The "Judge the Judges" survey is always an opportunity to reflect on just how overwhelmingly and horribly poor, in general, the Clark County judiciary really is. An alarmingly high percentage of our District Court judges were never even passable attorneys. There are exceptions. But for the most part our community elects poor attorneys to its bench. In many cases, our judges are judges only BECAUSE they were never very good at practicing law (eg. Villani, Miley).
How is a functional idiot like Stefany Miley a District Court judge? Jesse Walsh? Valorie Vega? Michele Leavitt? How the hell is Nancy Saita a Supreme Court justice?
It seems like economics does play a large role in attracting our judiciary. The vast majority of judges (with a few exceptions like Cadish) seem to be either former prosecutors or solo/small firm practitioners. I would bet that the approximately $150,000.00 in judicial salary would be quite a pay raise for most of these folks. Just as it would probably be a pay cut for most big firm attorneys.
I have not attempted to verify this theory yet, but if my memory is correct, it would appear that the ratings this year are, generally, higher across the board for all judges than they were in last year's "Judging the Judges" survey.
Justice Saitta graduated law school from Wayne State (3rd tier in US News and World Report).
Justice Hardesty graduated law school from McGeorge (ranked #98 in US News and World Report).
Justie Gibbons graduated law school from Loyola Marymount (ranked #56 in US News and World Report).
Justie Parraguirre graduated law school from University of San Diego (ranked #56 in US News and World Report).
Justie Douglas graduated law school from UC-Hastings (ranked #42 in US News and World Report).
Justie Pickering graduated law school from UC-Davis (ranked #28 in US News and World Report).
Justie Cherry graduated law school from Washington University in St. Louis(ranked #19 in US News and World Report).
I wonder how many other states can say that none of their Supreme Court Justices graduated from top 15 law schools? I guess that fits in with our bar though, because probably not many of us graduated from top 15 law schools either.
Who will be the first Boyd grad to make it to the Nevada Supreme Court...Amber Candelaria?
Yeah, but Tom Brady was chosen in the fifth round of the draft and look how he turned out. Jerry Rice went to a po-dunk university in Mississippi and look how he turned out.
With respect, I think that the issue of where our judges and justices went to law school is a myopic and irrelevant way to assess them. In my experience, the best lawyers - the ones who come up with novel arguments and can hold a courtroom in the palm of their hand - often go to law schools I've never even heard of.
As far as why things are they way they are, the answer is simple:
- Nevada prefers to have its electorate decide who its judges are. This turns judicial races into beauty contests, with the results we all complain about.
As Adlai Stevenson once said, "Democracy is a device that insures that we shall be governed no better than we deserve. Whose fault is it? ... It is the fault of you the people. Your public servants serve you right; indeed, often they serve you better than your apathy and indifference deserve."
We, in Nevada, demand to vote for our judges and then treat the franchise as garbage. Thus, we get what we get.
11:37 AM - I suspect the reason big firm and other successful attorneys don't run for the bench is the alleged huge cost of running ($100k+) and the public scrutiny. Imagine you are some big shot attorney. You have done well and want to "give back" like Stu Bell did. The pay cut doesn't matter, but coughing up $100-200k of retirement savings is a big deal. Not only that, any little indiscretions in your past will be dug up by your opponent who can't possibly run against you on ability - so smear time is on.
The best attorneys usually have had the most interesting lives. An interesting life almost surely disqualifies one for public service.
I might one day run just to see what it feels like to have someone stick a probe in my ass while emptying my wallet. Then again, marriage beckons, where the screwer sometimes gets to be screwee, hee hee.
Don't you think that if we had competent judges who enforced Rule 11 and the Rules of Civil Procedure to both sides of a given case and actually engaged in motion practice (Mark & Jessie I'm looking at you) this blog would be filled with people complaining about them.
Any attorney who would be a good judge who works for ten years will make $160,000 per year or better. District Court Judge pays $160,000 per year and requires ten years of practice to qualify. Thus, in most - but not all - instances, the people drawn to run for District Court Judge are the ones who can't make $160,000 per year after ten years of practice. The exceptions would be people doing it for the "right" reasons - to give back to the community, as Stu Bell did, and the older attorneys who are tired of the rat race and want to retire gracefully from the bench. We do have both types of "right" candidates this election, but you have to look carefully to find them.
This blog isn't as fun as it used to be. I used to come here for fun gossip about the big firms and the big names on TV commercial. Now, all this blog does is regurgitate what's on the local news.
Cherry went to a higher ranked school than Hardesty? So much for law school admissions.
I will say this for our Supremes: it's not generally an activist court. I shudder to think what would happen if we became like the State of Washington or Illinois.
While I don't disagree with the general opinions expressed regarding the quality of the 8th bench, it appears that many believe the only reason to be a judge is the $$? Based upon this logic, and the logic that only biglaw should be judges, this would lead me to conlcude that this is why most entered law as a profession. (Biglaw job and the $$ that comes with it.) Is this true for most lawyers in this town? Did most of you enter the field only for the $$?
If so, you all screwed up. I just paid the ortho. another $8k (third child) for braces that took 1hr. to install and will get 20 min. attention once a month for the next year, and another hour to remove at the end. If my math is right, that's just over $1,300/hr. This makes lawyer hourly rates look cheap, yet most simply write the check w/o complaint. Wish my clients would do that.
Well, sure 12:15 pm, our earning capacity is miniscule compared to that of an orthodontist. But then, people really like their teeth but don't so much like lawyers.
1. Orthodontists go to school for 8 years. Lawyers go for 3.
2. Dental school is harder to get into than law school, partly because their licensing agency is better, and they are better able to keep the number of dentist factories down. Thus, they don't have 150,000 new dentists entering the market each year.
3. If you want to bill that high, you can. Just do PI work, spend half an hour demanding the policy limits, and take your 40%.
11:35 AM - and all you have to do is show up with greasy hair, malpractice for a good 3-6 hours before delegating to a paralegal (who has an IQ about one standard deviation higher than yours) hitting the links and bars. A good life. Bless you.
Happy Friday everyone!
The "Judge the Judges" survey is always an opportunity to reflect on just how overwhelmingly and horribly poor, in general, the Clark County judiciary really is. An alarmingly high percentage of our District Court judges were never even passable attorneys. There are exceptions. But for the most part our community elects poor attorneys to its bench. In many cases, our judges are judges only BECAUSE they were never very good at practicing law (eg. Villani, Miley).
ReplyDeleteHow is a functional idiot like Stefany Miley a District Court judge? Jesse Walsh? Valorie Vega? Michele Leavitt? How the hell is Nancy Saita a Supreme Court justice?
This is really very sad.
It seems like economics does play a large role in attracting our judiciary. The vast majority of judges (with a few exceptions like Cadish) seem to be either former prosecutors or solo/small firm practitioners. I would bet that the approximately $150,000.00 in judicial salary would be quite a pay raise for most of these folks. Just as it would probably be a pay cut for most big firm attorneys.
ReplyDeleteI have not attempted to verify this theory yet, but if my memory is correct, it would appear that the ratings this year are, generally, higher across the board for all judges than they were in last year's "Judging the Judges" survey.
ReplyDeleteJustice Saitta graduated law school from Wayne State (3rd tier in US News and World Report).
ReplyDeleteJustice Hardesty graduated law school from McGeorge (ranked #98 in US News and World Report).
Justie Gibbons graduated law school from Loyola Marymount (ranked #56 in US News and World Report).
Justie Parraguirre graduated law school from University of San Diego (ranked #56 in US News and World Report).
Justie Douglas graduated law school from UC-Hastings (ranked #42 in US News and World Report).
Justie Pickering graduated law school from UC-Davis (ranked #28 in US News and World Report).
Justie Cherry graduated law school from Washington University in St. Louis(ranked #19 in US News and World Report).
I wonder how many other states can say that none of their Supreme Court Justices graduated from top 15 law schools? I guess that fits in with our bar though, because probably not many of us graduated from top 15 law schools either.
Who will be the first Boyd grad to make it to the Nevada Supreme Court...Amber Candelaria?
Yeah, but Tom Brady was chosen in the fifth round of the draft and look how he turned out. Jerry Rice went to a po-dunk university in Mississippi and look how he turned out.
ReplyDeleteWith respect, I think that the issue of where our judges and justices went to law school is a myopic and irrelevant way to assess them. In my experience, the best lawyers - the ones who come up with novel arguments and can hold a courtroom in the palm of their hand - often go to law schools I've never even heard of.
ReplyDeleteAs far as why things are they way they are, the answer is simple:
- Nevada prefers to have its electorate decide who its judges are. This turns judicial races into beauty contests, with the results we all complain about.
As Adlai Stevenson once said, "Democracy is a device that insures that we shall be governed no better than we deserve. Whose fault is it? ... It is the fault of you the people. Your public servants serve you right; indeed, often they serve you better than your apathy and indifference deserve."
We, in Nevada, demand to vote for our judges and then treat the franchise as garbage. Thus, we get what we get.
Nothing gets me fired up for the weekend like a good Adlai Stevenson quote.
ReplyDelete11:37 AM - I suspect the reason big firm and other successful attorneys don't run for the bench is the alleged huge cost of running ($100k+) and the public scrutiny. Imagine you are some big shot attorney. You have done well and want to "give back" like Stu Bell did. The pay cut doesn't matter, but coughing up $100-200k of retirement savings is a big deal. Not only that, any little indiscretions in your past will be dug up by your opponent who can't possibly run against you on ability - so smear time is on.
ReplyDeleteThe best attorneys usually have had the most interesting lives. An interesting life almost surely disqualifies one for public service.
I might one day run just to see what it feels like to have someone stick a probe in my ass while emptying my wallet. Then again, marriage beckons, where the screwer sometimes gets to be screwee, hee hee.
R.I.P. Former Chief Justice E.M. "Al" Gunderson (1929-2010)
ReplyDeleteDon't you think that if we had competent judges who enforced Rule 11 and the Rules of Civil Procedure to both sides of a given case and actually engaged in motion practice (Mark & Jessie I'm looking at you) this blog would be filled with people complaining about them.
ReplyDeleteWow. Modern nevada without Al gunderson. Uncharted territory for sure. RIP
ReplyDelete@ 11:37 Dude, you are in Vegas, you don't have to run for judge to have someone stick a probe up your ass and take your money. Silly kid!
ReplyDeleteAny attorney who would be a good judge who works for ten years will make $160,000 per year or better. District Court Judge pays $160,000 per year and requires ten years of practice to qualify. Thus, in most - but not all - instances, the people drawn to run for District Court Judge are the ones who can't make $160,000 per year after ten years of practice. The exceptions would be people doing it for the "right" reasons - to give back to the community, as Stu Bell did, and the older attorneys who are tired of the rat race and want to retire gracefully from the bench. We do have both types of "right" candidates this election, but you have to look carefully to find them.
ReplyDeleteThis blog isn't as fun as it used to be.
ReplyDeleteI used to come here for fun gossip about the big firms and the big names on TV commercial. Now, all this blog does is regurgitate what's on the local news.
Come on Oscar Goodman, let's do this to Vegas:
ReplyDeletehttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703950804575242433435338728.html?mod=rss_US_News
Any news in the UMC leak case? Charette was supposed to have court today...
ReplyDeleteCherry went to a higher ranked school than Hardesty? So much for law school admissions.
ReplyDeleteI will say this for our Supremes: it's not generally an activist court. I shudder to think what would happen if we became like the State of Washington or Illinois.
I hate it when I make a really cutting sarcastic remark and no one reacts. It's like a tree falling in the forest with no one there to hear it
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't disagree with the general opinions expressed regarding the quality of the 8th bench, it appears that many believe the only reason to be a judge is the $$? Based upon this logic, and the logic that only biglaw should be judges, this would lead me to conlcude that this is why most entered law as a profession. (Biglaw job and the $$ that comes with it.) Is this true for most lawyers in this town? Did most of you enter the field only for the $$?
ReplyDeleteIf so, you all screwed up. I just paid the ortho. another $8k (third child) for braces that took 1hr. to install and will get 20 min. attention once a month for the next year, and another hour to remove at the end. If my math is right, that's just over $1,300/hr. This makes lawyer hourly rates look cheap, yet most simply write the check w/o complaint. Wish my clients would do that.
Well, sure 12:15 pm, our earning capacity is miniscule compared to that of an orthodontist. But then, people really like their teeth but don't so much like lawyers.
ReplyDelete@12:15,
ReplyDelete1. Orthodontists go to school for 8 years. Lawyers go for 3.
2. Dental school is harder to get into than law school, partly because their licensing agency is better, and they are better able to keep the number of dentist factories down. Thus, they don't have 150,000 new dentists entering the market each year.
3. If you want to bill that high, you can. Just do PI work, spend half an hour demanding the policy limits, and take your 40%.
I do love my $1,000 per hour average rate at my PI firm. It makes the month a lot easier...
ReplyDeleteRIP Ronnie James Dio.
ReplyDelete11:35 AM - and all you have to do is show up with greasy hair, malpractice for a good 3-6 hours before delegating to a paralegal (who has an IQ about one standard deviation higher than yours) hitting the links and bars. A good life. Bless you.
ReplyDelete@ 1:10 Ditto. (Who cares about judges' salaries, a national icon just died...some respect please).
ReplyDelete