The Difference a Good Judge Makes

Courts are very careful to have procedures set up to prevent lawyers from selecting which judge will hear their cases. The reasons are simple. Judges are human. They have their own biases and preferences. They also have their own abilities and limitations. After a time, these become known to all of the lawyers. For this reason, certain judges are preferred for certain cases; AND certain judges are not wanted for certain cases. Because of the random nature of judge assignments, both sets of judges will get these cases. One of them may be yours. Obviously, this could be a good or a bad thing depending on the luck of the draw.
On Friday, I had a very difficult case that had gone on for two years. It had been to a mandatory settlement conference. Nothing had worked, It was scheduled for a contested divorce hearing with custody as the only issue. Custody hearings never are a good thing, especially with young children involved. The judge met with the lawyers first and gave us her thoughts, then made preliminary remarks to the parties, and sent the lawyers out to talk with the clients with the benefit of the judge's insight. When an impasse was reached, the judge again met with counsel. Ultimately, a settlement was reached in what seemed to be an impossible case. The benefit of a good judge-in settlement or in trial-cannot be underestimated.