trial judge
Bench's first authority
A trial judge presides over cases at the first level of court proceedings, hearing evidence, ruling on procedural matters, and often determining verdicts in bench trials.
Distinguished from appellate judges, who review decisions rather than conduct original proceedings: The trial judge excluded the confession as coerced.
In jury trials, the trial judge instructs jurors on the law while they determine facts.
- juristLegal expert or scholar
- verdictOfficial court decision
- adjudicatorOne rendering formal decisions
- magistrateCivil judicial officer
- rulingFormal legal determination
sentencing · presiding officer · due process · burden of proof · gavel · court of law · justice · impartiality · bench · litigation · arbiter · bailiff · precedent · jury instructions · hung jury · equity · opening statement · motion to dismiss
- civil litigationlawsuits, plaintiffs, defendants, verdicts, judgments
- court personnelbailiff, court reporter, court clerk, law clerk, court interpreter
- judgesmagistrate, magistrates, jurist, chief justice, justice of the peace
- judiciaryjustices, magistrates, chief justice, supreme courts
- court rolesjuror, plaintiff, defendant, prosecutor, defense attorney
- sheepdog trialssheepdog, herding, handler, outrun, lift
trial judgetrial lawyer
Attorney arguing before juries
prosecutor · defense counsel · defense attorney · litigant · defendant
trial, judge, trials, trialed, trialing, judges, judged, judging, judgment