Help wanted: Volunteers to participate in judicial evaluations of candidates for Cook County associate judges.

The ISBA Committee on Judicial Evaluations faces the task of coordinating the investigations and interviews of lawyers who have applied for appointment to eight current openings.

Of some 280 candidates, about half hold valid ratings from prior evaluations during the past 10 years.

Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans has set a June 1 deadline for the ISBA and Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening to provide ratings for all of the applicants.

The court will then narrow the list to 16 candidates, from which the sitting judges will select eight.

During the summer months, the ISBA and Alliance will be joined by the Chicago Bar Association in the evaluation of 72 candidates for retention on the appellate and circuit courts.

For information about becoming a member of the Committee on Judicial Evaluations, send an e-mail to the office of the ISBA executive director, rcraghead@isba.org.