James Orenstein

Wow - his nearly 16 year reign of terror is over - I just read on the internet that he retired . However I believe he was not reinstated. As far as his judicial temperament,He was the worst judge, and usually defamed parties he didn’t like. Extremely obnoxious and petty and immature , I’ve never seen anything like it. This Magistrate seemed to wield more power than the District Judges as they all deferred to him and never overruled him. But to his credit, I believe the EDNY did lose a good judge, this man was thee smartest judge in the building, great at resolving cases, did try to respect Constitutional rights. While he was verbally abusive and hostile, he was a decent judge when it came to motion practice. The only good judge left at EDNY is Judge Block, otherwise that Courthouse is full of unqualified gashes.

This Judge magistrate must have some type of personality complex as he absolutely the worst judge in any court on our country.

Mixed opinion = Yes his judicial temperament is abominable but to be fair , he seems to suffer from multi personality disorder and black robe disease , I can’t say he is alwaysssss insufferable, when he’s on his meds, he’s somewhat tolerable! You never know what to expect with him. While I agree with every negative comment on here, I want to piggyback on novel comment made on this thread that only 1 attorney noticed - with Orenstein conducting discovery, he is peculiarly unique in the fact that he loves granting Novel bigus totally fringe-like discovery motions that may have some basis in law and maybe 1 other rogue district judge granted a similar theory in another circuit. He doesn’t follow Controlling Second Circuit Case law, he likes to invent his owns case law and be regarded as a legal maverick (read the articles he authors) . So after I noticed this legal quirk of his In granting these legally Novel discovery motions, I started filing discovery motions based on really bogus fringelike legal theories, and he finally starting granting my discovery motions. Before that, when I filed only vanilla , garden variety , discovery motions he never granted them, the kinkier, and more salacious discovery motions I filed, the more likely he granted them and granted them without a hearing. He gets off on being a legal maverick and loves quirks, and kinks and toys and I can see me being into BDSM. Get kinky with him ! The kinkier and more Novel your discovery motions are- the more he will love them! But make sure your kinky motions are well argued and have at least connect some legal theory to make it seem like he is so cutting edge and breaking new legal ground. A wise mentor taught me : “you don’t win at trial, you win in discovery.” If Judge Orenstein is your Judge, you can’t win with vanilla missionary position on motions, you have to Get freaky and kinky with your motions or they won’t be granted. I promise this works with him otherwise you will be de

Let’s start with the good , he moves cases along, he hates stale claims lingering for years, and is quit entertaining to say the least , he is a real great piece of work ! The truth is he runs a shoddy settlement factory that operates in the shadow of the law, neither side really gets to litigate and there can’t be an appeal Bc neither side has any discovery to appeal on , all discovery motions will be denied to plaintiff, makes credibility decisions at every hearing, openly demonstrates biases, verbally abuses victims, creates issues that don’t exist because he loves drama, then forces settlements on high value claims for low 5 figures to clear his docket and neither side can object Bc neither of you have any discovery and he refuses to open discovery and then forecloses any opportunity to go to trial.in his courtroom, he is the dictator and you have no legal arguments, FRCP don’t exist and neither does Supreme Court or any Appeals Court decisions. He exerts too much power and control over your case and he never acts as an impartial judge but rather an insurance adjuster who wants both sides to settle for cheapest amount. Don’t ever consent to him being your Judge if you have a meritorious case, the settlement he allows you to have will not even cover your legal fees and you will be financially devasted as a result of filing a meritorious lawsuit and then when you appeal - the Appeals Court doesn’t understand what exactly happened Bc nothing happened besides this forced settlement that isn’t in the record. His courtroom isn’t law, it’s a back alley case abortion clinic where your claims are the fetus and he’s the hanger killing your fetus(claims) before they ever saw the light of day .

Recently had a hearing with him and honestly it was not terrible. He was thoughtful and offered assistance if needed. I prepared my clients for the worst but he really rose to the occasion. He can be gruff and hard to read but on this day he did his job with professionalism and class.

He defines LEGAL ABUSE SYNDROME! He clearly favors his own “tribe” and sleazy lawyers. He’s tempermental and has multi personalities- every hearing he’s a different person- you never WHO or WHAT you are getting - NASTY- he is mean to civil rights Plaintiffs. You’ll never get a fair shot with him. If you are the innocent victim plaintiff, he will treat you like a criminal. He’s an evil , swarmy, napoleon complexed, know it all, mercurial , cunning, sneaky ,hateful , pompous, vile , curt bask-turd! He dehumanizes himself every time he talks. Harvey Weinstein has more integrity and class in his toenail clippings than this Shiester! Hillary Clinton is more graceful and less abrasive than James ! I don’t even stand up when he enters courtroom

Yes, it seems to be settled - he's awful. One of the poorest judicial temperaments I've seen. How did he even get this position? There are so many highly qualified attorneys that can easily fill this position. And to top it off, he's not terribly intelligent. He's not stupid mind you, he's just average in intelligence for attorneys. He seems to very much enjoy bullying the lawyers before him, though he is an equal opportunity bully, bullying both sides equally. His decisions have been for me sometimes and against me sometimes, but often bad on the law. He is one of those judges who encourages discovery motions which are weak on the law and really shouldn't be made, because you know he might grant them based on his personal biases.

Magistrate Ohrenstein has matured into his position. He has always been a learned and well informed jurist, but his demeanor (in the past) was highly energized and impatient. He seems to have outgrown that. You will not find a judge in EDNY who cares more about resolving a case than him. He knows the facts and strong arms both sides to arrive at an amicable solution. When he is assigned to my cases, I feel assured that my clients will be treated fairly.

Usually I agree w the majority, but I found this Judge smart, and HATED parties' personel attacks on each other. He had a good grasp of issue at hand and didn't mind hammering the White Shoe lawyers, osstensibly because they desserved it. I had an excellent experience.

Has the air of a man who got where he is by knowing all the right people. His manner is uniformly surly. Gets the job done with a minimum of stewing around. I did not find his mind to be open, but he's efficient at being small minded and belligerant. He's being positioned for a role related to digital privacy. A champion of the People he is not.

A creep, but the CIA's creep, so they keep him around. Hence the midnight re-appointment. To be avoided if you possibly can. There's this whole Judge Ward connection that's incredibly disturbing.

Very astute judge of high quality. He understands education.

Reappointed seemingly in the dead of night after a special "merit panel" was appointed to paper over the widespread dissatisfaction with him among EDNY practitioners. Months went by between the end of his first term and the start of his second one yet he remained on the "bench".

He is smart and well-prepared, and he expects the same from attorneys. He does not gladly suffer fools or attorneys that do not give straight answers. If you are ready, straightforward and pragmatic, you will find him an excellent jurist.

One of the worst on the bench. This judge is incredibly nasty, unprofessional and short-tempered. The best thing that one can say about him is that he treats everyone so poorly that he is not biased.

I have had a great deal of interaction with him in the last year over one case and, unlike the other commenters, I have found him to be insightful and conscientious. (I hope that is not just because I have been winning the case.)

Yes, it seems to be settled - he's awful. One of the poorest judicial temperaments I've seen. And to top it off, he's not terribly intelligent. He's not stupid mind you, he's just average in intelligence for attorneys. He seems to very much enjoy bullying the lawyers before him, though he is an equal opportunity bully, bullying both sides equally. His decisions have been for me sometimes and against me sometimes, but often bad on the law. He is one of those judges who encourages discovery motions which are weak on the law and really shouldn't be made, because you know he might grant them based on his personal biases.

Very concerned with being the smartest man in the room. Interjects himself into issues that the parties do not have (just to show us how smart he is and to argue with lawyers) rather than just setting schedules as a judge's helper should. He seems to forget that he's just a magistrate.

As plaintiff's counsel, I dont see a basis for any of the complaints against this judge in this robing room. What I do see is. . . if you are late on any of his deadlines. . .God help you. He hates it when people give excuses. He really moves cases . . . complex cases at that. . . effortlessly. His knife at cutting through bullshit is the sharpest out there. I've had him on several cases with differing outcomes. With this judge, come prepared, on time, and armed with facts of your case. . . .or expect a judicial spanking.

Smartest man in the room complex. Terrible to civil rights plaintiffs attorneys (or any anti-government litigants). Routinely creates his own version of the facts of the case and tells the attorneys what happened. An embarrassment to the Eastern District.