We present in these pages the results of the Law Journal's sixth cyclical survey of New Jersey lawyers about the quality of judging on the state's trial bench. It is designed to assess the comparative strengths and weaknesses of judges, their demeanor and their potential biases, all of which are highly relevant to customers of the courts.

As in the past, the survey is a private enterprise, conducted without the cooperation or endorsement of the judiciary.

The survey is meant to provide a forum that pools the practicing bar's collective knowledge about judges' performance. Lawyers share that lore informally all the time, but not in any quantifiable way that can be readily referenced and distributed. This survey supplies that medium.