Judges sitting on the Court of Common Pleas and federal courts in Allegheny County are working hard and performing well, according to the lawyers who practice before them.
The Allegheny County Bar Association on Thursday released the results of its 2004 Judicial Survey, evaluating judges for their impartiality, legal ability, diligence and temperament. The results were tabulated from responses given by 884 of the 7,947 licensed attorneys in the county.
Lawyers were asked to rate only those judges with whom they have had professional contact and their responses are anonymous. The bar conducts its survey every four years.
Bar President Arthur H. Stroyd said judges and taxpayers alike should be encouraged that a majority of judges received high ratings in most categories. The judges are rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being excellent. A rating of 4 is good, 3 is acceptable, 2 is poor and 1 is very poor.
Eighteen of the 46 Common Pleas judges received average ratings above 4 in all of the categories, and 17 others received average ratings above 3 in all categories. Most of the judges in U.S. District Court and federal Bankruptcy Court received average ratings near or above 4 in each category, as did the U.S. magistrate judges.
"I do think the results reflect that their performance is generally improving, and has been," Stroyd said of the bench as a whole.
Only four Common Pleas judges received ratings that averaged below 3 in any of the four categories. Judge Donald E. Machen rated the lowest in temperament with a 2.34 rating, followed by Judge Walter R. Little (2.49) and Judge Kathleen Durkin (2.94). Machen and Durkin are assigned to the criminal division; Little is assigned to Orphan's Court.
Little received the lowest average rating for legal ability, 2.64, and received a 2.82 rating for diligence. Family Court Judge Guido A. DeAngelis received the second-lowest average rating for legal ability: 2.90.
Two of the federal District Court judges -- Alan N. Bloch and Arthur J. Schwab -- received low average ratings for temperament, at 2.51 and 2.64, respectively.
