McSWEENY, WILLIAM F. III

Comments

1) Judge McSweeny will often state one thing from the bench and then order something very different in his written orders. He also does not seem to remember cases from one appearance to the next, so that you are required to summarize the whole case again, and hope that he will have the same reaction as he did the first time he heard it. His opinions seem to vary from day to day. For example, at one appearance he might be very hard on someone for drug use, then the next appearance act as if he could care less about drug use. He will not accept faxed documents or grant administrative allowances on anything but the most basic of Motions (QDROs for example). He requires appearances multiple times, does not grant continuances easily, and often causes parties to incur significant legal fees just to satify his idiosyncratic requirements. Judge McSweeny used to be one of my favorite judges to appear before, but he has become obstinate, and sometimes even disrespectful, to parties and lawyers. Many people say he should be off the bench, and Im starting to agree.

2) Be respectful to the judge and the court, be prepared, follow his advice and instructions about the case.

3) Maintains tight control of the courtroom, while giving the parties an opportunity to be heard. Compassionate and concerned about the interests of the parties, especially children. Respectful of parties and lawyers.

4) RUN!

5) While it is rare that cases go to trial, when they do he acts as though the lawyers and parties have failed and are taking up his valuable time. We were told to report at 9:00 am “sharp” for trial and showed up to find he had 10 other matters on. There were expert witnesses present who were being paid by the hour. We were kept waiting until 12:00 pm. Although he apologized, it was coupled with “it wasn’t like we were playing backgammon in here”… Tries to tell lawyers what witnesses they can or cannot call! Did not take any notes, except for those he was passing back and forth with his clerk and snickering (i.e.not paying attention to testimony). The parties felt disrespected. They had waited a long time to get their trial date and are entitled to present their case in the way they see fit (within reason, of course). This was the first time these families had ever had any contact with the legal system and it has been disappointing with this judge every time we appeared in front of him. He suggested that maybe he should send a kid having difficulies into DSS care–he won’t allow a child to “drive the bus” and dictate a course of action. He displayed arrogancy and disrespect to the lawyers and the witnesses. Truly a great disappointment on the bench. Acted as though the trial was not important–believe me, a custody case is very important to the litigants and not something anyone involved does on a whim. My prior experience with him has not been very good–I feel he doesn’t know or follow the substantive law–only the law according to McSweeney. Worse, he doesn’t enforce the rules–no discovery had been submitted 3 weeks before trial after substantial efforts to resolve it without judicial intervention and he declined to grant fees, although I spent 2 hours in court waiting to be called. Routinely denies motions to continue cases. Makes remarks he thinks are funny but are not–i.e. “I don’t give much weight to anything a litigant’s parent says. Jeffrey Dahmer’s mother thought her son had a good appetite.” I am considering filing a complaint with the JCC after the decision is rendered.

6) be very careful – he is unpreditable and doesn’t like anyone to disagree with him; in addition, he does things his own way, which is not always the correct way!!!!

7) He is very curt and non-attentive to clients who have done the work and have reached agreement. He gives about 1/2 a minute to each 1A divorce hearing, which implies a lack of respect for them (as the clients said). In addition, he then got the Order WRONG and we had to file additional motions in order to correct his mistake. He is incredibly arrogant and short-tempered with the attorneys.

8) Representing a Plaintiff in Contempt, try to get another judge. Representing a Defendant, look pitiful.

9) Follow the law and not regard every case an an “Equity” case.
Rulings on contempts are lenient and an embarassment when the Plaintiffs case is clear and unequivocal.

10) be prepared

11) Spends a little too much time using anecdotes and examples to make a point.

12) rEALIZE THAT THIS IS A JUDGE WHO NEVER WAS A PARTNER IN A LAWFIRM (ALTHOUGH IN PRIVATE PRACTICE) AND THUS HAS NEVER BEEN ULTIMATELY RESPNSIBLE FOR A CASE. hE DOES NOT HAVE A GOOD GRASP OF THE LAW.

13) aLTHOUGH jUDGE GETS RULINGS OUT PROMPTLY, HE DOES NOT REVIEW DOCUMENTS PUT BEFORE HIM AND OFTEN FORGETS WHAT HAS BEEN ARGUED. HE DOES NOT HAVE A GOOD GRASP OF THE LAW. HE OFTEN DOES NOT READ DOCUMENTS BEFORE ALLOWING ARGUMENT AND AS A RESULT ASKS QUESTIONS THAT ARE INAPPROPRIATE AND OFF POINT. IN CHAMBERS, HE OFTEN MAKES COMMENTS (VEILED OR OTHERWISE) ABOUT ATTORNEYS AND JUDGES WHO HE DOES NOT LIKE TO OTHER ATTORNEYS.

14) In my experience, Judge McSweeney is always fair, respectful and thoughtful in his decision making. He runs his courtroom on time and demands attorneys be prepared. Tough but fair is my opinion. He is always approachable and seems to truly love his job.

15) Know your rules and have a basis for your position founded in the rules (beyond stating that your position is “equitable”). Judge McSweeny knows the rules and expects attorneys before him to know the rules and relevant statutes. This is of course as it should me.

16) Judge McSweeny is always well-prepared. This is obvious from the very specific questions he asks. He is calm (but not insultingly so) and maintains a good balance between letting litigants and attorneys argue their positions completely and moving through his case list in a timely fashion.