Andrew has received the following ratings from Washington's specialty bar associations
- Joint Asian Judicial Evaluation Committee: Exceptionally Well Qualified
- LBAW Latina/o Bar Association of Washington: Well Qualified
- Q Law of Washington: Well Qualified
- Washington Women Lawyers: Well Qualified
Why do judicial ratings matter?
Voting for judges is difficult. Because judges are subject to a strict code of ethics, candidates are prohibited from discussing many issues voters find important. This makes it hard to get a sense of whether a candidate’s beliefs align with your beliefs. Unless you spend a lot of time in the courts, it can be hard to tell whether a judge is good, caring, knowledgeable, or effective. Even lawyers sometimes have the same problems assessing judicial candidates.
That is why judicial ratings are so important when voting for judges. The specialty bar associations that rate judicial candidates have taken great care to create a ratings process that is impartial and designed to reliably assess a candidate’s fitness to serve as judge.
How do judicial candidates get rated?
The ratings process starts with filling out a lengthy uniform questionnaire, covering the judicial candidate’s entire legal career, trials, appeals, important cases, education, accomplishments, outside activities, and disciplinary history. Candidates must also provide the contact information of close to 50 references. Most of these references are not ones of the candidate’s choosing. These references include judges the candidate has practiced in front of, lawyers the candidate has tried cases against, and lawyers who have appeared in front of the candidate when serving as a judge or pro tem. The bar associations contact these references and ask them about the candidate—whether the candidate would be a good judge, whether they know the law, whether they have the right personality and attitude, etc. After performing all this background research, the bar associations then personally interview the candidate.
At the very end of this process, the bar associations issue one of four ratings: not qualified, qualified, well qualified, or exceptionally well qualified. The rating is not an endorsement. It is, however, the most thorough and impartial assessment of a judicial candidate’s qualifications.