In a recent post, I reminded persons interested in applying for associate judge of the need to seek or update ratings from the Chicago Bar Association and the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening. A commenter asked about the shelf life of ratings... and my response was not entirely accurate.
Alliance Administrator Joyce Williams contacted FWIW to set the record straight. "For candidates evaluated before January 1, 2017," she advises, "favorable ratings are valid for six years. For candidates evaluated after January 1, 2017 favorable ratings are valid for four years. Unfavorable ratings have a life of three years."
Williams added that, because most evaluations took place more than 12 months ago, each candidate will have to update their questionnaire. The Alliance "short form" questionnaire has been eliminated, Williams said, explaining that "there were too many areas of interest to the evaluators that were not covered."
"I will begin sending out questionnaires this week to individuals who have contacted me," Williams said. The new Alliance questionnaire is almost duplicative of previous ones, but now requires a Letter of Good Standing from ARDC. There are also two new questions dealing with how the candidate is coping during the pandemic shutdown.
An explanation of the “life” of the ratings, instructional cover letter, and other required forms will be sent with the Alliance questionnaire, Williams said. A link to Williams' email is provided above for those who have not yet reached out to the Alliance. Associate judge applicants need to remember to contact Therese Kurth at the Chicago Bar Association as well.
Posts
2 comments:
Or you could just run. Plenty of people run and win without bar ratings.
How have I been dealing with the pandemic? I've been making voodoo dolls of all my favorite judges who have gone AWOL but continue to receive 100% of their salary. I am also preparing my VOTE NO palm card for the entire 2022 Retention Class, sending my files on certain judges to Injustice Watch, the Sun-Times, NBC 5 and WGN. It has been very difficult in light of the fact that the release me from my padded cell for only 1 hour per day, but I manage. lol.
The only genuine question about this process is whether Evans will announce the class before or after the 2022 Democratic primary. I predict after because . . . well, I predict after.
Post a Comment