Judicial Interviews Forum

[Mce252]

Appropriate thing to call him/her when meeting at an interview? Judge xxxxx? Your honor?

[kalvano]

Judge or Your Honor, unless / until (s)he says otherwise.

Sir or Ma'am works too.

[anongoodnurse]

"Judge" is the safest bet. "Hello Judge XXXX, it is a real honor to meet you" when you first meet him or her. Then just plain "Judge" after that. "Your honor" can sound a little stilted, and the clerks almost certainly don't call him or her that on a daily basis -- and you want to sound like you'd fit right in as a clerk.

You also might pick up on what the clerks call him or her when talking to them -- but 95% of the time, it's going to be "Judge" (and not "Judge XXXX").

[ggocat]

Judge or Your Honor, unless / until (s)he says otherwise.

Sir or Ma'am works too.

This, but I would avoid Ma'am for women.

[kalvano]

Judge or Your Honor, unless / until (s)he says otherwise.

Sir or Ma'am works too.

This, but I would avoid Ma'am for women.

I guess that depends on the judge. The judge I interned for last summer was fine with ma'am.

But initially, I would use "Judge". You can't go wrong with it.

[Judge Philip Banks]

I was told by former clerks to address the judge as "your honor," at least at first. It's more respectful/formal than merely Judge ____. I guess it varies by judge, but I would use "your honor" initially just to err on the more formal side.