Judicial Evaluations Committee
About JEC
The Judicial Evaluations Committee (JEC) is co-chaired by two members of the LBAW Board of Directors. The JEC is a volunteer group composed of members of the LBAW Board of Directors and the general LBAW membership.
The purpose of the JEC is to preserve the high standards expected of judicial candidates seeking to serve on the bench in the state of Washington. JEC volunteers are committed to conducting a fair and equitable review process to fulfill this purpose. We do this by reviewing application materials, calling references, and conducting interviews. At the end of the process, we issue a rating for each candidate.
Judicial elections in Washington State are non-partisan and judicial evaluations are educational in nature. Judicial evaluation ratings are not endorsements.
To find out more about LBAW’s JEC, please email the co-chairs Ashley Gomez and Peggy Rodriguez at jec@lbaw.org and jec2@lbaw.org.
Rating Process
For Prospective Volunteers
If you are a lawyer or law student, and you’re interested in volunteering, please contact one of the co-chairs of the Judicial Evaluation Committee by sending an email to jec@lbaw.org and jec2@lbaw.org. Or fill out the LBAW JEC volunteer form.
There are two important ways you can volunteer each month:
1. Interview Candidates, on the third Thursday of each month at 5:30 p.m., via Zoom. You’ll get to meet candidates and other volunteers. We provide orientation for new volunteers.
and/or
2. Call References. We provide you with questions and a list of references to call for a particular candidate. We ask that you take notes and send us your thoughts on whether you think that candidate’s references think they are right for the bench. However you choose to help, we thank you for doing your part to improve the judicial evaluation process!
For Prospective Candidates
Interviews for judicial candidates are held on the third Thursday of every month from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. LBAW’s JEC uses the King County Bar Association’s Uniform Rating System and issues a rating based on the materials submitted, the candidate interview, and information from references. LBAW JEC rates candidates for judicial office in coordination with QLAW and Joint Asian Judicial Evaluation Committees (JAJEC).
If you are interested in obtaining a rating, please email the co-chairs of LBAW JEC at jec@lbaw.org and jec2@lbaw.org. To schedule an interview, candidates must submit a resume, a writing sample, and a copy of the Governor’s Uniform Judicial Evaluation Questionnaire.
Due to high demand, candidates should contact LBAW JEC as soon as they are interested in a rating.
Past Ratings
LBAW’s Judicial Evaluations Committee rates candidates on the following scale: EWQ=Exceptionally Well Qualified; WQ=Well Qualified; Q=Qualified; NQ=Not Qualified; IIR=Insufficient Information to Rate. For a full description of the criteria for each rating that LBAW JEC uses, please review the King County Bar Association’s Uniform Rating System.
