaplan really should never have been allowed on the bench. He is a passionate advocate for whoever strikes his fancy. Unfortunately he is intelligent enough to make his wrong-headed decisions resistant to review. As a white collar or even a violent offender he is a good judge to have drawn.
Kaplan's behavior in the Chevron case is "beyond the pale," outrageous.
suspect getting kickback from Chevron...Donziger said he’d turn over the devices if he lost the appeal. But even though the underlying case was civil, the federal court judge who has presided over the litigation between Chevron and Donziger since 2011, Lewis A. Kaplan, drafted criminal contempt charges against him. In another legal peculiarity, in July, Kaplan appointed a private law firm to prosecute Donziger, after the Southern District of New York declined to do so — a move that is virtually unprecedented. And, as Donziger’s lawyer has pointed out, the firm Kaplan chose, Seward & Kissel, likely has ties to Chevron. Making the case even more extraordinary, Kaplan bypassed the standard random assignment process and handpicked someone he knew well, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska, to oversee the case being prosecuted by the firm he chose. It was Preska who sentenced Donziger to home detention and ordered the seizure of his passport, even though Donziger had appeared in court on hundreds of previous occasions.
Shallow and vindictive.
He is the worst of the worst. Makes up his mind irrespective of the law; has no apparent understanding of the criminal defense function -- at least when the defendant is not a wealth white businessman; is nasty and condescending; all in all, a horror show
Takes sides immediately based on something he may read in one of the parties papers. Uninterested in veracity of the statement. Does not bother to research most legal theories and fails to appreciate that his role is the arbiter of the law. Focused on disposal of cases, not equity.
One of the worst judges I have come across in several decades of practice. Arrogant without basis. Unnecessarily rude and caustic. Cannot distinguish meaningful distinctions from inconsequential ones. Basically gets the law right but the outcome wrong most of the time, and when he gets it right, it's by sheer accident. Avoid if possible!
Judge Kaplan exemplifies the bi-polar judge who is extremely smart and totally biased. He treats lawyers, particularly defense criminal attorneys, with contempt and his rulings cast him in the role of the "prosecutor in robes" who always gets the last word and never loses an argument. Could have been an Academy Award nominee had he played that crotchety old professor in the Paper Chase movie.
Judge Kaplan doesn't take the time to understand the basics of the subject matter on which he's ruling. He simply imposes a legal theory that doesn't fit the facts, circumstances, or even the law, and ignores everything that doesn't fit his legal theory, so that facts, circumstances, and the law are eschewed. Judge Kaplan tends to parrot the motions of attorneys that have adopted the same inapposite legal theories that he holds near and dear to his heart. Well pled arguments strongly supported by the facts, the circumstances, and the law simply irritate Judge Kaplan.
Judge Kaplan seems to be working for big business interests, so if you are representing big business interests, Judge Kaplan will find a way to rule in your favor. If you going up against big business interests, you are out of luck. "Impartiality" is a wholly alien concept fo Judge Kaplan.