Frequently Asked Questions
What do the columns in the tables mean?
- Experience: We collected this information from various places, and much of it comes from the candidates themselves via their websites and interviews. We have not verified its correctness or completeness. Some entries are edited for length, removing older and less significant experience (for example, non-relevant jobs from 25 years ago).
- Bar association ratings: The bar association is the leading association of lawyers in every community, on the state level, and nation-wide. It oversees, licenses, and regulates lawyers and the practice of law. The local and statewide bar associations evaluate candidates for judge and provide the public with the recommendations listed in the Guide. Another entry in this FAQ has more details on their recommendation processes.
- NLG – Phila ratings: The National Lawyers Guild is a politically progressive lawyers association whose Philadelphia chapter provided these ratings. The ratings are based on a survey they conducted of their members; this FAQ has more details on their methodology in another entry.
How do the Bar Association chapters evaluate the candidates?
I’ve found the following documents but I don’t have any insider knowledge about whether these are correct or complete representations of how it works in practice. They are a good starting point, at least:
- Guidelines For Evaluation of Attorney and Judge Candidates from the Philadelphia Bar Association
- Organization and Rules of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Judical Evaluation Commission
- Ratings Criteria by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Judical Evaluation Commission
How does the National Lawyers Guild conduct its survey of its members?
The following is abridged, from the NLG’s report:
Survey respondents were current and recent members of the National Lawyers Guild. Participants included lawyers, law students, and legal workers. The survey was made available and announced repeatedly to the organization’s membership list for one month. The survey requested participants’ opinions in the form of a numerical rating of 1 to 5, where 1=worst and 5=best. All responses were optional. Participants could skip any candidate.
Why does our apolitical Guide use the ratings of the National Lawyers Guild, a politically progressive group?
The NLG attorneys, like other practicing attorneys in Philadelphia, have great value to bring to our efforts: They have personal experience working with the candidates, and they have the professional expertise to evaluate them. The NLG certainly has a political bias; they are very open about it and so is the Guide. We would love to provide additional valuable knowledge from other sources, including local attorneys, with other perspectives. We reached out to a few groups but they didn’t respond. If you know of any groups or other resources, of any political perspective, please send them our way!
Who are you?
See the About page.
Suggestions? Corrections? Omissions? Questions? Does any of this make sense? Please let us know now, and we can fix it by the next time you go to the polls. We always want to find ways to help more people to be more informed when they vote for judges, and this is only the Guide’s first election.