Judicial Nomination Commission Information and Resources

Judicial Nomination Commission Information and Resourcces

Topics with which to be familiar:

• Be prepared to discuss your practice and experience in handling both civil and criminal matters.
• Bench/Jury Trial ( numbers, type of cases and level of experience).
• Restraining Orders & Harassment Orders: You should be sure to take a look at these statutes.
• Mental Health Commitments
• Commitments for Drug & Alcohol Detox/Treatment
• Summary Process/Evictions/ Foreclosure (in the District Court.)
• Be prepared to discuss any managerial experience you might have and how you might bring that experience to assist the positive running of a very busy district court where you are assigned.
• Life as a judge will be quite different – it will involve a more secluded lifestyle. Have you thought about how you will handle that?
• There will likely be questions related to your temperament and multi-tasking in a busy district court.
• It's been a while since you wrote and submitted your judicial application and resume. Be sure to review them before your interview because questions will be posed that are taken right from your judicial application you submitted.
• You may be given an opportunity to share something about yourself that has not been addressed through the question/answer format. You should spend time before your interview thinking about what else you would like the JNC to know about you that sets you apart from other well-qualified candidates.
• Keep abreast of local and national issues affecting the courts and high profile issues, such as guns, drugs and gang violence. In that regard, you should also try to be aware of any particular issues or concerns in the particular court for which you are applying.

Recent Sample Questions: 

• What areas do you need to work on?
• Why do you want to be a judge?
• Do you have the wherewithal to make decisions that you may not feel good about but which the law requires?
• How do you connect with clients who may be difficult to reach (not literally)?
• Tell us about your work history. What does your current job entail?
• What factors would you consider when committing a kid to DYS?
• How would you stay fresh and engaged and not get jaded?
• Why do you want to be a judge and what would make you an exceptional judge?
• You are very active in various bar associations and initiatives – what initiative would be most important for you to address as a judge?
• You have significant criminal experience. What experience do you have in civil issues and what would you do to learn about civil suits in order to become proficient as a judge?
• What have you experienced in the past two years that would lend itself well to becoming a judge?
• If you proceed to due diligence, what do you expect that others will say about you that is positive and what may be negative?

Additional Questions (Appeals Court):

• The Appeals Court has 23 judges on it. How do you define teamwork?
• Ok, you are on the Appeals Court, on a three-person panel and the other two judges are experts in the field and you don’t know anything about it. What do you do to get up to speed? 
• You have applied to both the Appeals Court and the Superior Court. Which do you think you would be better at?
• You could have applied for a judicial position 5 years ago or 10 years ago and had a similar application. Why did you wait to apply till now? 
• You said on your application that a judge’s need to be fair means both “justice” and “empathy” and that empathy meant the ability to put yourself in another’s shoes. What in your background or experience allows you to empathize with a criminal defendant who has been convicted and says that the facts were not found correctly?

Helpful Resources

• Judicial Nominating Commission Executive Order
• Massachusetts Judge/Magistrate Salaries
• Survey of Judicial Salaries
• Judicial Retirement Benefits
• Boston Globe Article on Pay Raise Veto
• Judicial Nominating Commission Contact Information
• Joint Bar Committee Contact Information
• Massachusetts Bar Association's Guide to Massachusetts Judicial Selection Process
• Current Massachusetts judicial vacancies
• Judicial application process tips and application