JUDICIAL FORMATION: A STEP BEYOND EDUCATION OR TRAINING FOR NEW JUDGES

Statewide administrative offices for courts routinely develop, revise, and repeat elaborate training and education programs to assist new judges in their unfamiliar role on the bench. Such programs can be several weeks long and cover topics ranging from caseflow management to substantive law to judicial canons to hiring and employment practices.

After all is said and done, the new judge has a toolbox filled with dos and don'ts about legal processes and judicial skills. What the new judge does not generally have, however, is a deepened understanding of the challenge to personal development that judges face and of how to sustain commitment to the judicial career through times of drudgery, difficulty, disappointment, and disillusionment that are almost universally part of the job.

One antidote that will support a judge through these moments is the awareness and certainty that service in the judiciary is more than a career or profession; it is a call that can best be described as a vocation. Vocation requires commitment and constancy, even when the demands of service seem to be too much or too hard. And vocation cannot be taken for granted; rather, it must be continually cultivated through a personal transformation that is called formation.

We can look at the concepts of vocation and formation in more depth to see how they work together and how they affect the court, particularly the new judge.

WHAT IS A JUDICIAL VOCATION?

Here is the situation with which we are all most familiar: a lawyer who is experienced, competent, ethical, and hardworking is appointed or elected to the judiciary. This change of career is frequently marked by excitement and humility as the new judge, skilled in understanding and applying substantive and procedural law, is poised to determine individual justice in individual cases. However, nothing in the practice of law, or in most new judge orientation programs, prepares the new judge for a larger role-guarding and growing the trust and confidence of the public in the court as an institution and as a branch of government.

The challenge to the new judge is not only to master the skills to handle cases but also to develop the insight to steward and protect this branch of government. No one judge can do this alone, and no one group of judges owns this responsibility; all judges play a part.

This is where the profession and the vocation of judging intersect. Vocation inspires passion and willingness to go on even in the face of fatigue or futility. It is more than visceral responses to current issues, such as attacks on judicial independence. Vocation is, at the core, the certainty and humility of knowing that one does not merely perform a job but also provides a service for the common good. A judicial vocation calls for excellence both as a judge and as a human being who continues to mature and grow throughout life.

WHAT IS FORMATION?

"Formation" is simply preparation for, or the molding of, vocation. It is a method of immersion in values so as to inspire action consistent with mission. Formation can help clarify the differences between a career and a vocation and provide tools for a candidate to develop in vocation throughout life. It is primarily an internal and private process that refers to the core being of a person and to how one learns to understand, love, and give of self. The result of personal formation is the human being who identifies with his or her vocation and ultimately the belief in service above self.

We may think of formation as more aligned with religious development dian with a judicial career. The same principles are at work, whether the fresh face is a new judge or any other human being committed to finding and following a new value or truth. So a program of new judge formation is a gradual process of personal and professional development, during which the judge develops not only traditional judicial skills but also the character and personal insight to be able to serve the public as a jurist.

THE JUDICIAL FORMATION PROGRAM

Currently, the superior court in Maricopa County, a general-jurisdiction court, consists of almost one hundred judges who are merit-selected by the governor and retained by noncontested election every four years. Additionally, more than fifty commissioners serve as judicial officers, not only handling high-volume calendars in each department but also acting as judges pro tempore when the court workload exceeds judicial resources. Approximately 30 percent of the judges and 50 percent of the commissioners have served fewer than five years. Due to new judicial retirement legislation and resulting judicial resignations, at least ten more judges will be appointed this year. Furthermore, the court anticipates increasing the pace of adding new judges because of rapid population growth.

It is fortunate that the challenge of orienting large numbers of new judges was foreseen by court leadership several years ago. In 2004 Presiding Judge Colin F. Campbell considered a host of questions about the role of new judges, now and as they season into veteran jurists. The questions included: