district judges
Regional trial adjudicators
District judges are judges who preside over district courts—trial-level courts in federal and state judicial systems.
In the U.S. federal system, district judges handle the initial proceedings in most federal cases, from criminal trials to civil disputes.
They are distinguished from appellate judges, who review decisions rather than conduct trials: The district judge denied the motion to dismiss.
- arbiterOne who settles disputes
- juristLegal expert or scholar
- presiding officerOne who leads meetings
- magistrateCivil judicial officer
- adjudicatorOne rendering formal decisions
federal court · federal bench · legal authority · fact-finder · decision-maker · judicial appointment · lifetime tenure · referee · civil case · criminal trial · state court · appellate court · legal expertise · legal precedent · motion to dismiss · plea bargain · statutory law · caseload
- judgesmagistrate, magistrates, jurist, chief justice, justice of the peace
- Senate Confirmationsconfirmation vote, nominees, advice and consent, nomination hearings, committee vote
- civil courtscivil cases, civil claims, civil litigation, civil procedure, court hearings
- Indian Courtshigh court, civil court, criminal court, family court, high courts
- courtsfamily court, civil court, criminal court, circuit court, juvenile court
district judgesdefendants
Those facing prosecution
litigants · plaintiffs · trial attorneys · lawyers · prosecutors
district, judge, districts, judges, judged, judging, judgement, judgment, judicious