Episode 73

full
Published on:

13th Mar 2026

Ep 73 Back for More

EPISODE 73: BACK FOR MORE

Welcome to Season 2 of the JudgeMental Podcast! Hugh and Christine are back after a break, and the Judge-y app has officially launched on Friday the 13th!

IN THIS EPISODE:

The official launch of the Judge-y app on Apple Store, Google Play, and web

18,555 judges now available to rate across all 50 states

How the app works: free ratings, premium features, and community building

Anonymous reviews and secure messaging to protect users from retribution

Real reviews from Texas and Louisville showing both praise and constructive feedback

Premium features ($9.99/month or $100/year) for advanced searching and pattern tracking

Community features: tag judges, ask questions, and connect with other litigants and attorneys

Daily TikTok/Instagram/Facebook Lives at 8 PM for the next two weeks - tutorials and Q&A

LINKS:

Website: judge-y.com

Social Media: @Judgingthejudges

Email: info@judgey.com

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to be, and should not be construed as, legal advice. Engaging with this content does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and the hosts, guests, or their firms. The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any law firm, company, or organization. We make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, or applicability of the information presented. Any reliance on the information in this podcast is at your own risk. Laws are constantly changing, and every situation is unique. You should always seek the advice of a qualified attorney for your specific legal concerns.

Transcript
Speaker:

christine (2): You are listening

to The Judgemental Podcast.

2

:

Hugh (2): We're Hugh and Christine, the

Minds Behind Judgy, the revolutionary app

3

:

that empowers you to judge the judges.

4

:

christine (2): It's pastime

for judicial accountability and

5

:

transparency within the courts.

6

:

Hugh (2): Prepare for sharp

insights, candid critiques, and

7

:

unshakable honesty from two lawyers

determined to save the system.

8

:

We need some justice.

9

:

Justice, my fine justice.

10

:

And I wanna ring, be in public.

11

:

I wanna ring, be in public crowd.

12

:

Yeah.

13

:

christine (2): Season

two judgmental podcast.

14

:

We are back.

15

:

Y'all.

16

:

It has been a long break.

17

:

Hugh (2): Yeah, it feels like it.

18

:

It's also, . It's , hard to remember

how to use the equipment again.

19

:

christine (2): Oh, I know.

20

:

, For the reasons oh my God.

21

:

I can't speak English anymore.

22

:

It's been a long time

since we've done this.

23

:

The app launched today, Friday the 13th.

24

:

Hugh (2): Oh man.

25

:

At midnight.

26

:

christine (2): Yes.

27

:

And at

28

:

Hugh (2): midnight.

29

:

christine (2): We were up late.

30

:

He was up later than I.

31

:

It's been a wild whirlwind, I

would say the last two months with

32

:

everything just trying to get all the

data and get this app and how it's

33

:

grown from our original thoughts.

34

:

I'm so proud of it.

35

:

Hugh (2): Yeah, I gotta

reflect on it a little bit.

36

:

Yeah.

37

:

I'm still down in it.

38

:

christine (2): Oh,

39

:

Hugh (2): I know.

40

:

Still swatting bugs and, and,

and fixing things and making

41

:

sure everything's running right.

42

:

And yes.

43

:

Checking on things.

44

:

But it's been, been about as smooth as it

could be expected for our first release,

45

:

christine (2): so Oh my gosh.

46

:

Our first app ever.

47

:

Hugh (2): Yep.

48

:

christine (2): And so, so things,

it's an app to rate the judges, to

49

:

judge the judges like they judge you.

50

:

We've got 18,555 judges.

51

:

We have had.

52

:

I did a post about a day ago saying,

name your state, which, you know,

53

:

where do you wanna judge the judges?

54

:

And I think to date, we've

had 45 states respond.

55

:

Hugh (2): Yeah.

56

:

That's pretty, pretty awesome.

57

:

christine (2): Yes.

58

:

Hugh (2): Yep.

59

:

And we have had people signing up

for it are from all over the country.

60

:

Yeah.

61

:

And it's only available in North America.

62

:

So they're probably people that you

know that, that have commented on

63

:

things and that, that aren't able

to download it at the moment, but.

64

:

christine (2): And just for the judges

listening season one, I went over

65

:

that last night to see our analytics.

66

:

We had downloads in 27

countries and five continents.

67

:

Hugh (2): Yep.

68

:

christine (2): And so everyone is

interested in judicial accountability.

69

:

So we wanna, what I'm gonna start doing

is at eight o'clock, for at least the

70

:

next two weeks, there will be a TikTok

Live, or an Instagram Live, or a Facebook

71

:

Live, or a live on one of my platforms.

72

:

Where I'm just gonna answer questions

and do tutorials and so you guys can

73

:

see what the app can be because we

really need y'all to join, give your

74

:

information to grow the community, right?

75

:

Yep,

76

:

Hugh (2): that's right.

77

:

christine (2): So for free, everyone

can judge any judge that they want to.

78

:

Obviously you need to abide by the

terms of our, using the platform, which

79

:

means you can't just like make it up.

80

:

You have to have experience.

81

:

You have to be a court watcher or

have been in front of that judge at

82

:

Hugh (2): practice.

83

:

Yeah.

84

:

There's a questionnaire to ask what's

your experiences, you know, when the last

85

:

time you were in front of that judge.

86

:

Mm-hmm.

87

:

We wanna know all of that stuff.

88

:

Yeah.

89

:

And we.

90

:

We, you know, we have moderation

to weed out people that are just

91

:

going in and flaming people.

92

:

And some of the, some, you know, we, we

might have to do that with people that

93

:

are sneaking on there to give themselves

five star ratings, then deleting their

94

:

accounts, which we've had from some

judges here in the first day, but.

95

:

christine (2): LOL

96

:

Hugh (2): We knew it was going to happen.

97

:

christine (2): Yes.

98

:

But honestly too, we've had some

five star reviews out of Texas.

99

:

We've had five star reviews and they're

from litigants and they're legitimate.

100

:

When you read 'em, it's like,

listen, if you're gonna be in front

101

:

of a judge, this is the judge you

wanna be in front of which I love.

102

:

You know, last night if y'all

were following me, I talked

103

:

about I want to be wrong.

104

:

I want the TikTok judge to have the

highest rating, and I want her to

105

:

have helped every single man, woman,

and child that appeared before her.

106

:

Okay.

107

:

I,

108

:

Hugh (2): I mean, from my point of

view, I was afraid, I mean, the people,

109

:

let's, like with most online reviews,

the people that are most motivated are

110

:

gonna be the people that are angry.

111

:

And I wondered how long before people

started going on and complimenting

112

:

judges and talking about what a good job

113

:

christine (2): mm-hmm.

114

:

Hugh (2): People did.

115

:

And it was immediate.

116

:

Yep.

117

:

And I was very happy to see that because

that's, that was a big worry that I had.

118

:

And we've gotten really, I

mean, some of the reviews are.

119

:

Just positive feedback for people

that have recently been in front of

120

:

judges who have done a fantastic job.

121

:

christine (2): Yeah.

122

:

And we've got some attorney reviews it

looks like outta Louisville District

123

:

Court that are very complimentary.

124

:

You know, they may say, Hey, listen,

this judge does everything right.

125

:

This is the judge I wanna be in

front of, you know, I just wish this

126

:

judge could get to court on time.

127

:

Like, it may just be like

there's one that's like a 4.1

128

:

or a 4.2.

129

:

The timeliness was an issue, which

maybe that judge will look at that

130

:

and say, Hey, listen, you know what?

131

:

Maybe I need to get to work on

time, which you would think would

132

:

be a no-brainer, but I digs.

133

:

But it's here also to help the

judges and we have, this is on Google

134

:

Play, apple Store and our web app.

135

:

So we will be able to share the

links for people to see, and we're

136

:

gonna start doing reviews of the

week and all kinds of things.

137

:

We have so many ideas.

138

:

Hugh (2): Yes.

139

:

And you mentioned it is, I mean,

also there to help the judges.

140

:

Mm-hmm.

141

:

I mean, we want people to see if people

are complimenting you, and just say,

142

:

you know, it'd be perfect if they

would actually get to court on time.

143

:

I think that would be.

144

:

Useful to know Right now the database is

not public in, in as much as you have to.

145

:

You have to have a login

146

:

christine (2): mm-hmm.

147

:

Hugh (2): To look at.

148

:

It's free, like the looking at the

reviews and rating judges is free at

149

:

the moment when it's been launched

for a period of time, and it's, it's.

150

:

You know, a lot more filled out and

there are a lot more actual reviews.

151

:

We will make it public.

152

:

Mm-hmm.

153

:

To where people can go

and view the reviews.

154

:

They won't be able to rate the

judges without having a login, but

155

:

they'll be able to review them.

156

:

We want to make it to where

this is public information.

157

:

It's just, right now we're building

the community, we're building the

158

:

reviews, and anybody can go on for free.

159

:

You just have to log in.

160

:

You can actually do it anonymously.

161

:

You can build one out.

162

:

You can rate anonymously.

163

:

In fact, we want people to understand

who is rating the judges, but only

164

:

in as much as is it an attorney?

165

:

Is it a litigant?

166

:

How long ago have they been

in front of this judge?

167

:

How much experience have they

had in front of this judge?

168

:

That's important, not the identity.

169

:

So we're protecting people's

identity so they don't have to

170

:

worry about retribution or community

backlash or anything like that.

171

:

But yeah, we ultimately, this is

going to be a public database.

172

:

Yeah.

173

:

christine (2): What's super important

is to get on there for the community.

174

:

So we do have premium features and

that is only $9 a month, $9 99 cents a

175

:

month, or a hundred dollars for a year.

176

:

And that's where you can go and

literally, like, you can be like,

177

:

hypothetically speaking, I wanna go do

a post about how often Jim Murphy is

178

:

appointed in Brian Gatewood courtroom.

179

:

We've done investigations

about how that's a land.

180

:

Landlord, tenant relationship.

181

:

And so you would just tag.

182

:

And so anytime that you had Jim

Murphy appointed in Brian Gate,

183

:

what's easy to search and everybody

can sort of get an understanding of

184

:

what happens and kind of expose these

patterns and also expose good things.

185

:

You know what I mean?

186

:

Like Sure.

187

:

I would love for it to be, you know, a

judge that's linked with compassionate.

188

:

Reunification of a family like that

would be amazing to see the judges

189

:

that stay after hours and work hard

because we don't want the good judges

190

:

to be lost in this because there

are so many good judges out there.

191

:

You know, that just goes back to

holding other, their counterparts.

192

:

Or is it not counterparts?

193

:

They're colleagues accountable.

194

:

My goodness.

195

:

It's difficult when we

don't record for that long.

196

:

Hugh (2): Yeah, no, it is kind of

strange to be sitting back here again.

197

:

Yeah, it's good.

198

:

But it's, kind of weird.

199

:

I don't know where to look.

200

:

christine (2): Yeah, it is, we've got so

many stories we've been working on too.

201

:

We have so much the next six

months are just gonna be insane.

202

:

Hugh (2): Yeah, well there's,

there's a lot to talk about.

203

:

As far as, you know, using the community

features, one of the things we built it

204

:

for is so that you can tag a judge in a

thread and every post and you follow them.

205

:

You will just know whenever

someone else reaches out.

206

:

So if you're a litigant and you're

in front of a judge and you're trying

207

:

to figure out people's experiences

there, you want to be on the community

208

:

feature, you want to, you wanna reach

out and ask you, tag the judge in it.

209

:

Say Anybody had experience with this

judge, and everyone that posts there,

210

:

you'll get notified of, and it'll

keep them all together in one place.

211

:

Mm-hmm.

212

:

You can post polls, but you can also, you

know, ask about non court a non judge.

213

:

Court personnel or other attorneys mm-hmm.

214

:

And things like that.

215

:

And you can follow that thread.

216

:

So if anybody answers it, you know,

you're going to get notified of it.

217

:

And everything is sort of

kept together that way.

218

:

And it's to help people that are

litigants, help people that are attorneys.

219

:

If you're an attorney going into

another county and you are worried

220

:

about getting home cooked, and you

need to know what a judge is like the.

221

:

Community is where you're going to find

that information and get first stand

222

:

experiences from other people that

practice regularly in front of that judge.

223

:

christine (2): Like for example, you could

easily do a community thread that's like.

224

:

Hey, has anybody ever had Christine

Miller in front of Derwin Webb?

225

:

And then people could be like, oh my gosh.

226

:

You know what I mean?

227

:

Comment.

228

:

Yes, she did.

229

:

Was successful.

230

:

The judge respected her.

231

:

Or, oh my gosh, you know, the

judge didn't respect her and was

232

:

doing blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

233

:

That's the point of it.

234

:

Right?

235

:

So you will be informed.

236

:

You can also follow any judge

in the country and just follow

237

:

the judge that's being rated.

238

:

Yep.

239

:

And what that'll do, you don't even

have to rate the judge, but if you

240

:

just say, Hey, I'm in front of,

I'm trying to think of a different.

241

:

Doreen Goodwin.

242

:

Just follow that judge.

243

:

And so you'll be updated

every time there's a review.

244

:

And the goal is to have thousands,

hundreds of reviews so you can get a true,

245

:

because obviously, you know what I mean.

246

:

There's gonna be people that have

bad experiences and there's gonna

247

:

be people that , aren't indicative

of how the judges at all times.

248

:

But the point is, if there's a

hundred reviews and there's two

249

:

good ones, that's a problem.

250

:

If there's a hundred

reviews and there are two.

251

:

Scathing ones.

252

:

You know, sometimes a judge that's

doing their job adequately is

253

:

gonna make people upset, obviously.

254

:

Hugh (2): Yep.

255

:

And once people move the discussions

about the judges away from, you know,

256

:

email lists and things into judgey, into

the community section, the practitioners

257

:

are going to need to be on there to

follow the judges that they practice

258

:

in front of to hear what's happened.

259

:

You learn a lot from what people

report about what happens in court.

260

:

Mm-hmm.

261

:

The same way, you know, the small law

Facebook groups and things like that

262

:

where people report what happened in their

court and you think, oh man, I've got a

263

:

hearing in front of this judge next week.

264

:

I need to be prepared for that.

265

:

That's.

266

:

Where this information is going to be.

267

:

christine (2): Oh yeah.

268

:

I can't imagine being an attorney

and not getting this information.

269

:

You need to have this in order to practice

in front of the judge and you know, the

270

:

judges are gonna be reading all of this.

271

:

Hugh (2): Well,

272

:

christine (2): I mean,

273

:

Hugh (2): I hope so.

274

:

christine (2): Yeah,

275

:

Hugh (2): I hope so.

276

:

I mean, I think that's

going to be important.

277

:

That's a piece that's been

missing this whole time.

278

:

I mean, every now and then you get the

anonymous polls or you know, surveys

279

:

about the judges that are sent out.

280

:

But that's only to the attor,

you know, to certain attorneys.

281

:

And that's, you know, once in a blue moon.

282

:

This is the first time where

judges have been able to actually.

283

:

Read feedback of what they're doing

in court and how things are going

284

:

and how people think about their,

like you said, their profession, you

285

:

know, the way that they treat people.

286

:

Their timeliness, their legal knowledge.

287

:

Mm-hmm.

288

:

Not just whether you were happy

about the outcome of your case.

289

:

Yep.

290

:

Which will be something that comes

soon as a feature where people can.

291

:

Add information about the

outcome of their case.

292

:

And I think what's going to be very

interesting is at least from my experience

293

:

as a practitioner, I would have clients

who would get a negative outcome from

294

:

a judge and be very complimentary Yep.

295

:

To the judge because they

would understand why.

296

:

And when a judge clearly explains

things, communicates well.

297

:

Mm-hmm.

298

:

And treats everyone with respect.

299

:

You get respect from the litigants

will follow the orders and respect

300

:

them even if they go against them.

301

:

christine (2): A hundred percent.

302

:

I mean, I had people that used to be

sentenced to prison that thought highly

303

:

of the judge, that sentenced them,

like understood they were doing their

304

:

job, they were respectful and they

were motivating in order for people to

305

:

get their lives back together, to get

off substances, things of that nature.

306

:

So yes, absolutely.

307

:

And one thing we have failed

to mention entirely, which is.

308

:

Obviously entirely your idea,

which I think is going to be a game

309

:

changer, is the secure messaging.

310

:

You can message people on the app.

311

:

Like, for example, I see that

there's just a new thread that's been

312

:

posted in Christine wards courtroom.

313

:

Does anybody have patience

Fitzpatrick as a GAL or FOC?

314

:

Well, you can find out if

somebody responds to that.

315

:

Y'all can message each other and

there can be a group of parents,

316

:

which is literally what happened

when I was in California with that.

317

:

Custodial evaluator that did a lot of

families dirty, allegedly, they formed a

318

:

friendship and a comradery to get through

it together and just expose patterns.

319

:

If those patterns exist.

320

:

Maybe they do, maybe they don't, but

this is what the app is here for.

321

:

Hugh (2): I mean, we've seen

that with, other states.

322

:

Where people have gotten together

and met through online communications

323

:

christine (2): mm-hmm.

324

:

Hugh (2): And exposed things that were

going on with custodial evaluators

325

:

that were not doing their job and

basically stealing people's money.

326

:

And so we want to be a forum for that.

327

:

I've noticed that there's

been a lot of, there have been

328

:

quite a few private messages.

329

:

I don't know who they're from,

and that's intentional when

330

:

we say that this is secure.

331

:

I can see the activity that's happening.

332

:

I have to monitor that to make

sure everything's working well.

333

:

But the identities are anonymized

and they just, you look like a big

334

:

string, long string of numbers.

335

:

christine (2): And y'all,

I can't even say it.

336

:

I mean, I'm sure I could get

access to yours, but I'm not even

337

:

like Hugh is the only person.

338

:

It's secure.

339

:

It's encrypted is the right word.

340

:

Yep.

341

:

Everybody like claps to Hugh because

you, I basically can't add, I don't know.

342

:

I didn't build an app, do

you know what I'm saying?

343

:

So I guess friendly reminder every single

day for the rest of March 8:00 PM I

344

:

will be doing a live to go over things.

345

:

If your judge is not on the platform

you can comment on all of my socials

346

:

or our socials, but the best way

is gonna be email info@judgey.com.

347

:

Yep.

348

:

You guys, we've got drama.

349

:

tea gossip, good stories for

literally a million years after

350

:

taking just six weeks off.

351

:

The biggest one is, like

I said, you win a prize.

352

:

If our name has been mentioned on the

record, I want you to get on the app and

353

:

secure message me because these attorneys

are, these attorneys and judges literally

354

:

are going through my entire social media

feed and looking to see if you comment.

355

:

Okay.

356

:

You need to think of other activities

to do, like, you know, get some friends

357

:

for crying out loud or a life that is

358

:

Hugh (2): maybe get some orders written.

359

:

christine (2): Yeah, yeah, yeah.

360

:

I don't even have time

to read every comment.

361

:

I can't even imagine how

that is just very sad.

362

:

I'm gonna pray for you.

363

:

I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be complimentary.

364

:

It's lint.

365

:

I gave up cursing for Lent.

366

:

I've been doing really good, haven't I?

367

:

Hugh (2): It has been hilarious,

but yes, it has been like.

368

:

I can't believe you haven't exploded

yet, but you, it seems a lot, you

369

:

know, over the last like week or so,

it's gotten a lot easier it seems.

370

:

Yeah.

371

:

christine (2): I mean, and that's

been a great thing to give up,

372

:

but seriously, the fact that these

judges cannot be introspective at

373

:

all to understand how we got here.

374

:

You know what I mean?

375

:

Just a little bit of looking

inward and saying, Hey, listen,

376

:

this didn't happen in a vacuum.

377

:

Right?

378

:

Hugh (2): Oh, that's right.

379

:

And ultimately we want to help.

380

:

Mm-hmm.

381

:

So if seeing the comments and seeing how.

382

:

You are viewed and what people's

experiences is in your courtroom,

383

:

helps you and helps the process.

384

:

Get better.

385

:

christine (2): Mm-hmm.

386

:

Hugh (2): Then we've done our job.

387

:

christine (2): Absolutely.

388

:

Also just bear with us.

389

:

There's gonna be little

glitches and stuff like that.

390

:

It's huge and it's on

three different platforms.

391

:

It's three different

types of code, I think.

392

:

It is an endeavor to

do something like this.

393

:

So we're gonna have little things

that we're gonna work on and obviously

394

:

Hugh has like 1700 ideas of things

to add to make the app better, which

395

:

we're just gonna keep rolling those

out over the next couple months.

396

:

Hugh (2): Yep.

397

:

Yep.

398

:

And yeah, , for the judges some of the

states when we were pulling the data,

399

:

didn't get all the magistrates, so we've

already had some comments on people

400

:

looking for specific magistrate judges.

401

:

Happy to add them.

402

:

christine (2): Mm-hmm.

403

:

Hugh (2): Email us.

404

:

We will add them very quickly.

405

:

We've realized that some states.

406

:

Magistrates were listed in such a way

that they got picked up in our database.

407

:

In some states they weren't, and

we'll fix that as quickly as possible.

408

:

We just need to hear from you.

409

:

christine (2): Awesome.

410

:

Judge y.com

411

:

info@judgey.com

412

:

if we're missing someone.

413

:

See y'all soon.

414

:

Hugh (2): See it.

415

:

Speaker 3: Next call.

416

:

We need some justice, justice, justice.

417

:

And I wanna ring bells in public.

418

:

I wanna ring bes in public nor crowd.

419

:

Yeah, but I To the fo Yeah.

420

:

I To the fo Yeah.

421

:

I to the fo fo

422

:

teaser.

423

:

Content of this podcast

is for informational and

424

:

entertainment purposes only.

425

:

It is not intended to be and should

not be construed as legal advice.

426

:

Engaging with this content does not create

an attorney-client relationship between

427

:

you and the hosts, guests, or their firms.

428

:

The views and opinions expressed

on this podcast are solely those

429

:

of the individuals involved and

do not necessarily reflect the

430

:

official policy or position of any

law firm, company or organization.

431

:

We make no representations or

warranties regarding the accuracy,

432

:

completeness, or applicability

of the information presented.

433

:

Any reliance on the information in

this podcast is at your own risk.

434

:

Laws are constantly changing

and every situation is unique.

435

:

You should always seek the advice

of a qualified attorney for

436

:

your specific legal concerns.

Listen for free

Show artwork for The JudgeMental Podcast

About the Podcast

The JudgeMental Podcast
From the Creators of Judge-y
The JudgeMental Podcast features two attorneys, Hugh and Christine, who bring over three decades of combined litigation experience to the mic. Now venturing into a bold new initiative—"Judge-y", a website and soon-to-be app—they aim to give lawyers and litigants a platform to evaluate judges and promote accountability within the judiciary.

About your host

Profile picture for Hugh Barrow

Hugh Barrow