Lisa Anne Ochal

I had the displeasure of representing a client before Referee Lisa Anne Ochal in an IDES hearing a few months ago and now that the case has concluded, and even though my client prevailed, I feel a moral duty to write this review. How Ms. Ochal is still employed by the State of Illinois behooves me. ... This lady is unprofessional, cruel and emotionally unregulated. She cuts off both sides and doesn't let them speak. Even opposing counsel wasn't spared by Ms. Ochal's irrational, insensitive, condescending and needlessly adversarial behavior. Her inability to control her outbursts at witnesses and attorneys alike, and to suggest that she is merely exercising her authority to control her courtroom “proceedings,” is to diminish what her actions actually do: they limit people's ability to testify, present evidence, answer questions and meaningfully represent themselves. There is a fundamental difference between maintaining order and intimidating people into silence. To put it bluntly, Ms. Ochal makes Judge Judy look like a model of judicial temperament, and that says something, given that Judge Judy is hardly known for her patience, restraint, or gentle treatment of those appearing before her. If you, like so many others, have had the displeasure of appearing before Ms. Ochal and feel like your rights were violated, please submit a complaint to the Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General (OEIG) & the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC). It is high time that this so-called administrative law judge be held accountable and removed from her position. Ms. Ochal’s conduct is wholly unbecoming of a public official entrusted with administering justice on behalf of the State of Illinois.

I had the displeasure of being on the phone with this person, and she did not let me answer any of the questions she was asking me, and kept iterating that I was trying to make her the enemy when I never in fact, said anything about making anybody a enemy, she insisted that I needed to get my act tog...ether When I was trying my best to answer her questions. If I could rate in the negatives I would give her -10

Worst experience with Lisa Ochal IDES lawyer. When trying to explain my case and the facts she told me “ I need to get my act together”. She complained on how she had other cases to handle then mind and began to yell at me for trying to answer her questions. She also yelled at the employer which no j...udge should talk to people in a condescending manner. She continued my case and throughout the whole experience continued to say “ I don’t care about your discharge if it was retaliatory or not”. I never even brought that up. I never once brought up anything retaliatory but tried to answer her questions to the best of my abilities. No person should be allowed to to talk to people in the way she did.

I never would have expected for any judge like Lisa to be allowed to play God over people’s livelihoods. She was upright cruel and lacked tact. I was mind blown when she yelled at me for not answering yes or no. But then proceeded to question when I would just answer simply with yes or no. She interr...ogated me like I did a horrendous crime when I’m just a struggling single mother who’s a student and was laid off from work. I hope if she ever sees these reviews that the one thing she does is resign. Take it from a fellow professional, burn out is real and sometimes your time is up and you need to know when to move out the way for others who are also passionate to take over.