1,900 Hours and 42 Candidates: What Goes Into a Judicial Evaluation
By ALEEZA FURMAN
The Legal Intelligencer
Evaluating dozens of candidates eyeing Philadelphia judgeships is no easy task, leaders of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Judicial Commission said Monday.
Behind the organization’s one- or two-word ratings are in-depth evaluations backed by nearly 140 investigators, 36 commission members and an intensive research process, they said.
“The ratings themselves are valuable, but it’s really understanding the lengths and the amount of work that goes into it that provides the real meaning,” said Matthew Olesh, chair of the Campaign for Qualified Judges, the bar association’s political action committee.
The commission’s investigative teams have spent at least 1,900 total hours working to evaluate the 2023 election’s candidates, according to an announcement from the association.