While the survey relates only to Clark County, it may reflect the situation in other states. Lawyer Bruce Shapiro, a family law specialist for 20 years, said that there was frustration that more judges were being appointed to the Family Court without having any experience of family law. He said: 'For the most part, lawyers who did not have family law experience do not make good Family Court judges.' Some would-be judges see the area as 'low-hanging fruit' and 'think it's the easiest court to get elected to'. He continued: 'They don’t give any consideration to the fact that it is a specialty.'

93% support

Ratings on individual Family Court judges ranged between 30% of lawyers wanting to keep one judge on to 93% for the judge seen as the most successful. The evaluation was sponsored by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.