May 19, 2009

Bar poll positive for most circuit judges

Results decline for family court

By Jason Riley
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All but two of Jefferson Circuit Court's 13 judges received good marks -- above 75 percent favorable ratings on overall performance -- from lawyers who practice before them, according to the most recent Louisville Bar Association survey.

At the same time, however, four of Jefferson Family Court's 10 judges received marks below 75 percent in the general satisfaction category and one judge was just above that spot.

The four judges are Jerry Bowles (73 percent), Donna Delahanty (74 percent), Eleanore Garber (66 percent) and Joseph W. O'Reilly (62 percent). Judge Joan Byer received a 76 percent favorable rating.

For the nine family court judges ranked in the 2006 bar poll -- Delahanty was elected in November 2006 -- their overall performance as a whole fell from an 82 percent rating to 79 percent.

Garber and Bowles, both longtime family court judges, had the largest drops from the 2006 poll as both lost 10 percentage points.

"The longer you do this work, the more enemies you make," said Bowles, who noted that unlike circuit judges whose decisions are often made by juries, family court judges are responsible for all of their rulings, meaning someone is always leaving court upset with them.

"They aren't popular decisions," he said.

In the poll, Louisville lawyers were asked to judge family and circuit judges on their temperament and integrity, their management of cases and their legal ability. Participants also were asked to grade the judges on their overall performance.

Chief Family Court Judge Patricia Walker FitzGerald said the judges are "very concerned about the decline in the ratings" and are looking to see if there are any "changes we need to make individually or as a group."

But FitzGerald and Bowles, among other judges, cautioned against putting too much stock in the poll, noting that of the more than 3,500 Kentucky Bar members, only about 100 or so rated each family court judge.

"You wonder if you have enough in that sample to be statistically valid," FitzGerald said, adding that people with strong negative feelings about a judge would be more likely to participate.

Of the 3,888 members of the Kentucky Bar practicing in Jefferson County, 650 asked to fill out an evaluation. Of those 325 returned completed surveys. And of those, only a few hundred, at most, rated a particular judge.

Critics, and even some judges who have been rated highly, have said the poll is mostly a popularity contest.

"It's such a small percentage of responses anymore that you tend to get people very supportive of you personally or disgruntled," Bowles said. "When you look at the percentage of the bar, it's hard to get too upset" about the results.

But the Louisville Bar Association and Thoroughbred Research Group, which assists in the review, say the poll is valid, noting that it asks that only lawyers with significant contact with a judge fill out a survey.

While that number is unknown, it is going to be much lower than the total sampling of 3,888, so 100 responding attorneys is a good sample size, said Jim Lunger, vice president of client services for Thoroughbred.

"I have a lot of confidence in the validity of the survey data," Lunger said, noting that the survey also is comparable year after year, without wide swings you would expect in a flawed poll.

In circuit court, only new Judge Frederick Cowan and Martin McDonald, who recently retired to senior status, fared poorly. Both received favorable reviews from 56 percent of the attorneys who rated them on overall performance -- by far the lowest ratings.

Cowan, who received especially low marks in the categories of legal ability and conducting court business in a timely manner, said the poll provided "good constructive criticism" and he was already working on improving his court management.

Despite Cowan and McDonald's low marks, the circuit court judges still averaged an overall favorable rating of 82 percent -- with eight of the 13 judges being rated for the first time.

"I don't know of an elected official who wouldn't be thrilled with that kind of approval rating," said Chief Circuit Court Judge James Shake, who again led all judges with a 97 percent overall favorable rating, down slightly from his 99 percent in the 2006 poll.

Two new circuit court judges, Charles Cunningham Jr. and Susan Shultz Gibson, were right behind Shake, with a 95 percent and 94 percent general satisfaction ranking.

Cunningham credited his staff and judicial colleagues for making him "look good."

"I have felt like I belong here," he said. "It's nice that people from the other side of the bench seem to agree."

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Poll results at: www.loubar.org (Judicial Evaluation Results)