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58 Boston Bar J. 1 (2014)

handle is hein.barjournals/bosbj0058 and id is 1 raw text is: Judging Judges by Chief Justice Paula Carey and Judge Janet Sanders Voice of the Judiciary You open your email and there it is - a special invitation from the Supreme Judicial Court. You have been chosen to evaluate those trial court judges sitting in a county in which you have recently appeared on a case. Your participation is critical, it says. And if you do participate, your identity cannot be determined. You are skeptical of both statements. No one will take what you say seriously anyway, right? Wrong. The SJC's Judicial Performance Evaluations program, now twelve years old, is more robust than ever. It is the cornerstone of a larger effort to improve and enhance the judiciary on a state wide basis. If you complete the evaluation, your responses together with the responses of other attorneys who have appeared before that judge in the preceding two years are shared not only with the evaluated judge but also with that judge's chief. The results of the evaluation can have a real impact on deciding what steps judges should take to further develop their judicial skills. The current evaluation instrument asks attorneys to rate a particular judge on sixteen attributes indicative of judicial performance. Does the judge dispose of judicial matters in a timely manner? Does she treat lawyers and litigants with respect? Does the judge appear to have a good grasp of the law? Is he free from bias? The instrument also gives lawyers a chance to explain their ratings with written comments. These comments can be valuable - provided they are constructive. To say that a judge is bad provides no guidance as to how that judge might modify his behavior. On the other hand, constructive comments can provide a judge with valuable insight into how he or she is perceived by others. And yes, the evaluating attorney's identity remains confidential. No one will know who you are. When you fill out the evaluation, you are randomly assigned a number by the evaluation software and it is

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