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3/13/24 |
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I went before this judge with my spouse. We both agreed 100% about propert, childrens custody being split, financial obligations, debt and everything else. It took 2 years of figuring it out. She was so rude because we got along. She tried to pin us against eachother and denied our divorce. We both said screw it after spending a lot of money to get attorneys to write up and file. We are not divorced but just separated because this woman was so rude and didnt like what we both agreed too. My spouse was scared of her and she just frustrated me. She should not be a judge.
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10/12/23 |
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I have been infront of this judge several times. When Im not infront of her and have another Judge i get my daughter back. I go infront of her and i get her taken from me. I was found not guilty for charges that should of never been brought on me. DCF closed there case saying not enough to prove. I went to therapy with my child. Once the therapist started talking to my child is when she found oit her father was trying to brainwash her that he was the right one and i was wrong. Once gragus got wind that her favorite parent wasnt so good. She ordered me to stop all therapy with my child. What judge doea that? Making it hard for me with my now teenage daughter who is bigger than me. Telling me that know one will believe me only her. Her father told her i was doing drugs. I was ordered a hair follicles to be tested for every drug. They took over 2 grams of hair outvof my head. I was found clean. My ex wants a settlement from a dog bite i had. I was never married to him. She said give it to
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8/21/22 |
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I have been before Judge Gargas on a few occasions. I felt her to be fair and reasonable. I also did my homework prior to going before her. She is very direct and doesn’t tolerate anyone interrupting her or anyone else who is speaking (Common curtesy). She expects you to answer questions clearly and concisely and with an organized thought process. As long as you are respectful in her courtroom, there shouldn’t be an issue. She takes issue with anyone who comes in unprepared with or without an attorney. Honestly, I don’t blame her. It wastes everyone’s time. The last 2 times I was unrepresented for a contempt. It went fine. I was also organized and prepared and had done everything that was asked of me prior to court. I have seen her in action and the majority of people of the receiving end did not understand the assignment. You don’t tell a judge a previous judge ordered something and “can you look it’s in the record?” when she asks for it.
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10/29/20 |
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extremely biased against men like myself during divorce cases as she exacerbates an already stressful situation by putting a greater financial burden on the male. she put me negative monthly cash flow of over $5k/month (largely positive for ex) and negative checking account balance. she should be disbarred to prevent other men from experiences this horrific and completely unequal treatment.
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9/19/19 |
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I add my voice to the growing complaints against Judge Melanie Gargas. She is anti-father / anti-men -- if you are a father and this is your judge - get a new one no matter what your lawyer tells you. If you're the wife/mom, you will have easy peasy outcome - the house, the kids, million dollar life insurance, and any of the wife's bad behavior will be ignored as if it never happened. Gargas is a bully, disrepectful and 95% of this is directed at men. She's lazy (took 3 years to get case through her), she ignores father's motions and goes out of her way to rule and allow ex parte and improperly served and untimely motions by the wife/mother.
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12/10/18 |
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I believe that she knows the law but thinks she dictates how it is implemented. She likes to throw out words of how things happen in her court. All courts are governed by the same laws. I am getting out of a verbally abusive marriage and walked into a verbally abusive court room. She belittles and threatens most people before her. Divorce is a horrible experience and she is making it worse. She has so much to say from the bench but her rulings do not come in a timely fashion. I have had to go back to the courthouse to get them. She contradicts herself from one meeting to the next. She requested documents from me and when I brought them to court she would not look at them and said she was not interested. My attorney and others are bending over backwards to keep her in a good disposition. Sad how her mood dictates the fate of all the people that walk through her doors.
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11/6/18 |
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Judge Melanie Gargas is autocratic and demeaning. She clearly lacks Judicial Temprament She appointed a lawyer conservator for a nursing home patient who clearly has capable family members. The Nursing Home Administrators failed to provide the Family with information when requested and referred them to lawyer/conservator who referred the family members back to Nursing Home Administrators. Judge Gargas failed to recognized these facts and berated the Family's Lawyer.
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8/2/18 |
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This judge spent her entire day belittling and talking down to every person in court. It was disturbing to see and even more disturbing that she gets away with it. I was there for something minor but we witnessed her belittling, being patronizing and horrible to a young woman trying to protect her child from abuse from the biological father and the fathers parents. She had no regard and it was disturbing to see how badly the young woman was treated. The judge also seemed to favor the other lawyer and it felt a bit unethical. I can’t believe this woman is in this seat and able to treat people the way she did today. She should be stripped of her judgeship!
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5/15/18 |
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Biased against younger people, Overall was very rude, and didn't understand any of the situation just made up her mind based straight off someone "looking like a punk"
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12/4/17 |
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Totally in it for her own financial gain. I had a complicated divorce and although she said she knew about stock options–she clearly knew nothing. When I tried to manage the cost of my legal fees by asking that only she come to court versus bringing an assistant she started charging me for all legal fees at her rate. When my ex-husband left the country she acted as though nothing could be done–she was wrong. She didn't even file the attachment for $$ we found until four days later so that flew out of the country. She didn't file the bench warrant either. I've never seen such greed after spending $30,000 in legal fees.
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11/5/16 |
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5 |
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Acts as nothing but a debt collector. Is biased against men. A dictatorial know knotting who tries to legislate from her privilidged position. A total harpy.
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11/19/14 |
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My ex refers to Melanie as a bull dog. Clearly she made sure we had a fair agreement despite a massive amount of hidden money and complications of family business. The system left to its own devices leaves many women and children living beneath the poverty level while daddy runs off and enjoys a much easier lifestyle and access to way more resources. It's necessary to have a true advocate and a tough cookie in your court. Get Melanie before your husband does :-)
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11/9/11 |
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Without her tenacity, knowledge and guidance, my children and I would have been financially and emotionally ruined. Attorney Gargas continues to shepherd my family through difficult situations and provide the support required as my ex-spouse continues to try to ignore and circumvent a well-written and more than fair divorce agreement drafted with my children's needs as the primary focus. I would and have on many occasions recommended her to others who require the level of expertise, tenacity and vigilance of Attorney Gargas!!!
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