Which four Lexington judges do lawyers rate the lowest?

Justice is supposed to be equal under the law, but not all judges are, according to the lawyers who practice before them.

The performance of four Lexington judges was rated as “poor” by at least one in every five lawyers who voted in the judicial poll the Fayette County Bar Association released last week, the first local courthouse survey in a decade. By contrast, nine judges were rated as “excellent” by more than half of the lawyers.

More than 2,100 Lexington lawyers were asked to anonymously give their professional opinions of Fayette County’s 14 circuit, family and district court judges based on five criteria: legal ability, case management, integrity and impartiality, professionalism and demeanor, and diligence.

Overall, 434 lawyers responded with ratings of excellent, good, favorable or poor, said Kif Skidmore, president of the association. Lawyers were asked to vote only on the judges with whom they had firsthand experience. The poll results were sent to the judges for their consideration, and they will be published in the association’s newsletter and on its website, Skidmore said.

Circuit and family court judges serve eight-year terms. District court judges serve four-year terms. None of Fayette County’s judges are up for election this year, but the poll — and possible follow-up surveys — will provide “helpful guidance” for voters to consider in the future, Skidmore said.

“I think the general public has some idea of who the judges are because they are members of our community,” Skidmore said. “But obviously, the litigants, because they practice before these judges, have a unique perspective on the qualities that each individual judge brings to the bench.”

Leading the pack, Circuit Judge Thomas Clark and District Judge Joe Bouvier were rated as excellent by about 75 percent and good by about 20 percent. Of the 290 lawyers who voted on Clark, only 4 — or 1 percent — rated him as poor. None of the 191 lawyers who voted on Bouvier rated him as poor.

Bouvier deflected questions about his high marks.

“All of the judges that I currently serve with — circuit, family and district court — are highly competent, and it’s a pleasure to serve with them,” Bouvier said Friday.

Clark, who is retiring next month after 19 years as a circuit judge, said his parting advice to new judges “would be that you read all of the pleadings ahead of time, know all of the information that you need to know in court, be courteous to all of the parties involved in a case — civil and criminal — and always take the time to explain why you’re ruling the way you are. People might not agree with your ruling, but I’ve found that they appreciate your explaining how you reached your decision.”

The lowest-ranked jurists were Family Judge Tim Philpot and District Judge Megan Thornton. Both were rated as poor by just over 27 percent of the lawyers and acceptable by about 25 percent. Just behind them were Family Judge Kathy Stein (24 percent of lawyers rated her poor) and District Judge Julie Goodman (21 percent).

Across all 14 judges in the poll, the average poor rating was 9 percent.

Neither Philpot nor Thornton returned calls Friday seeking comment on the poll.

Philpot, a former Republican state senator and son of the late TV evangelist Ford Philpot, made headlines last month with a speech he gave criticizing the legalization of same-sex marriage by the U.S. Supreme Court as “pretty close to insane.” Earlier this year, Philpot said he had started ordering couples to attend counseling before he will grant their divorce, to determine if their marriage is truly “irretrievably broken.”

“I’m not trying to stop divorces,” Philpot told one couple in his courtroom at the time. “But I’m trying to put a speed bump in the path of what is usually a speeding freight train.”

The Fayette County Bar Association conducted judicial polls in election years until 2006, but only for contested seats. It’s not clear why the practice stopped locally while continuing in Louisville and other urban areas around the country, Skidmore said. The association might resume judicial polling on a regular basis, depending on the feedback it receives from its members in coming weeks, she said.

This story was originally published October 29, 2016 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Which four Lexington judges do lawyers rate the lowest?."