ISBA releases judicial candidate ratings for the March primary

The Illinois State Bar Association has posted its ratings of Cook County judicial candidates seeking nomination in the March primary on its website (PDF file).

In reviewing these ratings, note that HQ means "Highly Qualified," Q means "Qualified," and NQ means "Not Qualified." Candidates who do not participate in the ratings process are automatically rated Not Qualified.

The site specifically mentions that, "Judicial candidates are rated by the Illinois State Bar Association based on detailed information supplied by candidates, a background check by trained lawyers/investigators, and interviews of each candidate." Ratings, favorable or otherwise, "reflect the ISBA’s opinion of whether candidates have the necessary qualifications for judicial service" and are not meant to disparage a candidate's abilities as a lawyer.

Herewith, then, the ISBA ratings (clicking any image should clarify any fuzziness resulting from the efforts of the amateur to standardize page widths):

And an aside to any Downstate visitors who may have been brought here pursuant to the mysterious whim of some search engine: The ISBA has released its evaluations of Downstate candidates as well. That's a link to the PDF document on the ISBA website.