Two Pierce County judges who received so-so ratings in a recent poll of lawyers have received the highest marks from an organization representing a subset of those lawyers.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend was rated “exceptionally well qualified,” the highest rating given by Washington Women Lawyers. Also earning the top rating was Judge Vicki Hogan.

Both judges have drawn opposition for re-election. Arend will face Antoni Froehling and Hogan will face John “Jack” Hill. Froehling was rated “qualified” by the group while Hill was not rated because he did not submit information the rating committee and was not interviewed.

Other candidates rated by Washington Women Lawyers were Judge Kathryn Nelson, Grace Helen Whitener and Stan Rumbaugh. All were considered “well qualified.” Whitener and Rumbaugh are facing off for an open seat on the bench.

Nelson has a challenger who also was not rated by the group. That is James A. Schoenberger, Jr.

For those candidates who are rated are given one of five ratings – exceptionally well qualified, well qualified, qualified, unqualified and no rating.

In the survey of members of the Pierce County Bar Association, Arend was ranked 16th of 22 judges on the question of whether the lawyer had confidence that the judge would handle a case fairly and competently and 17th on the question of whether they would vote for her against a rival rated at least qualified.

Hogan was ranked 17th on the confidence question and 16th on the re-elect question. Nelson received rankings of 20th and 20th.

Here are the Washington Women Lawyer’s rating for appellate court races:

Washington Supreme Court
Sheryl Gordon McCloud, “qualified.”

Washington Court of Appeals
Pamela Loginsky, “exceptionally well qualified”
Thomas Bjorgen, “exceptionally well qualified”
Michael Lynch, “qualified”
Thomas (Tom) Weaver, “qualified”

And here are the rating for Thurston County Superior Court:

James Dixon, “exceptionally well qualified”

Christen (Christy) Peters, “well qualified”
Christine Schaller, “well qualified” (rated in October 2010)
Marie Clarke, “well qualified”
Commissioner Indu Thomas, “qualified”
William Gilbert “qualified”

Here is a link to the group’s ratings.