Law Student Attitudes Towards Judicial Careers

• NCJ Number: 81303
• Journal: University of Cincinnati Law Review Volume: 50 Issue: 2 Dated: (1981) Pages: 247-283
• Author(s): R P Davidow
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 37 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Findings and implications are presented from a survey that examined law student attitudes toward judicial careers.

Abstract

This survey of 1,094 law students from 19 law schools shows that a judgeship is one of the most attractive legal careers available to law students and that the position of appellate staff member, while relatively new in the United States, is reasonably attractive. Law students as a whole and as subgroups consistently indicated that they would be more likely to seek a judgeship through merit selection than through initial appointment to an inferior court with the possibility of merit promotion. The latter system would be preferable to a system of executive appointment, which, in turn, is preferable to legislative appointment. The least preferable systems of selection in descending order would be nonpartisan and partisan election. Only among non-Caucasian respondents was there any question about the order of conditions under which students would be likely to seek a judgeship; even non-Caucasians would be more likely to seek a judgeship through initial appointment to an inferior court and merit selection than through any other system. Law students would be most likely to seek the position of U.S. magistrate if it provided further judicial career possibilities. Support is provided for the position that merit selection will increase the number of competent people with varying backgrounds, including women and political independents, who will seek judgeships. It also provides support for the hypothesis that the competence of inferior court judges can be increased by offering competent young lawyers the opportunity to serve as such judges at a relatively young age, with the possibility of merit promotion within the judiciary. Other related issues requiring research are identified. The questionnaire and tabular data are provided, along with 65 footnotes. (Author summary modified)