Laurel Beeler

Bottom of the barrel among the magistrates in this district. One sided rulings in favor of defendants. Decline her if you're representing the plaintiff and hope you don't get her as a settlement judge (waste of time) or in a discovery dispute (sloppy reasoning).

Not very intelligent which is reflected in her decisions. Defendants will love her in a fee shifting case since she does not follow the lodestar. Pretty easy to overturn on appeal but good luck having her award the fees expended on the appeal overturning her defective decision. Hopefully she will go away soon.

Judge Beeler is one of the best judges in the Northern District. She's extremely intelligent and hard-working, and in my experience, she studies the papers and arguments very carefully before issuing a decision. A modest gripe is that she is a little too nice - attorneys will get caught misrepresenting things to her, but she doesn't reprimand or admonish them. So it only encourages them to try again because they don't experience any apparent consequences (although I suspect she factors in such behavior in making her rulings).

I would not consent to this magistrate judge. Reveals a shallow understanding of the facts of the case and has preconceived notions.

Does not apply the law but rather focuses on the vague concept of "fairness." Has a history of one-sided decisions with shoddy reasoning. One of the worst, if not the worst, magistrate judges in the N.D.

Clearly biased in favor of the defendants in civil litigation and will bend over backwards to side with the defense. Thankfully she is only a magistrate judge so go ahead and decline if you the plaintiff and take your chances with a district judge. It cannot be worse. The fact that she is "nice" has little relevance to her being impartial.

I would not accept Judge Beeler if you are representing a plaintiff on a contingent fee, for the reason that she has a history of fee-slashing decisions. She does not follow the lodestar approach, but reverse engineers her decision to severely cut hourly rates and time, to reach the pre-determined and arbitrary figure she has selected. She was literally fawning and thanking the defense attorney for the defense's reply brief on fees, while not mentioning plaintiff's herculean efforts on the same fee motion. It was in effect, "Thanks for helping me make my biased decision appeal-proof." Never mind that the qualified lawyers appearing before her now must, along with their family members, suffer severely reduced rates for an unknown number of future years just because Judge Beeler doesn't like this type of litigation. She blithely ignored past hourly rate approvals in similar cases. Unfortunately, she is an intelligent judge who knows how to write an appeal-proof opinion. And this, in a case where plaintiff's counsel obtained outstanding results. She is also one of those judges who tries to force settlements by restricting the litigation or calling for constant mediations, settlement conferences, and status reports, and then gets arbitrarily mad at whatever side she perceives is inhibiting settlement. It's a lack of civil litigation experience that shows here. The little information about the case that is related at status conferences isn't enough to paint an accurate picture for the judge about who is promoting or obstructing settlement, and she should know that the obstructing side will play Kabuki theater at these conferences. Her constant meddling only made settlement more difficult, gave succor to exactly the wrong side who was obstructing settlement, and ran up attorneys fees.

One of the nicest and most compassionate judges I have seen. She is extremely fair, and cares about obtaining the right outcome.

Seriously bias and ignorant of the facts. If you represent yourselves prepare to recuse the judge and declare unconstitutional for the bias orders. She doesn't care what is the consequences and she will stand on other side. Law or constitution is not accounted and even will say you have no constitutional rights.

Judge Beeler is intelligent and industrious, and is very flexible in scheduling matters. She reads the briefs and the law, and applies it well. But, she belies a double standard between the perceived "little guy" and the corporate defendant: the defendant must strictly comply with the standards she derives from the cases, while the "little guy" is excused from the same strict standards.

The judge is a former prosecutor who is smart, fair, and diligent. She listens and is able to quickly master complex civil law issues. Her preparation and hard work shows.....

Smart, extremely hardworking and conscientious and fair....

Extraordinary gifts of patience balanced by scholarship. Not sure if a settlement would have been reached without her.

I had a class action with Judge Beeler. She's hard working, organized, smart, fair, and friendly.

Have had one case with her which is still ongoing. So far I am very impressed. Biggest thing for me is I trust her to exercise her intellect and common sense for an appropriate result. She seems very balanced, and she listens.

Judge Beeler is a model judge who has an uncanny ability to find common ground between parties. She is sharp, gracious, and treats everyone in her court with respect. I have seen her work through lunch and past court hours without a word of complaint. The people in this district have reason to be proud.

I have nothing but respect for Judge Beeler. She is relatively new to the bench here in the N.D. Cal., but she is already a favorite amongst many practitioners for her ability to find solutions for complex problems and her good nature.