Judge Mark Epstein called himself a ‘wuss’ before granting a motion to re-open a case on behalf of California music attorney Tristram Buckley on Friday. Epstein called Buckley ‘unreasonable’ for skipping court the day prior after being told “eyeball-to-eyeball” to show up, a draft court transcript shows.
Epstein also called Buckley’s behavior “sanctionable” as highlighted in yellow below.
Epstein’s language and attack on a judicial officer may implicate the first three of California judicial ethics canons.
Canon 1. A judge shall uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary.
Canon 2. A judge shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all of the judge’s activities.
Canon 3. A judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially, competently, and diligently.
Epstein dons his robe in the Santa Monica Courthouse.
Buckley’s California Bar Disciplinary history shows several incidences dating back to 2019.
The case has gained national attention because one of the named witnesses is Edward “Coach” Weinhaus – the CEO of Judiciocracy LLC, the publisher of ALABnews, the largest attorney misconduct news in the United States. Judiciocracy also publishes this publication. Coach refused comment related to Judge Epstein’s behavior noting this is an active case, stating he was more likely to let “sleeping dogs lie.” Coach has been called “America’s Most Aggressive Judicial Reformer.”
Epstein conceded that his rulings were questioned by both parties who had each sought his disqualification. The only person who disagreed with Epstein himself.
The underlying case involves Buckley’s then-17-yr old-now-dead dog and the legal services performed to rectify allegedly poor veterinary services. The veterinarian is not involved in the matter before Epstein. Buckley’s claims of legal malpractice against his attorney Scott Pomerantz had long since been dismissed last year after Pomerantz had won Mr. Buckley a 75,000 settlement. According to the transcript from Friday, Mr. Pomerantz also claims to have earned another $114,000 wrongful dog death settlement in another case.
Pomerantz had closed his case Thursday with Buckley as a no-show. Buckley had refused to tender any funds to Mr. Pomerantz for his work winning the five-figure pet payout claiming Pomerantz wanted to win Buckley’s dead dog case for free. But Epstein let Buckley re-open his defense to Pomerantz’ fees claim, even though he lambasted Buckley’s behavior.
Buckley has been no stranger to controversy in the case which has spanned more than half a decade. His excuse on Thursday for missing court was that he had been at Yosemite. According to a declaration by Mr. Pomerantz a year ago, Buckley has either claimed or experienced constant computer irregularities preventing timely filings. It may have been this earlier context that forced Judge Epstein to self-label as a “wuss” for letting Buckley gain some redress after performing the “sanctionable” act of skipping court.
Last week’s “sanctionable…unreasonable” behavior, according to Epstein, referred to skipping court after Epstein’s direct instruction to show up.
Recently, Epstein noted Buckley claimed he owed legal fees to Pomerantz in a separate proceeding before another LA judge while not paying those same fees in the current matter before Epstein.
Buckley recently tried to add Microsoft as a Defendant in a consolidated case where he claims Pomerantz pushed him. Epstein showed his mettle as a self-respecting judicial officer, whether rightly or wrongly, by disallowing the Redmond, Washington-based software behemoth to face any liability for the adverse consequences of Buckley’s recurrent glitches.
