Karen Wells Roby

Bright and articulate, she can be extremely unfair when she takes sides in a case. I have observed her for quite a while as a civil rights attorney: she has particular difficulty being impartial in cases dealing with race, sometimes going so far as to bend the rules in ways which help the party she favors. This has often helped my clients, but I have noticed that in race cases attorneys who know her avoid trials and instead opt for an Article III judge.

Re: Case 14-009 K she is a goddamned fool and a complete insult to any pretension of a justice system in this country -- $20 fine for a creep that intentionally and with malice aforethought twice violated the Endangered Species Act.

I tried a bench trial before Magistrate Judge Roby. My experience was that she was very prepared and knowledgeable. All pretrial motions were timely disposed of with well reasoned written opinions or carefully stated reasons on the record. She was sufficiently flexible with scheduling to allow attorneys to actually function like human beings while still moving the litigation forward in an expeditious fashion. While I did not win all rulings, I had no doubt by the end of all proceedings before Magistrate Judge Roby that my client had been given a fair opportunity for presentation of her claims by the Court, as had the opposing party. I would gladly select a bench trial by Magistrate Judge Roby over many juries and most district judges, both for the speed of getting to trial and the quality of the trial which was delivered by her.

I had a civil case with Judge Roby and she was evenhanded and fair.

Judge Roby is a very astute and knowledgable judge. The negative comments posted on this page are obviously based on political biases. She treats those who come before her with respect and makes decisions based on a sound application of the law.

Having had many things before Judge Roby, I can say that she is one of the better Magistrates. Each case she has "mediated" has been settled, and she was always even-handed with the litigants and attorneys. I think that some of the negative comments are unwarranted and would venture that the posters have not had a lot of experience with her.

I find Judge Roby to be one of the most learned judges on the bench. Although she may be a bit matter of fact, she is fair to both parties. I find that many attorneys that do not like her are in fact envious of her success as an attorney and a judge. I have been told by other judges that she is very well liked and respected by her peers, and the legal community as a whole. Do not believe these people who say that Judge Roby is not qualified. They wish they were on the bench instead.

I represented a plaintiff in complex securities litigation in which Magistrate Judge Roby resolved numerous complex discovery disputes. I found that while she sometimes was a bit abrupt, she generally got the right results based upon a good analysis of the procedural situation. This was true no matter which way the discovery dispute was going, as both sides had various motions to compel and motions for protective orders. I can't address the issues raised in comment #3943, but the issues raised in comment #3911 do not reflect the reality of what I saw in her performance as a federal magistrate judge. Rather, that comment seems to be motivated more by the politics of the poster than the reality in the courtroom.