On February 17, 2016, the Bankruptcy Court published a notification that Judge Christopher S. Sontchi is seeking feedback from the bar on his performance.  As of March 1, 2016, the notice is still available on the website for the Delaware Bankruptcy Court: http://www.deb.uscourts.gov/news/survey-judge-christopher-s-sontchi.

According to the notice, Judge Sontchi wants to assess his level of performance as part of his “on-going commitment to provide the highest level of public service possible.”  He is seeking feedback from all attorneys who have appeared before him for the last 5 years.  The notice states that “The results are exclusively for Judge Sontchi ‘s use in improving his performance; the FJC will not provide the results to anyone other than the judge and the results will not be used in the reappointment process.”

To be frank, I have not heard of a judge actively seeking feedback in such a broad manner from those whom he has provided over.  I can’t imagine a criminal judge requesting feedback from everyone who appeared before him/her in the last 5 years; That would be painful.

In this case, however, Judge Sontchi’s actions are merely another example of the efforts of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court to continue to advance its practice and maintain its position as one of the preeminent bankruptcy circuits in our nation.

Not that I could possibly be biased…