Lisa Claire Schultz
The Honorable

Lisa Claire Schultz

District Court Judge
3rd Judicial District
Doña Ana County

Year: 2014

Recommendation: Do Not Retain

Election Results: Retained

Evaluation: In this evaluation, Judge Lisa Schultz's scores were lower than the other judges in the Third Judicial District. Although she received generally positive scores from resource staff (e.g., law enforcement, probation and parole officers, interpreters, etc.) and high scores from jurors, her scores from lawyers and court staff were significantly lower. Among attorneys, she received low scores for exercising sound legal reasoning, being punctual in commencing proceedings, and treating all participants equally. Among court staff, Judge Schultz received low scores for behaving in a manner that encourages respect for the courts and she rated quite poorly for her overall judicial performance. Judge Schultz attributed her negative scores to her involvement in a criminal prosecution of a former judge; however, the Commission concluded that Judge Schultz has failed to recognize and address the deficiencies in her judicial performance.

Experience & Education: Judge Schultz was elected District Court Judge in 2006. She hears primarily family court cases. In the past, she has heard criminal, civil and Children’s Court cases. Prior to her election, she was an attorney for 21 years. She has received numerous awards, including the Governor’s Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women. Judge Schultz received her undergraduate degree from Johnston College, University of Redlands, M.T.S. degree from Harvard Divinity School, and her law degree from New York Law School in 1985.

PERCENTAGE THAT AGREE OR DISAGREE THAT THE JUDGE EXHIBITS POSITIVE QUALITIES IN EACH CATEGORY *

Attorneys (n=82, 51% Response Rate)
Category Agree Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree Disagree
Exhibits Integrity 49% 25% 26%
Fair and Impartial 50% 17% 33%
Knowledgeable of Law 49% 21% 30%
Communication is Clear 53% 24% 23%
Appropriate Demeanor 66% 16% 18%
Properly Controls Proceedings 56% 29% 14%
Court Staff (n=50, 60% Response Rate)
Category Agree Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree Disagree
Communication is Clear N/A N/A N/A
Properly Controls Proceedings N/A N/A N/A
Respects Court Employees 54% 16% 30%
Jurors (n=38, 36% Response Rate)
Category Agree Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree Disagree
Exhibits Integrity 100% 0% 0%
Fair and Impartial 98% 2% 0%
Knowledgeable of Law N/A N/A N/A
Communication is Clear 99% 1% 0%
Appropriate Demeanor 100% 0% 0%
Respects Court Employees N/A N/A N/A
Category Agree Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree Disagree
Fair and Impartial 70% 15% 15%
Communication is Clear 76% 13% 11%
Appropriate Demeanor 82% 13% 4%
Properly Controls Proceedings 73% 14% 14%
Respects Court Employees N/A N/A N/A

 

* On the tables above, the "Agree" columns are comprised of the strongly agree and agree responses. Similarly, the "Disagree" columns are comprised of the strongly disagree and disagree responses. The combined percentage of "Agree", "Disagree", and "Partly Agree/Partly Disagree" for each category may not equal 100% due to rounding error. "N/A" indicates that the category is "not applicable" because some populations were not asked certain questions.

PERCENTAGE THAT RECOMMEND THE JUDGE BE RETAINED OR NOT BE RETAINED IN OFFICE. ‡

Attorney Retain Recommendation Bar ChartCourt Staff Retain Recommendation Bar ChartResource Staff Retain Recommendation Bar Chart

‡ On the charts above, the "Retain" columns are comprised of the strongly recommend retain and somewhat recommend retain responses. Similarly, the "Do Not Retain" columns are comprised of the strongly recommend not retain and somewhat recommend not retain responses.