John G. Koeltl

Do not let this judge do your case. He prioritizes big money. immediately request a change for another judge.

Says one thing and does another. Knows a company is corrupt but will "HELP" them out anyway. has no morals or ethics. nothing but a bought off case rigger. id you get him ask for another judge. loves to help big money parties.

win or lose you must admire the dignity and patience with which he presides over cases. everyone is treated fairly and with respect, an article 3 judge in the finest.

sides with big money. the little guy has chance in his court room. caesar would embrace him

has no understanding of retaliation in a civil employment law case. sides with big business. the little guy is hung out to dry by him

I was a law enforcement defendant before Judge Koeltl in a case where a criminal defendant was wanted for a serious felony pursuant to a NYPD warrant. Unfortunately, the NY State Division of Criminal Justice mixed up two defendants SBI number our suspect shared SBI numbers with another perp. I was always taught that such thing was impossible, but it happened. We arrested the suspect and two days later, on our own, discovered that the NY State DCJ errored. We got our suspect released and we contacted NYSDCJ to fix their mistake. Subsequently, our prisoner sued us rather than suing the NYS DCJ who made the error. Koeltl showed a palpable hostility toward all Police officers involved and ruled against us at every turn. But he was terrified of being reversed so when he came to summarizing the not guilty findings of the jury and still chose to give the defendant $10,000 dollars, he reversed himself in writing because he was so terrified of being reversed on a Rule 50 motion. [Redacted by Ed.] I have no respect for him.

Bright,fair and patient. I could not ask for more in a Judge. Makes the rest of the judges in the Southern District look like humps, which in fact a lot of them are.

Fuck you, fuck you. Your a piece of shit and I hope you die a slow death motherfucker. You left me with nothing and poor I will see you in Hell motherfucker. You and Sweden!!!

Fair, thorough, careful. Easy to work with as a lawyer. Somewhat pedantic and tends to find issues where none exist, creating extra work for lawyers and their clients. But all-in-all, a smart, evenhanded judge who is pleasant, thoughtful and evenhanded.

Judge Koeltl takes his adjudicative and administrative responsibilities very seriously. He reviews each and every submission with serious dedication and a high degree thoroughness. He's smart, hardworking, and very-very fair. As a criticism, he can be slow to determine matters under submission.

Judge Koeltl is so convinced of his own intellectual superiority that, when it suits him, he is willing to ignore the law, facts, and equities in order to arrive at his own pre-determined and patently wrong conclusion. His handling of a civil rights matter was atrocious in every respect. Although plaintiffs had righteous and plausible claims, this man made clear his extreme and inexplicable hostility to plaintiffs and their claims from day one. His bias in favor of defendants was extreme and self-evident, as he barred discovery and then dismissed the complaint based exclusively on nonsensical and counter-intuitive theories and arguments that defendants themselves--for good reason-- deliberately chose not to make. His so-called "intellectual superiority" also turned out to be a crock, as his decision made a mess out of the proper legal standard to be applied, so much so that it was virtually incomprehensible. This judge went out of his way to protect wrongdoers and punish the innocent, and extraordinarily aggrieved, plaintiffs. In several cases involving a statute of limitations analysis, he gave far more respect and deference to a billionaire fighting over the authenticity of an antique bottle of wine than dozens of men who were sexually abused as children by a trusted and revered principal and teacher. He treated the latter group of men, at every turn, as if they didn't matter. Not once in the case did he make any comment to the effect that the prominent school's multi-decade cover-up of sexual abuse, which permitted scores of children to be abused after the school knew that it was employing sexual predators (and continued to employ them), offended his sensibilities or merited condemnation. This man, under his veneer of civility and intellectual rigor, lacks the basic empathy for human suffering that every decent judge should have. He has earned, and earned with distinction, the lowest possible rating.

Judge Koeltl clearly knows the law but his shows a bias in most of his rulings toward the most liberal interpretation of case law and court rules in favor of the plaintiff irrespective of the particular merits of the case. The only check on him is his absolute fear of reversal. He's terrified of it. One will see that he states a position on a case verbally then rules differently in writing. In my case, as a civil rights defendant, Koetl's decision was reversed by the Appealate Court on a simple Rule 50 motion. He's enamored of himself and I dare say, he's the only one who is. He is not an objective judge.

One of the best jurists. Brilliant, incredible work ethic, knows the facts and law cold. Judge Koeltl is exceptionally adroit at nuances in jurisprudence.

If you get this judge, request another -- he says that he believes in one thing and then he does another. He is a total hypocrite, with regard to his alleged values.

Very smart and even-handed. Lawyer-friendly and a genuinely nice man. Tends to overanalyze matters, which can sometimes create extra work.

This judge believes he is the reincarnation of Justice John marshall, but in practice is just a shorter version of the stiff "old boy network" judge in the film "My Cousin Vinny", excellently portrayed by the late Fred Gwynn. In fact, with his faux Mayflower demeanor, this judge might have done a credible job as a stand in for Herman Munster.

Very fair judge who wants to get it right.

Judge Koeltl is clearly a left of center jurist who is intelligent but haughty. He is predisposed against summary judgement in favor of the government/law enforcement even when clearly appropriate and governed by law. He'd rather allow a jury to find culpability on the part of the goverment and law enforcement though no culpability should accrue, relying on Rule 50 and 51b motions to be made by the defense rather than to dismiss a jury's inappropriate finding. His charge to civil juries leave a great deal to be desired and he appears to be terrified of being reversed; the only factor complelling him to rule appropriately in frivilous cases against law enforcement. I'd give him an over all rating of 5 out of 10; 10 being the best rating.

This judge has disregarded the rules of evidence specifically related to what is a settlement discussion. How could discussions or a memo of discussions between two defendants constitute settlement discussions if the memo was written years before a lawsuit was even started?

One of the intellectual giants of the SDNY, he knows the case before him (and the authorities) better than the lawyers. Argument on motions with him are marathons and he will cover every issue raised by the parties and otherwise. In one sense, the best judge around; in another, I feel he relishes showing that he knows more than the lawyers do, that he is playing "gotcha" and is looking for the lawyers to concede he's right rather than looking for guidance or information. But with so many other judges being superficial or unprepared, it's nice to have one who considers, understands and resolves every argument in a thorough and well-reasoned manner, even if he's ruling against you.