Mark Dinsmore

~The end justifies the means. He'll cherry-pick to get there. Vindictive, too. Just wish you don't get him. Never prepared. Has audacity to keep everyone waiting while he tries to review case at absolute last minute. Hope he never gets elevated, he's undeserving. He is not fair and I bet someone he knows wrote the perfect rating because that's not who he is.

I have been a lawyer and a member of the judiciary. I have worked with and appeared in front of almost every judge in Indiana. I can honestly say this man has no business being a judge. He has the most unpredictable temper I have ever seen. He will be friendly one minute and screaming spitting mad the next. He is pro plaintiff, which can be good. He is obsessed with forcing settlements, under threats of orders to show cause and claims that every defense argument is an issue of fact for trial. I have never heard anyone say anything good about the guy. I am shocked that that his Article III bosses don’t put him in his place or out the door. I cringe every time he gets assigned to my case. Horrible human being

If all you want from a mediator is someone to run numbers back and forth, then this judge won't disappoint you. If he actually reads the settlement conference submissions, you will never know it. He does not provide any insight into the case and does nothing to help the parties bridge the gap. If he is your mediator, don't expect much and you won't be disappointed.

Beware of any Judge Dinsmore "settlement conference" scheduled after you file an appeal to the Seventh Circuit. It might be an ambush to persuade your client to voluntarily dismiss her appeal.

I served in his chambers as an intern for several months. I thought that Judge Dinsmore was a very fair and even-handed judge. He knew the issues before ruling on motions, and knew when someone was being difficult just to be difficult. He has a natural desire to look at both sides of the case and even deal with issues that weren't directly brought up by the parties and weren't a requirement of the court to investigate. He likes getting cases off the docket, sure, but not at the expense of fairness or justice. There were several times he took time to talk to me one-on-one about a case that I was working on or had taken an interest in. He routinely ate lunch with the rest of the staff, and was happy to answer questions about cases. A great judge for an internship, and - contrary to another comment - does not rule on any motion without being fully aware of the issues presented.

This guy hits it out of the park. Very bright, hard working, fair and efficient. It is evident he had a lot of litigation experience before becoming a magistrate judge. If you want good and prompt rulings, he is your man. His fairness is a little surprising given that he practiced at a big firm for a long time. He would be a great district judge.

The recent roundtable summed this one up the best: he seems inclined to be plaintiff friendly and seems to focus less on the actual case and more on meeting statistics for deadlines to remove cases from the federal docket. He pushes Defendnats to put money on the table and rules without without what appears to be real thought onthe spceifics of the case. Frankly, my opinion is too pushy, too plaintiff friendly and he operates onhis general thoughts without regard to the pscific case. Hopefully experience will change this judge.