what is a judge like as a person

[theoldgirl]

Anyone know any judges? I'm wondering what their personality types are? Are they status driven and arrogant? Or sincere social activists? How do you get to be a district or county or high court judge? How do you get to be a barrister?

I know a magistrate, anyone can do this. To be a judge you need a law degree and experience on the 'bar' (representing people in court rather then writing letters for them IYKWIM). They normally start off in the smaller courts and work their way up. A magistrate does this voluntarily, they have a legal advisor and can only judge on basic cases (shoplifting etc).

The one I know seems perfectly normal. Doubt you would know he was a judge unless you knew what he did for a job.

my sil is a district judge. i would say she has a huge social conscience - she's just starting a masters looking at international law and human rights on the side, and is really interested in war crimes. she's very passionate about getting the 'right' result with her cases, with real concern about mitigating circumstances etc.

she's totally the opposite of status-driven/ arrogant. in fact she's had battles with depression and low esteem.

why?

I know a judge and he is lovely, was a solicitor and went straight though to be a judge - had not been a barrister. Very old school and made people feel very comfortable

why do you ask?

my great uncle was a magistrate,

it is a bit like assise courts and quarter sessions.

I have a another friend who looks after judges when they are on circuit, they like fine wine and good food

I'd love to be a judge, I have a law degree (it's crap though)

I know lots of judges socially, both district and circuit. (also professionally as I'm a lawyer).

They're all different! You don't need to have been a barrister to be a judge, most district judges are former solicitors.

They're all white and middle class, but there is a fair mix between men and women - I'd estimate that a quarter to a half of district judges are women, fewer on the circuit.

I'd say that status is important, tbh, it's not easy to get a judicial appointment and it's rightly seen as an achievement.

Sincere social activists? If any of them start off that way they'd soon have it rubbed off after a few years of dealing with divorce, domestic violence, parents wrecking their children through Children Act proceedings, debt recovery cases, etc etc.

Most judges hide it very well i court but privately I've talked to a few who feel very jaded and cynical about humanity. As a lawyer it's hard not to feel the same, some days.

You've got me thinking now.....

My dad is a judge :).
But not British, so this may not help!

He is very extroverted, kind, compassionate, thoughtful,intuitive, brainy, logical, very keen on sports, good at law/logic but not maths/science. He still loves the law (his ID twin also became a lawyer).

I wouldn't say he's jaded about humanity... but he's not able to take sad or violent films or stories -- he gets too much of that IRL. He's very down on the prospects of anybody who might have suffered FAS, he's convinced that's the explanation of most of the hopeless cases he sees, people who were doomed to be F*'ed up from birth.

The Myers-Brigg personality test my dad took on some judge's workshop and said that he found out that he was a very unusual judge in being "perceptive" rather "judgement" category.

My step-mum is a magistrate (again this is abroad), she is very like my dad in background, outlook and interests, but more outraged about injustices in the world.

I want to be a judge! I really hate injustice, really, really, really!

What area of law are you interested in Fluffy? All this stuff about injustice - maybe you're thinking of human rights legislation?

TBH, in the sort of run of the mill, bread and butter work which the vast majority of High Street practices work in, injustice isn't a word we even think about. Certainly in family law it's about trying to achieve fairness in financial settlements within divorce proceedings, or fairness as in what is right for a child, regardless sometimes of what the parents consider to be right. Often parents are massively blinkered about what their children need.

I see my job more as trying to sort out the often unbelievable tangled financial and emotional messes that people get themselves into, than about justice per se.

It depends where you work in the country as to what sort of ethnic mix you find. I've been practicing out of Reading and Oxford county courts for over 19 years and have only ever come across one (deputy) district judge who is Asian. there would be more of a mix in London, I guess.

10, not 19 yrs

I know, it's rather touching that crusty old HC Judges are not THAT out of date.

I loved all of my law degree, some more then others. The corporate law was dull. Criminal,employment, family, public and human rights were great, I find it so interesting that people can do such things to each other (IYKWIM). I worked pretty much full time, was a single mother, had an employment tribunal to sort out myself, illness, so much going on. I achieved a 3rd, 1B-away from a 2:2 I had sent off for the info to be a magistrate, it's been in the house for a few years, I didn't have the time to think about it until now. I really hate injustice and people who take the piss out of those who are vulnerable, it's my biggest bug!

Naughty thread OP. Ive been looking into this and CPS jobs for years

Well, go for it! Apply to be a magistrate, but remember that you don't need any legal knowledge whatsoever to be a mags - wouldn't you rather try to get a training contract or pupillage (you may need to improve your degree to get in, though - I'm sure you realise it's very very competetive these days.

Evidently no punctuation skills are necessary to be a practicing lawyer!

Or spelling. Competative ffs

I don't know how I can get back into it to be honest, the Uni won't let me go back to do any more law modules, once you've graduated then that's it. There's no law jobs here, I don't think anyone wants a law graduate with MS, not exactly employer friendly. I may apply to be a magistrate though.

but old documents (13c-18c) never have punctuation, do documents now have to have them?

I'd quite fancy the magistrate thing myself, I only did criminal law for a few months as a trainee (and was kind of like a rabbit in the headlights - was in a rough area of Liverpool and had never met people like that before!).

Crime would be quite interesting, I think, but again, it would be easy to get quite cynical listening to the same old burglars coming up with the same old excuses month after month. Sort of like being a mini judge but without all the training (and the salary of course).

Do you know what you'd have to do to train as a stipendiary magistrate, so at least you were earning a living?

ivykaty, I have a freelance Will business and was trained never to put punctuation in. I don't use any punctuation, just double spaces where necessary.

I don't know about stipendiary magistrates (curious now). I'm a bit like judge judy, take no nonsence! Ask ds!