Judicial Evaluations

If you are a candidate seeking appointed or elected judicial office in the State of Washington, we invite you to seek an evaluation from the Washington State Veterans Bar Association. Judicial evaluations are conducted by members of our Steering Committee, which will typically return an evaluation within ten business days of submission. 

WSVBA Judicial Evaluation Procedures

The WSVBA evaluates candidates seeking appointment or election to:

1. The Washington State Supreme Court
2. The Washington State Court of Appeals
3. The United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Washington, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (as well as any other federal court for which a candidate from Washington seeks an evaluation)
4. Any Washington trial-level court (Superior, District, and Municipal)

In addition to evaluating candidates for judicial positions, the Steering Committee, at its discretion, may evaluate candidates for the Washington State Bar Association Board of Governors as well as executive appointments to state commissions, boards, public agencies, or other elected political office.

The Evaluation Process

In order to be evaluated by the Steering Committee, the candidate must complete and submit to our Judicial Evaluations Chair, Mike Casey ([email protected]) the following documents:

1. The Governor's Uniform Judicial Evaluation Questionnaire with applicable attachments, including an original writing sample; &
2. The WSVBA Judicial Application Supplement (WSVBA -Judicial Application Supplement.doc);

The WSVBA does not conduct interviews as the members of the Steering Committee live and practice throughout the state.

Once a request for judicial evaluation is made, the WSVBA Judicial Evaluations Chair will contact you to coordinate the evaluation process. As the Steering Committee is comprised of volunteers, the candidate is encouraged to submit all application materials as early as possible to ensure timely review and evaluation.

To complete its evaluation process, the full WSVBA Steering Committee votes on the final evaluation.  The final evaluation is then provided to the Washington State Governor, or appointing authority, if the candidate is seeking appointment, and published on the WSVBA website and at votingforjudges.org, if the candidate is seeking election.  All deliberations, except for the final rating, are confidential. Candidates will receive one of the following ratings based on their application and materials:

1. Exceptionally Well-Qualified
2. Well-Qualified
3. Qualified
4. Unqualified (generally reserved for lawyers with an unacceptable disciplinary history, or otherwise deemed lacking in minimal judicial potential or temperament)

Judicial evaluations may take up to ten business days and are not conducted between December 24 and January 5.

The current Judicial Evaluations Chair is Mike Casey. Please direct any questions to him at [email protected]