Assigned counsel systems trade expertise for caseload spread across private attorneys

Evidence

The closest American analogy to the French system of selection, training, and promotion is the civil service system. Like the civil service, the French system is designed to create a set of professionals pursuing careers in a specialized field and to eliminate political considerations and personal favoritism in the selection phase through competitive examinations. The promotion process, however, may pose a threat to judicial independence, because those determining promotions may reward loyalty and conformism and penalize independence. One factor that reduces pressure toward conformity is the collegial character of most French courts. Because of the practice of announcing decisions without indicating who authored an opinion or whether there were any dissents, all judicial decisions are rendered in the name of the court as a whole, and no individual judge must take responsibility for a decision. Nonetheless, judicial independence remains a fundamental issue in civillaw systems. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 552 (#epitomizes, via linked claim)

This problem led to the formation of a consortium of interested lawyers to bear the expenses of preparing the case. Even then, the plaintiffs’ lawyers often found themselves overmatched. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2156 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Nevertheless, judges are members of the legal profession, and their beliefs have been formed by their legal training. They therefore recognize an obligation not to read their own beliefs into the law. Indeed, their understanding of their responsibilities as judges—their role orientation—encourages them to guard against it. Even though judges’ efforts to banish personal views from their decisions are unlikely to be fully effective, they do have some effect. Thus, in the words of Justice Felix Frankfurter: … The judicial process demands that a judge move within the framework of relevant legal rules and the covenanted modes of thought for ascertaining them. He must think dispassionately and submerge personal feeling on every aspect of a case. There is a good deal of shallow talk that the judicial robe does not change the man within it. It does. The fact is that on the whole judges do lay aside private views in discharging their judicial functions. This is achieved through training, professional habits, self-discipline, and that fortunate alchemy by which men are loyal to the obligations with which they are entrusted. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1366 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Promotion-based career judiciaries trade selection bias for conformity pressure — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 552; Resource disparity between parties shapes civil litigation outcomes — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2156; Legal training and role orientation partially neutralize judges’ personal beliefs — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1366

Broader Connections

• Promotion-based career judiciaries trade selection bias for conformity pressure #epitomizes (1.00) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 552
• Resource disparity between parties shapes civil litigation outcomes #complicates (0.75) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2156
• Legal training and role orientation partially neutralize judges’ personal beliefs #qualifies (0.72) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1366