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JUDGE SHOPPING
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Judge shopping is the practice of filing a lawsuit or manipulating court rules so that your case gets assigned to a specific judge or court perceived to be sympathetic to your position. This strategy is widely considered an abuse of the judicial system and is actively discouraged or restricted by legal ethics. [1, 2, 3]
How It Works
Lawyers and litigants attempt to influence case assignments in a few primary ways: [1]
- Strategic Venue Selection: In jurisdictions where certain courts only have one or two judges, filing a lawsuit in that specific geographical location guarantees the case will be heard by that specific judge. [1]
- Manipulating "Related Case" Rules: Litigants may file multiple lawsuits with overlapping issues, deliberately labeling them as related to an ongoing case to steer the new file to a specific, preferred judge. [1]
- Contriving Bias Claims: Occasionally, a party might attempt to force a judge off a file by claiming perceived bias, hoping a newly assigned judge will be more favorable